Perhaps its removal may cause cureless deformity; or it may be the stain goes as deep as life itself.”” (Hawthorne 215). Aylmer tries to reassure her that he has thought this through many times and that nothing bad would happen. I am not sure if she quite trusts him as much as she wants to please him and hear him stop speaking of her birthmark in such a negative way. Georgiana becomes repulsed of herself due to her husband 's incessant need to perfect what has no fatal
He decides that he can tolerate everything about his wife except the birthmark, which to him was a primary indication of just how imperfect his wife was. He obsesses over the issue and insists that she must get rid of it irrespective of the threat that this poses to the life of his wife. Irrespective of how Georgina feels about the issues, he insists as the only way he can be with her is if she met his perception of what an ideal wife should look like. And this is an issue that is still prevalent in the society even today. Women fail to realize that their self-worth goes way beyond their physical appearance and are willing to go to such great lengths that they believe will make people in the society accept them.
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.
He is so egotistical that when Cordelia explains her love for him is that of a daughter for her father, he becomes enraged. He desires to hear she loves him more than she could love anyone, ever. Cordelia: Good my lord, You have begot me, bred me, loved me. I return those duties back as are right fit: Obey you, love you, and most honor you........ That lord whose hand must take my plight shall carry Half my love with him, half my care and duty. Sure I shall never marry like my sisters, To love my father all.
Her love for her father is simply too great to describe in words, unlike the sheer flattery her two elder sisters spouted. “Then poor Cordelia! (to herself) And yet not so, Zhou 2 since I am sure my love's more ponderous than my tongue” (11). Although Cordelia is Lear's favorite daughter, Lear's misconceptions prevented him from listening t... ... middle of paper ... ...elming his heart as well, for his imprudence had killed the purest love given to him by his most beloved daughter. A mistrust of the good and complete trust of the evil brought about the Gods' punishment on mere mankind.
We as men try at all cost to remove all taints of imperfection from ourselves. Georgiana was a beautiful and wonderful creature with a birthmark on her left cheek but Aylmer desired to make his wife prettier by removing the birthmark on her cheek. He was so fixated on her small imperfection that he failed to realize the loveliness of his wife. This goes to show how we as men are obsessed with our imperfections and will go to any extent to correct it but what we don’t understand is that we cannot correct nature. Hawthorne said that“This one visible mark of earthly imperfection provides the impetus of anxiety that haunts Georgiana’s husband and Georgiana herself.” The birthmark happens to be
We immediately get the notion that Lear is attention loving and that he loves flattery. As the scene develops we also discover that he knows almost nothing about his daughters, as he couldn?t recognize their falseness. As long as his eldest daughters flattered him, he was happy. He doesn?t even recognize honesty, as he scolds Cordelia for being true when she told him ?I love your majesty according to my bond, no more nor less?. Lear shows poor judgment when he banishes his favorite daughter and leaves her without a dowry.
Hawthorne’s story describes the harmful effects of Aylmer’s obsession with the almost-perfection of his wife. Aylmer initially did not seem to notice or care about the small birthmark on Georgiana’s cheek. But soon after they marry, the birthmark haunts him, until he no longer cares about anything else. Alymer is not content with simply having his wife the way she is; she must be perfect. He relates this imperfection to sin; “it was the fatal flaw of humanity… the symbol of his wife’s liability to sin, sorrow, decay, and death” (Hawthorne, 633).
Eventually his love of praise and flattery will be the reason he is destroyed and then dies. His youngest daughter, Cordelia does not give him the answer he wants so he flies into a rage and then disowns her. He is too blind to realize that she is the one who really loves him. He also doesn’t care that by disowning her, he will make it hard for her to get a husband. King Lear is a ruler who cares only about all the things that come with being the king, especially his title.
Cordelia, his youngest and favourite daughter, will not be drawn into this. "Unhappy that I am I cannot heave My heart into my mouth. I love your Majesty According to my bond; nor more nor less." I.i.87-89 Cordelia's refusal to flatter her father during the love test may suggest to the audience that she is not only disobeying her father, but also committing political sui... ... middle of paper ... ..., is one of great pain and sorrow. It eventually leads Lear to madness and it is only then that he sees the true reasons behind his treatment.