Symbolism In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Birthmark

Men and women will always strive for perfection whether it is in themselves or in each other. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s allegory “The Birthmark, “ the audience is informed of a young couple, Aylmer and Georgiana. Then soon transpires into a husband's obsession with his wife's flaw, “The birthmark.” The young husband gets too wrapped up in fixing his wife that he forgets to show her attention and love. Incapable of feeling anything but determination to make his wife perfect; he uses a potion to remove the birthmark. The potion successfully begins to fade the birthmark however, the potion also fades his wife's life as well. . Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbolism to give “The Birthmark” a deeper meaning, foreshadowing to build suspense, and third …show more content…

The use of third person omniscient tence gives the readers the ability to know Aylmer’s and Georgiana’s thoughts throughout the story. We can understand the tense of the narrator when he states, “Now, however, Aylmer resumed these half-forgotten investigations; not, of course, with such hopes or wishes as first suggested them; but because they involved much physiological truth and lay in the path of his proposed scheme for the treatment of Georgiana” (617). Many believe that Hawthorne is showing the readers that humans themselves are full of limitations that they are unaware of. The narrator of this story seems to have a lot of harsh opinions about the birthmark itself. Lynn Shakinovsky states her believe that, “Much critical attention has been focused on the mark; clearly the way in which the mark is "read" is fundamental to any interpretation of the story” (1). Thus when Georgiana dies the readers are unaware of Aylmer's emotions due to the narrator. At this point readers must really be dreading to have the ability to read Aylmer’s mind. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark”, was a dark romanticism full of drama and suspense. The short story’s twisted plot line and daring characters made for a great read. Hawthorne’s use of symbolism, foreshadowing, and third person omniscient tence to helped the readers deeper understand what his meaning behind the