Symbolism In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Birthmark
Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Birthmark, is a short story that was written March 1843. Nathaniel Hawthorne is best known for his dreary symbolic writing in American Literature. The Birthmark is a book about a man Aylmer obsessed with his wife’s tiny imperfection of cheek none other than her birthmark. Like many other short stories and novels by Nathaniel Hawthorne. “The Birthmark" is an allegory and much of the allegorical meaning is composed through Nathaniel Hawthorne’s use of symbolism. He can not stop himself from being drawn to perfection. Georgiana finds out that her birthmark shocks her husband and he is bothered by it. Georgiana finally realizes it when Alymar says “Georgiana . . . has it ever occurred to you that the mark upon your cheek might be removed?” After talking about her it several times with Aylmer, Georgiana decides to have it removed by him. He gets so caught up in wanting that so called perfection he ends up killing her and the birthmark.
The short story The Birthmark was written more than century ago but still manages to possess our modern day obsession with physical perfection. In trying to perfect Georgiana, Aylmer is messing with God’s creation. The
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It gives a sense of ambiguity. The birthmark in this story directly symbolizes the need to be perfect in society’s eyes. Hawthorn develops in the story is the presentation of the image of Aylmer. He is a man interpreted as someone who is passionate to his wife and passionate to science. It leads us to think that the reason Aylmer create the elixir is because he wants to prove something what science was capable of. One area which ambiguity plays in the story is the interpretation of the characters in the story. Georgiana, for example can be viewed as someone who was confident and self-assured with her birthmark but later on became miserable with it after she knew that her husband disliked
Reader Response: The Birthmark: Reader's Response
947 Words | 4 PagesAt the end of the story Aylmer regretted pressuring his wife to change herself and feels remorseful for what he did. The Birthmark follows the struggles of man versus nature and man versus self. The main character Aylmer suffered no not being about to accept the flaws of his wife but also the fact that he cannot do everything, mostly because it is not his place to do these things. As the story develops the need for Aylmer to reach perfection grows stronger and later kills his wife.
The Birthmark Analysis Essay
717 Words | 3 PagesIn the story “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, he uses several techniques to help build his story. Hawthorne tells a story of a man of science whose name was Aylmer. He married a beautiful women named Georgiana, although she was quite beautiful she had a birthmark on her face which, in Aylmer’s eyes was an imperfection. Aylmer tries to perfect Georgiana, but in the end Aylmer’s attempts to change Georgiana causes him to lose her. Aylmer does not accept the idea of imperfections in people.
Obsession In Nathanial Hawthorne's The Birth-Mark
1165 Words | 5 PagesThese scholars’ arguments contribute to the story, “The Birth-Mark”, Nathanial Hawthorne expresses the common personal issue that individuals possess. The Birth-Mark was about a man named Aylmer and his obsession of science and the birth mark on his wife’s face. The birth
Similarities Between Hawthorne And The Birthmark
871 Words | 4 PagesThe tragedy of flaws Two tragedies, two stories of women who were in otherwise normal marriages. The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a short story about scientist named Aylmer who becomes obsessed with perfecting the beauty of his wife Georgiana (Nathaniel Hawthorne 113). Georgiana has a small birthmark on her cheek that resembles a small hand. Over time Aylmer’s negative reactions to the sight of the birthmark pushes Georgiana emotionally to give in and go through the dangerous process of it’s removal, which ultimately cost Georgiana her life. The story of an Hour by Kate Chopin is about a woman Louise who has a heart condition and is married to a man named Brently Mallard.
Perfection In The Birthmark And Eye Of The Beholder
781 Words | 4 PagesIntro: Nathaniel Hawthorne’s fictional short story “The Birthmark” and The Twilight Zone’s darkly romantic episode “Eye of the Beholder” both use gothic elements and delve into the realm of science to explore concepts of beauty and perfection. Through their contrasting characterizations of the scientist and employments of irony and allusions, each work comes to its own conclusions about how to define and treat beauty. Body #1: The Birthmark From the very first paragraph, Hawthorne’s story revolves around Aylmer, a scientist who supposedly gives up his career to marry the beautiful woman of his dreams, Georgiana.
Examples Of Archetypes In The Birthmark
549 Words | 3 PagesHis obsession over the birthmark became overwhelming for his loving wife, to the point where she feels as if “a red-hot iron had touched her cheek” whenever the birthmark is mentioned. While she once referred to her mark as a “charm” she changes her tone to describe it negatively after she now associates it as the object of Aylmer’s “horror and disgust.” To intensify Aylmer’s obsession leading to Georgiana’s insecurity, it is mentioned that he did not think about the birthmark until after they had married, after Georgiana had grown to love Aylmer and his view of her
Obsession In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Birthmark
941 Words | 4 PagesIn The Birthmark, Hawthorne depicts the obsession for perfection, the tole it takes on one and the consequences it has. The quest for perfection is unrealistic and unobtainable as we are only mere humans incapable of reconstructing our DNA. In The Birthmark, Hawthorne tells the story of a woman named Georgiana and her scientist husband Aylmer, who are both fixated on a birthmark similar to the look of a tiny human hand. Aylmer is disgusted by Georgiana’s birthmark, wanting to please her husband Georgiana is willing to do anything for him to look at her in a normal manner “Danger is nothing to me;for life which this hateful mark
Hawthorne The Birthmark Analysis
1139 Words | 5 PagesThe true essence of “The Birthmark” is infiltrated through the hidden structure of the strength of a woman. As we unpack the passion behind the obsession that Aylmer presents with his genius in science, on the surface, one may recognize his obscenity and categorize it as a reflection of masculine control. Though, this is in fact true, what strikes as an unbeknownst strength is the hidden sacrifice that Georgiana represents as she succumbs to her spouse and his desire to make her “perfect”. As Hawthorne structures this sacrifice as a mere testament of how women of the late 1700’s - 1800’s valued the perspective of their spouse, it is necessary to extract how this act of selflessness attributes to the amount of love and respect Georgiana has for
The Birthmark Character Analysis
573 Words | 3 Pages(Hawthorne 295) This shows that she could not get out of her head the way Aylmer would looked at her birthmark. It scared her to she would continue to have to deal with the ridicule from him. No Matter how many times Georgiana hints at not wanting the procedure done, Aylmer continues to reassure her that she would not be harmed. Aylmer is so overjoyed about the birthmark being gone that he barely realizes his wife is in distress.
Examples Of Figurative Language In The Birthmark
590 Words | 3 PagesThe Birthmark The short story “The Birthmark” was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1834. The story follows a brilliant, yet insane scientist named Aylmer. He creates so many brilliant inventions in hoping to improve his life; his wife is just as perfect, despite a small hand shaped birthmark on her cheek. While Georgiana is considered gorgeous and beautiful by hundreds of men, only Aylmer sees the fault in the birthmark and deems it as a flaw that only he can fix with science. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbolism and figurative language to help convey the meaning of the short story to readers.
Georgiana's Birthmark Symbolism
408 Words | 2 PagesIt shows that our flaws make up a large part of who we are which make it very difficult to separate the two. To remove it would only result in failure. Aylmer finally is able to remove “the last crimson tint of the birthmark -- that sole token of human imperfection” (13). The mark shows that people are inherently imperfect and it’s what makes us human. Once Aylmer removes that imperfection, Georgiana dies because it is impossible to obtain perfection as a person.
Symbolism In The Birthmark By Nathaniel Hawthorne
824 Words | 4 PagesSymbolism in “The Birthmark” In “The Birthmark” Nathaniel Hawthorne gives us a story that is telling us on some level to accept your own, as well as other people's imperfections or it could destroy not only your relationship with them, but also your relationship with yourself. In this story Hawthorne uses symbolism to show us exactly how this kind of behavior can lead to not just ruining relationships, but in this case even death. In “The Birthmark” Hawthorne uses a wide variety of objects and people such as a withering flower, a birthmark, poison, Aylmer's dream and Georgiana's death, and even a character named Aminidab to symbolize that nobody is in fact perfect and we all must accept each others flaws in order to have good and healthy relationships.
Georgiana's Unhealthy Relationship In The Birthmark By Nathaniel Hawthorne
791 Words | 4 PagesIn the short story “The Birthmark”, Nathaniel Hawthorne writes about a scientist, his wife, and the unhealthy relationship they share. The story follows Aylmer, a scientist, who is determined to remove his wife Georgiana’s birthmark. One aspect of their unhealthy relationship is Georgiana’s sole dependance on Aylmer. Furthermore, Aylmer does not view Georgiana as his equal. Not only this, but Aylmer frequently belittles her, continuously pointing out her flaws, which drives her to do something dangerous.
Examples Of Romanticism In The Birthmark
619 Words | 3 Pages“The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, “The Birthmark”, is an exemplary example of Dark Romanticism in early American literature. An abundance of romantic characteristics such as supernatural elements, intuition over reasoning, and the tendency to focus on the tragedy of the story are found throughout the Dark Romantic piece. Many examples of the supernatural trademarks are evident throughout the piece. One being, Hawthorne describes Georgiana’s hand to look as if, “...some fairy at her birth hour had laid her tiny hand upon the infant's cheek, and left this impress there in token of the magic endowments that were to give her such sway over all hearts” (6).
Theme Of Perfection In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Birthmark
416 Words | 2 PagesThe Price of Perfection Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote the short story “The Birthmark” in 1843 and it is set at a time when science was an emerging field. Science at that time was unexplainable and mysterious to the common person which lead to it being referred to as magic. One of the themes that is common in Hawthorne's work is the sinful nature and impurity that is at the heart of each person. Hawthorne shows the dilemma of the flawed nature of a person and the ultimate price of perfection that will be paid.
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