Science And Nature In Hawthorne's The Birthmark

In National Hawthorne’s story The Birthmark, there are several themes present. In particular, it is clear there is a struggle between science and nature. The story starts with two people who were married, one being Georgiana, who represented nature and Aylmer, her husband who represented science. Aylmer was always successful in his scientific experiments, he could invent something out of nothing, and yet failed in trying to what he thought was to fix his wife. Georgiana had the ability to calm and restore her husband's mood when she sang. This was an example of her natural ability rather than her husband's scientific abilities. Aylmer cannot look past the one minuscule birthmark on her face. Various people found it to be a touch from God, but he found it to be an experiment he must fix.
The conflict revolves around the issue of Aylmer wanting perfection in his wife, but all he sees is her one wee flaw and that leads him to try and perfect her …show more content…
Aylmer’s view and mindset are set on science and views nature as “the fatal flaw of humanity”( Keetley, 4), which is how he sees the birthmark quiet well. Georgiana was a beautiful woman he married with no flaw that he could see, but after being married, he noticed this horrid mark that only nature could have made upon his once flawless wife. This birthmark is no longer any beauty and Aylmer feels it is natures defect that is upon his wife, he has a dream that this birthmark reaches to his poor wife’s heart and that it is a deeper issue than just beauty. “He dedicates himself to rooting out a birthmark that, he believes, is the mark of death”(Keetley, 4). The nature of her beauty is no longer perfect since this deep root that the birthmark took inside of her as Aylmer sees it. He feels that no matter what he can no longer love what he once did of his wife unless he uproots this