The Role of Egotism in the Demise of Humanity

When given the opportunity to gain dominance over humans, man thirsts for everlasting power. Argentine writer Julio Cortazar argues that “Human history is the sad result of each one looking out for himself” (Blair). Mere desire can easily be twisted into a dangerous obsession due to the egotistic human tendency to never be fully satisfied. For example, the slaughter of the Jews under Adolf Hitler, which is considered one of the most apocalyptic chapters of history, resulted out of Hitler’s necessity for sovereignty over others. Man obtains the inclination to use any possible means available in pursuit of personal gain, disregarding any negative consequences to others. The penalties of this are emphasized by Romantic author Nathaniel Hawthorne in his short stories “Rappaccini’s Daughter” and “The Birth-Mark”. The antagonists, Giovanni and Aylmer, demonstrate their manipulation of their authority over women in order to pursue their perpetual infatuation with scientific experimentation. The ability to exercise their self glorifying ambitions while simultaneously controlling human life threatens Romantic ideals of individualism, idealism, and love for nature in its purest form.

Exemplifying the thrill inherent in exerting dominance over another, both stories portray Aylmer and Rappaccini as God-like. The females, Beatrice and Georgiana, become the subjects of Rappaccini and Aylmer’s inquisitiveness, allowing them to be altered through the exploitation of science into subservient counterparts. In Hawthorne’s time, a patriarchal society was deeply valued. This allowed for the control of females economically, psychologically, and socially, which Beatrice is a replica of. Rappaccini tells her to perform an otherwise hazardous task to ...

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...a contributing individual of society. Similarly, the narrator of “The Birth-Mark” reveals that “we know not whether Aylmer possessed this degree of faith in man’s ultimate control over Nature” (“The Birthmark” 631). Though remaining omniscient throughout the story, the narrator admits that he has limited knowledge of Aylmer’s thoughts, which is an instance of Hawthorne hinting the boundaries of man’s power and intellect. While it is essential that man unearths the hidden perplexities of the world, there is a limit. Once humans surpass this limit, chaos occurs because of the corruption of earthly equilibrium. Hawthorne finds the relationship between pleasure and power is inherently evil because man cannot perceive themselves to be greater than one another or greater than nature; each man is equal and one with nature. Self-empowerment will only generate malevolence.