Similarities Between The Birthmark And The Eye Of The Beholder

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Prompt: Both “The Birthmark” and “Eye of the Beholder” provide treatments of beauty and perfection. Write an essay in which you compare and contrast the two texts, analyzing how each uses literary devices to make its point.

Intro
Beauty is a subjective due to what pleases society. The way in which appearance is viewed is determined by what our culture deems “normal.” This controversial discussion of what exactly beauty is, is explored throughout the texts “The Birthmark and “Eye of the Beholder.” The contrasting views of the cultural norm of beauty’s evident as characters get ostracized due to their natural features. A similar process, however, can be found in both examples to deal with the nuisance of different looking people. Either they …show more content…

They both undergo extensive scientific experiments and medical treatment throughout the story in order to become the way society believes they should be.
The Birthmark: Despite Georgiana’s beautiful appearance, she had a birthmark on half her face that was determined as unacceptable to her husband. Because of this flaw, he conducted countless scientific experiments in order to change her.
Here we see where Georgiana accepts what she must do to please her husband. She convinces herself that she isn’t normal because of her husband’s obsession with her flaw. The perception of her in Aylmer’s eyes determines how she sees herself, which is often what happens today in our world.
QUOTE “Danger is nothing to me; for life, while this hateful mark makes me the object of your horror and disgust,—life is a burden which I would fling down with joy. Either remove this dreadful hand, or take my wretched life!”
QUOTE “Not even Aylmer now hated it so much as …show more content…

Whenever other characters come into play, they’re trying to fix Georgiana or Miss Taylor so they can be acceptable.
The Birthmark: By being confined to her room, her communication is cut off and she is left to contemplate her existence. The lack of access she had to anyone with the same situation as her, makes the silence more deafening.
QUOTE “They were to seclude themselves in the extensive apartments occupied by Aylmer as a laboratory…”
QUOTE “In his interviews with Georgiana, Aylmer generally made minute inquiries as to her sensations and whether the confinement of the rooms and the temperature of the atmosphere agreed with her.”
Eye of the Beholder: Left in the hospital room with bandages over her face, all Miss Taylor can see is darkness. This leaves herself to only her own thoughts and not even eyesight to distract herself. Any communication with others is through nurses and doctors that come to check up on her. At the beginning, she never wants the bandages to come off her face but then her mind changes once the doctor comes in to check on her. This ironic display of indecisiveness represents the constant war that must be going on inside her head.
Body paragraph: gothic/dark romantic

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