Theme Of Isolation In The Birthmark
Introduction: In “The Birthmark” and “Eye of the Beholder,” the authors flip our notion of beauty on its head and bring into question the concept of modern day beauty and who is fit to determine what denotes a beautiful person. They achieve this through the uses of irony, characterization, and isolation.
Subject 1- The Birthmark
Lit Technique 1- Concept of Isolation
“Georgiana's past lovers used to say that the hand of a magical fairy had touched her face when she was born. Many a gentleman would have risked his life for the honor of kissing that mysterious hand.”
This concept of isolation relates to our modern concept as beauty, because if you’re not beautiful in our society, lots of people will treat you differently unfortunately.
Lit Technique 2- Irony
“Male observers who did not praise the mark simply wished it away so that they did not see it. After his marriage, Aylmer discovered that this was the case with himself.”
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Same as Janet Tyler’s situation, in modern society it’s the same case if you’re not considered beautiful you are outcasted.
Lit Technique 2- Irony
What was deemed beautiful in this society, would be extremely ugly in ours. Everyone had gills and pig noses.
Questions what beauty actually is and if it is skin deep and who can decide what beauty is.
Lit Technique 3- Characterization of the Male Doctor
Doctor Bernardi has looked deeper under those bandages and has seen a real human underneath there.
Unlike Aylmer who loses sight of his humanity, Doctor Bernardi maintains it and sees that even though Janet might be ugly, she is still a human being and should be treated as such.
Conclusion: Through the uses of irony, isolation, and characterization, the authors of The Birthmark and Eye of The Beholder, question and criticize our modern concept of beauty, in order to see how much power we truly give into
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