Obsessing About Perfection in The Birthmark

999 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: the idea of perfection in the birthmark

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...

... middle of paper ...

...in his trying to act god like he actually kills her. The Birthmark is a story of how one man can think a little too highly of himself when he tries to change what is not meant to be changed.

Works Cited

1) Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "The Birthmark." Literature and the Writing Process. compiled. Elizabeth McMahan, Susan X Day, Rober Funk, Linda Coleman. Boston: Longman, 2011. Print.

2) "NameMeanings." Name-Meanings.com. N.p., 2004. Web. 26 Mar 2011. http://www.name-meanings.com/.

3) Hall, Michael. "Generation Cobweb." Review of The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne. N.p., 12-29-2011. Web. 27 Mar 2011. .

4) "shmoop." The Birthmark The Birthmark Summary. N.p., 2011. Web. 27 Mar 2011. http://www.shmoop.com/birthmark/detailed-summary.html.

5) "From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." The Birth-Mark. N.p., 03-06-2011. Web. 27 Mar 2011.

Show More
Related

  • Rhetorical Devices In The Birthmark

    1416 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the short story, “The Birthmark” Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the characters, foreshadowing, symbolism, and other rhetorical devices to alert people of the consequences of man having the power to control and alter nature. Additionally, through his skillful usage of diction, Hawthorne warns of the effects of seeking perfection through science. In “The Birthmark”, Aylmer, a man devoted entirely to science, marries Georgiana, a beautiful young woman with a single imperfection. Georgiana’s imperfection bears the resemblance of a tiny crimson hand and is visible on her left cheek. The birthmark becomes the object of Aylmer’s obsession and he resolves to use his scientific prowess to correct “what Nature left imperfect in her fairest work.” He succeeds in removing the birthmark; however, he unfortunately causes his wife’s death in the process. Through “The Birthmark”, Hawthorne suggests that nothing paradisiacal can exist on this earth, and that being imperfect is just part of being human.

    Read More

  • Evil in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark”

    631 Words  | 2 Pages

    What seems to be a simple tale of human error at first, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “The Birthmark”, implies a much deeper and darker note upon closer inspection. A relatively short story, it details an event in the lives of Aylmer and Georgiana, a recent wedded couple. Georgiana possesses a birthmark on her cheek that repulses Aylmer more and more as time goes on. When he confronts her about it, she voices that it is a part of her charm, but Aylmer begins to react so violently around it that Georgiana finally agrees to give him a chance to remove it. He spends a few days in the laboratory with her and does remove the birthmark, but also removes her soul from the earth, she dies when the birthmark is gone. This story is wrought with details that support its label as a “dark romantic tale”. To see the story in the correct light, one has to understand what dark romanticism is. Dark romantic writers believed that humans are prone to sin. The human race is not always blessed with divinity and wisdom. Second, they represented evil in their stories with supernatural characters; ghost...

    Read More

  • The Birthmark And My Last Duchess Analysis

    1574 Words  | 4 Pages

    “The Birthmark” and “My Last Duchess” are two very different works, from two completely different genres. “The Birthmark” is a short story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and “My Last Duchess” is a poem written by Robert Browning. Although, these are two different genres, they have very similar themes and parallels. These works explore the problems with power and control in marriages at two different time periods and places and shows what it can drive a man to do. “The Birthmark” has a lot of symbolism, imagery and allegory. This story is about a pretty normal newlywed couple, Aylmer and Georgiana. “Such a union accordingly took place, and was attended with truly remarkable consequences and a deeply impressive moral. (2)” This quote is very interesting because the word “union” means many things. From one perspective it can mean the marriage between Aylmer and Georgiana, and on the other hand it could refer to the union of Aylmer’s love for Georgiana and science. Aylmer is thoroughly devoted to his career in science, and he was recently married to Georgiana so he is just getting to know what being married is like. The birthmark is the conflict in their marriage and in the story, Aylmer isn’t into Georgiana’s birthmark and he requests for her to allow him to remove it. He soon realizes that taking off the birthmark isn’t as simple as it seems because it is interwoven into Georgiana’s face. Georgiana then allows Aylmer to remove the birthmark, even though she knows he isn’t a successful scientist. The liquid that Aylmer has Georgiana drink slowly kills her, and Aylmer is shown to be a complete fool. The actual birthmark itself is the main symbol used throughout the story. “My Last Duchess” is a poem about a Duke who showing someone ...

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Aylmer's Short Story 'The Birth-Mark'

    716 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the short story The Birth-mark, Aylmer: scientist, philosopher and perfectionist, is married to Georgiana, a woman of unthinkable beauty and possibly the closest woman to ever reach perfection. However, the tiny hand shaped mark that lay on the surface of her cheek aggravates Aylmer and he thinks day and night of how he may get rid of it in order to help Georgiana reach the perfection that he longs for. The actions that he proceeds to take, prove that he is indeed the villain and the one to blame for Georgiana’s death. He does so by tearing her down with crude words, making Georgiana feel insecure and self-conscious about her outward appearance as well as keeping his failed experiments a secret to her.

    Read More

  • Comparing Three Nathaniel Hawthorne Stories

    854 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Vanity Of Science In The Birthmark By Nathaniel Hawthorne

    1099 Words  | 3 Pages

    Perfection is in the eye of the beholder. Often times scientific advancements attempt to recreate perfection and disregard nature’s way of being. “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne shows the disconnection and battle between science and Mother Nature. Hawthorne creates the character, Aylmer, to show the science side of the spectrum and to show the extent it could go to. The protagonist, Aylmer, believes that with science anything can be done. Aylmer is a very intelligent and famous scientist who has worked in various fields and on various projects. Although he is very successful He is consumed with his idea of scientific perfection and he lets it fog up his vision of his wife. His wife, Georgina, is described as being basically perfect except for a small red mark on her cheek that burdens her husband. The

    Read More

  • Obsession In Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

    1449 Words  | 3 Pages

    The protagonist of “The Birthmark,” Aylmer, uses physical action to attempt to achieve perfection. His obsession with imperfection is evoked by Georgiana’s birthmark on her cheek. Although Georgiana only has one major flaw, her birthmark, Aylmer is determined to remove it and fulfill her perfection. Despite her doubts concerning the removal, Aylmer has enough pride and confidence to execute the final elimination of the birthmark. Thus, he concocts a liquid for Georgiana to drink which will cure her birthmark. Aylmer’s scientific perfectionism is not unlike the Puritan obsession of purity. In “The Minister’s Black Veil,” Reverend Hooper dons a piece of black crape over his face in hopes to force the congregants to realize their own sins instead of constantly obsessing over others. Incited by religion, Hooper recognizes the immoral nature of their obsession, and decides to take action through his wearing of the veil. As he lies dying, he exclaims, “Why do you tremble at me alone… Tremble also at each other… loathsomely treasuring up the secret of his sin; then deem me a monster, for the symbol beneath which I have lived, and die! I look around me, and, lo! on every visage a Black Veil!” (35). His whole life, nobody understood the significance of his veil. On his deathbed, he finally discloses the reason. The veil over his face was an attempt by Reverend Hooper

    Read More

  • The Birthmark Theme Essay

    745 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Birthmark And Malvin's Burial

    938 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Hawthorne’s story The Birthmark, the main character, Aylmer thinks his wife is the most beautiful person in the world and the only feature that keeps her from being perfect is a birthmark that is upon her cheek. When Aylmer mentions the birthmark to Georgiana, his wife, she becomes upset that her husband does not think he loves her, because of her birthmark. He tries many different ways to remove the mark, but all end with no solution to the problem. When Aylmer believes he has finally cracked the code of removing the unsightly blemish his concoction ends up killing his wife, for as the birthmark faded so did her life. Thus violating nature to remove the mark, committing a sin because he killed his wife, and standing alone since he killed the woman he loved. In The Artist of the Beautiful, main character, Owen Warland spent many years working to achieve the most beautiful creation he could make. Owen threw away his life and a chance at love just because he became obsessed with achieving the most beautiful creation. Owen later found himself disappointed even

    Read More

  • The Birthmark Character Analysis Essay

    905 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Rappaccini's Daughter And The Birthmark

    137 Words  | 1 Pages

    I believe that both of these stories speak volumes about the nature of man. It tells the story of two beautiful women who have flaws. In the Birthmark, Georgiana is described as very beautiful and sought after by many men despite the fact that she has a small hand shaped birthmark on her face. Her husband sees the birthmark as a flaw. In Rappaccini’s Daughter, Beatrice is also described as very beautiful. Her father, however, has used science to turn her into basically a poisonous plant. This describes many things to me. I feel like Hawthorne is trying to talk about how the eye of some people is never satisfied in The Birthmark. In Rappaccini’s Daughter, the father seems hell-bent on controlling and manipulating people in sadistic ways only

    Read More

  • The Birthmark

    1083 Words  | 3 Pages

    When the quest for human feat opposes divine setup, it has no chance of prospering. In fact, trying to flee from reality and intervening nature recurrently leads to upsetting consequences. In this short narrative, it is salient to discern "that the birthmark is just that: a birthmark, that is, something physical; and a birthmark, that is, something not acquired but inherent, one of Georgiana's givens, in fact, equivalent to" the exquisite personage (Fetterley 2). Furthermore, Aylmer's revulsion for the birthmark is importunate. In other words, it can be said that he is unable to accept the fact that nature cannot be changed or altered. A literary critic proposes that, "[Aylmer] reads [the birthmark] as a sign of the inevitable imperfection of all things in nature and sees in it a challenge to man's ability to transcend nature" (Fetterley 1). In addition, Aylmer is so haughty of his knowledge that he remains unwavering in doing what he should never have done and says, "Unless all my science have deceived me, it cannot fail" (Hawthorne 12). His "past experiences, his dreams, every evidence tells him that this experiment will be fatal for Georgiana, yet he proceeds" (Eckstein 1). Nevertheless, his nightmares about the pygmy birthmark constrain him to emancipate himself from any kind of rules leading him to perform the fatal experiment of eliminating something that is inherent and indigenous. Beside...

    Read More

  • Spiritual Analysis in The Birthmark Novel

    1221 Words  | 3 Pages

    Following a vivid dream in which Aylmer surgically removes Georgiana’s birthmark, Aylmer assures Georgiana with extreme faith in himself that he can heal their woes by removing the birthmark. The birthmark serves as a symbol for the uncleanliness of the sin that could be in her; not that she has been terribly unrighteous, but the birthmark, like sin, is an imperfection that he wishes to purify. I think the birthmark is a part of Georgiana that Aylmer cannot understand or explain, so he condemns it as sinful. It is possible that Aylmer may feel that what man cannot fathom is not of good nature. The idea that man associates evil with things he does not understand shows the close-mindedness that humans continue to carry through to the next generations through socialization. It could be a defense mechanism that we use to avoid physical or social harm. The shape of the birthmark also adds to its sin-like nature due to the negative co...

    Read More

  • The Birth-Mark

    1029 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Birth-Mark, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1843, is a story about a scientist and his wife, whose relationship is greatly impacted by science. The scientist’s wife, Georgiana, has a crimson birth-mark on her left cheek that is shaped like a hand. The scientist, Aylmer, loathes the birth-mark on Georgiana’s face, and he desperately desires to conduct a scientific experiment to remove the unique mark. In Hawthorne’s, The Birth-Mark, the theme, “love for a woman v. love of science”, is portrayed in the passion that Aylmer has for science, the love that he shows his wife, and the conflict that he has balancing both passions in his life.

    Read More

  • The Birthmark

    390 Words  | 1 Pages

    Our society has many ways of manifesting its obsession with physical perfection. In our society people go to extreme lengths to achieve perfection. The 'Birthmark';, written more than a century ago, is an early version of our modern obsession with physical perfection.

    Read More

More about Obsessing About Perfection in The Birthmark

Open Document