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The Essence of Innocence
The Essence of Innocence
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Some say that beauty is only skin deep and believe that "inner beauty," is a whole lot more important. They are a small minority. Most of us strive for perfection in appearances--it may be our own personal appearance defined by the perfect clothes and the perfect look, the perfect home we live in, or the perfect car we absolutely must have. People today are no different today than they were in the 19th century, and we get an in depth understanding of the obsession with "being perfect" in Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Birthmark." This short story is about a devoted scientist who marries a beautiful woman with a single physical flaw; a birthmark on her face. Aylmer becomes obsessed with the imperfection and needs to remove it, to be happy with his wife. The tale evolves around his progressive frenzy to use his scientific skills to render his bride perfect. Only imperfection is what nearsighted Aylmer sees in the birthmark on Georgiana's cheek. But he is unfortunately oblivious to the virtue in her soul, the deep beauty contained in the depth of her love for him. The wife's virtue leads her onward and upward; the husband's lack of it, and inability to appreciate virtue in his Georgiana makes him seem arrogant and selfish.
The theme of Hawthorne's story is that perfection is impossible and that there is always a price to pay for being vain. We must always be willing to take the good with the bad. When we try to impose our will on Nature we can get destroyed in consequence just as Georgiana was destroyed when the birthmark was removed. Hawthorne says, "The fatal hand had grappled with the mystery of life, and was the bond by which an angelic spirit kept itself in union with a mortal frame. As the l...
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... can be perfect. This can lead to empty and unfulfilling relationships.
With each new technological advance, we try to change nature and society, presumably for the better. Hawthorne is saying that we should not try to alter nature to make it perfect with science and technology. Especially so with innocuous things, like his wife's blemish. Furthermore, the closer we get to perfection, the more obsessed we get with it, and the more we lose sight of the fact that the innocuous blemishes are just that, innocuous blemishes. I don't think that Hawthorne had anything against science in general, even though his descriptions of Aylmer's laboratory were somewhat grotesque. But he is giving us a warning. Do not violate the sanctity of life. This is implied because it is Aylmer's insistence on trying to distort nature which leads to the death of his wife.
One of the major themes in "The Birthmark" is man’s obsession with perfection. Through the birthmark on Georgiana, Hawthorne is able to portray that nature didn’t intend for things to be perfect. People are not perfect because the human condition is imperfect. Aylmer’s desire to make his wife perfect is doomed to failure because perfection, Hawthorne suggests, is the exclusive province of heaven that cannot be found on earth. Because she becomes an ideal being, completely unmarred, Georgiana is no longer able to exist in this
In "The Birthmark,". The birthmark on Georgiana is a physical imperfection., Hawthorne states that the only way to get perfection can only be through death and therefore is not possible, as shown by the death of Georgiana. The birthmark represents the flaws in the humans. Greed is one flaws of the imperfections, Aylmer was greedy for perfection and the the removal of the mark from his wife's face. This greed compared to Hawthorne’s “The Minister's Black Veil" the sins that the black veil represented. Hawthorne reveals and embraces the truth that is that all humans were veils to hide their
"Women Beware Science: 'The Birthmark.'." Short Story Criticism, edited by Rachelle Mucha and Thomas J. Schoenberg, vol. 89, Gale, 2006. Literature Resource Center, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/H1420071520/LitRC?u=troy25957&sid=LitRC&xid=268bd900. Accessed 8 Dec. 2017. Originally published in Critical Essays on Hawthorne's Short Stories, edited by Albert J. von Frank, G. K. Hall & Co., 1991, pp. 164-172.
################################# Part 3 ######################################## Nature doesn’t intend for things to be perfect, if it was the contrary we wouldn’t be considered humans. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Birth-Mark portrays the story of a scientist, Aylmer, so self-absorbed, and supercilious in his own power of science that he would go so far as to remove the intentional “imperfect” birthmark that Nature has bestowed upon his wife’s face. “Cannot you remove this little, little mark… Is this beyond your power… Noblest, dearest, tenderest wife… doubt not my power” (216). Hawthorne uses the birthmark as a symbol to represent the imperfection that is within the human species, the mark also draws out the imperfection of those who have encountered it by displaying their tendencies to overlook the flawless beauty of Georgiana and focus solely on her birthmark, “Some fastidious persons… affirmed that the bloody hand… quite destroyed Georgiana’s beauty… Aylmer discovered that this was the case with himself” (214). Nature’s symbol is a paradigm of omnipotence. To simply put, Nature created the grand design of human life, and governs over our society but allows us as people to do as we please with our lives, so long as we do not alter with Nature’s creation, “…Our great creative Mother… She permits us, indeed to mar, but seldom to mend, and like a jealous patentee, on no account to make” (217). Despite Nature’s intention, being the pompous scientist that he is, Aylmer believes himself to be something more than a microcosm of Nature’s creation. In other words, because of his unparalleled ability in the subject science, like other...
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Birthmark, he uses unperfected beauty to confirm that if God’s creations are meddled with the product is harmful. A scientist, Alymer is married to a beautiful women named Georgiana whose only flaw is a birthmark on her left cheek.
The birthmark is a compelling story of one man’s obsession with his scientific ability to produce perfection. Aylmer, a scientist, is married to a Georgiana who is a very beautiful woman. Not long after getting married Georgiana’s birthmark, which is in the shape of a tiny handprint on her check, really begins to bother Aylmer. He sees it as a flaw in an other wise perfect woman. Georgiana knows that her birthmark disgusts him and, having grown up not bother at all by it, begins to hate it herself. He asks if she has ever considered having it removed. This is not something she has considered since other people in her life, especially men, have always seen it as a “charm”. Aylmer being an amazing scientist almost sees himself as god and feels that he has the power to remove this imperfection. Georgiana, bothered by her husband’s reaction to her birthmark, agrees to let him try to rid her of it. She is taken to his laboratory and he immediately begins to experiment. After she finds Aylmer’s book of experiments, which all end in failure, she for the first time, has some doubt about how this will work and confronts him. He reassures her and begins to try a multitude of methods, with the help of his assistant Aminadab, which do not work. At one point, there are several experiments going on and he even refers to himself as a “sorcerer” (Hawthorne 232). Finally, he produces a potion, which she drinks, and the birthmark begins to disappear! Slowly though, even as the experiment is working, Georgiana is fading away. He finds that ultimately, the birthmark was connected to her very soul and in his trying to act god like he actually kills her. Really this short story just proves that science has its limits and no man should try to act like G...
I think Hawthorne may be implying in these stories that perfection is unattainable and the quest for it may be unrewarding, even fatal. In these and some of Hawthorne's other stories, I believe he is reminding people of the delicate blessings of life. Our pursuit of happiness outside of a connection with other people and our reckless endeavor to supersede the power of the supernatural may result in temporary satisfaction, but is ultimately unfulfilling and even dangerous.
The advancement of industrialism, economic growth, science and medicine, and wars all donated to the contributions of many writers during the Romantic Movement. This is true of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, short story, “The Birthmark”. The obsession with perfection is just as evident today; as it was back in the 18th and 19th centuries. The detrimental effects of amplifying science and romance are clearly defined between the relationships of Aylmer, his wife Georgiana, and Aminadab -his assistant in his lab. Romantic literature puts a higher significance on the value of intuition and imagination instead of fixating on objective reasoning.
Every relationship is different. Weather one may be in a relationship with a boy, or just a friend, it is different. Even though they are different, the characters in “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne and “IND AFF” by Fay Weldon are in similar relationships. That is, the male is dominant over the female, and the woman thinks the man is her knight in shining armor. In the beginning of “IND AFF” the unnamed woman thinks her professor, Peter, who she is having an affair with, is her ticket to creating a good thesis and higher standings. Similarly, in “The Birthmark,” Georgiana thinks her husband is her ticket to flawless beauty because he tells her he will remove her birthmark. Obviously, this is not how relationships operate in today’s society. These two relationships compare and contrast with each other as well as with relationships in today’s day-and-age.
...eeling which inspires her! God gave her the child, and gave her, too, an instinctive knowledge of its nature and requirements,—both seemingly so peculiar,—which no other mortal being can possess. And, moreover, is there not a quality of awful sacredness in the relation between this mother and this child?”’(Hawthorne 78) The man defends the helpless woman and child because human nature informs him to do so. Mankind is innately good, and there is no question whether Hawthorne thinks the same way.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark”, is the story of a crazed scientist whose strive for perfection not only leads to the death of his beautiful wife, but the attempt of man to have power over nature. It follows the story of Aylmer and his obsession with removing the birthmark off his beautiful wife, Georgiana. “His unnatural fixation to his wife’s birthmark even consumes him in his sleep as he dreams of cutting it off much like scraping an apple off its skin.” (Snodgrass 29). This narrative explores the themes of perfection, and the conflict between science and the natural world.
Every man before has always complimented Georgiana on her sweet imperfection. People would tell her all the time that true beauty was in that little blemish. Aylmer, being the man of Science wanted to change what nature had created. Typically, we all know better than to go against Nature, but not Aylmer. Georgiana finally agreed to let her husband remove the birthmark due to a frightening dream Aylmer had encountered. Aylmer started working on a potion to remove Georgiana 's birthmark. As soon as Georgiana sipped the potion, she suddenly falls into a deep coma-like state. The birthmark magically disappears from Georgina 's face. However, as the birthmark fades away, so does Georgina 's life. Hawthorne uses Georgiana 's character to symbolize beauty in this story. Georgiana is already made perfect in the eyes of Nature and all other men, expect Aylmer. Aylmer, representing Science, tries to change Georgiana 's beauty that Nature has created. Aylmer was successful in removing the birthmark, but unsuccessful in keeping Georgiana alive. Aylmer was too intertwined in Science to realize that Georgiana was perfectly made by Nature. Nature paid Aylmer back for trying to correct Georgiana 's face by taking the life of his beloved
In Nathanial Hawthorne’s “The Birth-Mark,” Aylmer, a crazed, “mad-scientist,” seeks to remove the scarlet handprint birthmark from his wife, Georgiana’s cheek. From the opening of the work, the third person narrator describes Aylmer’s obsession with science and the adverse effects it has had on his social life. Aylmer is tied up in this battle within himself and with his assigned association between the natural and the spiritual world. He wishes to have as much control over these colliding worlds as possible, granting himself god-like power and control in the process. In the art of manipulating nature through science, Aylmer believes he is able to alter the spiritual aspects of the natural as well. Aylmer’s focus on spirituality is Hawthorne’s way of commenting on mankind’s fixation on sin and redemption.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1843 short story entitled “The Birth-Mark” is, at face value, a traditionally formatted Hawthorne story; it is a textbook example of his recurrent theme of the unpardonable sin as committed by the primary character, Aylmer, the repercussions of which result in the untimely death of his wife, Georgiana. However, there seems to be an underlying theme to the story that adds a layer to Hawthorne’s common theme of the unpardonable sin; when Aylmer attempts to reconcile his intellectual prowess with his love for his wife, his efforts turn into an obsession with perfecting his wife’s single physical flaw and her consequent death. This tragedy occurs within the confines of traditional gender
In "The Birthmark," Aylmer sets about the task of ridding his wife of the one imperfection she has. By attempting to perfect her, the readers get the idea that somehow Georgiana is not adequate and this inadequacy lies in her appearance. The message to the readers seems to be that women need to be perfect on the outside as well as on the inside, which Aylmer claims is flawless. Aylmer decides he is going to "fix" Georgiana. Feminists look at this as a male control issue. There are several mentions of Georgiana as being "otherwise so perfect," in both appearance and soul - save for this birthmark. This idea of having to have the most beautiful wife is very degrading view of women. It plants the idea in our minds that men are superior to women, and that men are the ones who can "fix" females in the attempt to bring them up to the level of me...