Nathaniel Hawthorne was a 19th-century New England writer best known for writing The Scarlet Letter.Many of his works reflect his somewhat Puritan background and are highly moralistic. Birthmark removal is typically done on an outpatient basis and may even be done in a dermatologist’s office rather than a hospital. James. When Aylmer remembers the details of his dream, Georgiana declares that she would rather risk her life having the birthmark removed from her cheek than to continue to endure Aylmer's horror and distress that comes upon him when he sees her. Aylmer is a brilliant and recognized scientist and philosopher who has dropped his focus from his career and experiments to marry the beautiful Georgiana (who is physically perfect except for a small red birthmark in the shape of a hand on her cheek). The birth mark can also symbolize death. Detroit: Gale, 2006Fetterley,Judith. Many a gentleman would have risked his …
"The Birth-Mark" served as the main inspiration for the song " Similarly, instead of obsessing over Georgiana's splendid beauty, he quickly forgets it.
No, dearest Georgiana, you came so n…
Albert J. von. The Birthmark Novel Analysis . "Nathaniel Hawthorne 1804-1864: A Brief Biography", Youra, Steven.
Heilman, Robert B. American Transcendental Quarterly 60 (June 1986): 43-51. Like many of the tales Hawthorne wrote during his time living in "The Birthmark" Aylmer watches and rejoices as the birthmark fades little by little. McIntosh, Ed. He glances at Georgiana casually and normally but can't help but shudder violently at seeing her imperfection; Aylmer's reaction causes her to faint.
Hawthorne often holds certain moral values up as exemplary and, at the same time, points out that man is failing miserably in attaining them.
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The birthmark does indeed fade, leaving her a vision of perfect beauty, a spirit unblemished in the flesh, but Georgiana is dead. Frank, Ed. The narrator introduces Aylmer, a brilliant yet lonely scientist who is "proficient in every natural branch of philosophy" (Hawthorne 152). "'The Fatal Hand': A Sign of Confusion in Hawthorne's 'The Birth-Mark.'." \"Georgiana,\" said he, \"has it never occurred to you that the mark upon your cheek might be removed?\" \"No, indeed,\" said she, smiling; but perceiving the seriousness of his manner, she blushed deeply. Wright refers to Nancy Bunge's observation that "because Aminadab possesses vast physical strength and 'earthiness' he undertakes to perform unpleasant tasks in order to free Aylmer to 'cultivate delusions of transcendence'". Aylmer is a scientist and husband to Georgiana. Wright, Sarah Bird. This type of story has biblical symmetry to Jesus' "Sermon on the Mount" in Matthew 7.
This similarity cannot be overlooked and can be analyzed as an indictment of the remnants of Puritan culture in New England at the time. Georgiana is human and mortal because of the one imperfection on her left cheek. The irony of Aylmer's obsession and pursuit is that he was a man whose "most splendid successes were almost invariably failures."
However, the potion had side effects, and Georgiana soon tells her husband that she is slowly dying. As the story progresses, Aylmer becomes unnaturally obsessed with the birthmark on Georgiana's cheek. The tale examines obsession with human perfection. He agrees and reveals that his current experiment is his last attempt to remove the birthmark, and Georgiana vows to take the potion, regardless of any danger it poses to her. He does not remember this dream until Georgiana asks about what his sleep-talking meant. Nathaniel Hawthorne, Massachusetts, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, National Register of Historic Places The skin is not thickened and feels no different from anywhere else on the body; the only difference is in appearance. He elects to cut out her heart as well in his attempt to remove the birthmark.
Georgiana's death is foreshadowed in Aylmer's dream of cutting out the mark, in which he discovers the birthmark is connected to her heart. When Aylmer remembers the details of his dream, Georgiana declares that she would risk her life having the birthmark removed from her cheek rather than to continue to endure Aylmer's horror and distress that comes upon him when he sees her. One day, she follows him into his laboratory, and on seeing her there, Aylmer accuses her of not trusting him and says that having her birthmark in the room will foil his efforts. The scientist and his helper seem to be physically opposites. with these useful links.Get ready to write your paper on "The Birthmark".
Upon seeing this and trusting her distressed husband, Georgiana drinks the concocted potion and promptly falls asleep.
As the story progresses, Aylmer becomes unnaturally obsessed with the birthmark on Georgiana's cheek. In this manner, selecting it as the symbol of his wife's liability to sin, sorrow, decay, and death, Aylmer's sombre imagination was not long in rendering the birth-mark a frightful object..." It is in human nature to be imperfect. In the end, Aylmer’s attempt to control nature with science ends only in death and unhappiness. See a complete list of the characters in "The Birthmark" and in-depth analyses of Aylmer and Georgiana. That a man of so many failures would be trying to perfect someone else is both ironic and allegorical. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. See a complete list of the characters in The birth mark portrays Nathaniel Hawthorne's belief in that human imperfection cannot be separated out of our humanity. He experiments some more and describes some of the successes to her but as he questions how she is feeling, Georgiana begins to suspect that Aylmer has been experimenting on her the entire time without her knowledge and consent.
The helper more coarse and earthly.
Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. Georgiana's past lovers used to say that the hand of a magical fairy had touched her face when she was born.