• Home Page
  • Aylmer In Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Birth-Mark'

Aylmer In Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Birth-Mark'

Improved Essays
Show More
Aylmer, the protagonist in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birth-Mark”, is a very skilled scientist, but he’s misguided. Georgiana is a very beautiful, passionate, noble woman and who has a flaw, the red hand shaped birthmark on her left cheek.
Aylmer is an 18th-century scientist who is committed to his work. Aylmer’s entire life has been about figuring out the way that nature works. He recently married Georgiana.
Georgiana is distinctive in that she has a minuscule red birthmark on her cheek in the shape of a diminutive hand. Most men who pursued her found the birthmark attractive; some catty women said that it messed up an otherwise perfect face. Georgiana has always liked it, until Aylmer brings up the topic one day soon after their marriage.

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The Importance Of Narcissism In Hawthorne's The Birthmark
    • 1068 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Importance Of Narcissism In Hawthorne's The Birthmark

    In Hawthorne’s short story “The Birthmark,” Aylmer is a brilliant yet misguided philosopher who is overly obsessed with his wife Georgiana’s birthmark. The red birthmark is placed on the left side of her face and is shaped like a hand. He begins to strongly hate the birthmark and bluntly tells his wife that it must be removed because the birthmark is her only flaw. Aylmer decides to use her as an experiment to get rid of the birthmark to make her his idea of perfect. Of course with the help from Aylmer’s assistant Aminadad.…

    • 1068 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Flawlessness In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Birthmark
    • 792 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Flawlessness In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Birthmark

    I believe that Georgiana’s birthmark was a sign from God that no one is perfect. Her husband believes that had she not been her distinctive, admirable birthmark, she would be perfect. The question has been widely debated, should…

    • 792 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    Compare And Contrast The Birth Mark And The Minister's Black Veil
    • 1747 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Compare And Contrast The Birth Mark And The Minister's Black Veil

    Love remains a frequent topic in literature because of the countless opportunities to explore emotions and to delve into the human psyche to ponder what truly causes someone to love another person. Furthermore, love is multifaceted, and Hawthorne focuses on a different aspect of love within a relationship in each of his two stories. Although “The Birth-Mark” and “The Minister’s Black Veil” both contain elements of Puritan society, delineate the relationship between a man and his partner, and consider how far love can drive a person, each story examines a different kind of love that a man and a woman have for each other. Georgiana unconditionally loves Aylmer in the same way that Mr. Hooper unconditionally loves Elizabeth, but both of their respective partners, Aylmer and Elizabeth, conditionally love them and fixate upon a single, minute detail, the birthmark and the veil, which they perceive…

    • 1747 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    The True Perfection In The Birth-Mark By Nathaniel Hawthorne
    • 999 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The True Perfection In The Birth-Mark By Nathaniel Hawthorne

    If he genuinely loved her he would adore and appreciate everything about her, especially her charming birthmark. Moreover, when Georgiana agrees to undergo the process of removing a small but evident part of her, her birthmark, Aylmer disregards his her feelings. He inconsiderately asks her to remove it. He offers all of his attention to perfecting her beauty instead of appreciating and perfecting their relationship.…

    • 999 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Essay On Symbolism In The Birthmark
    • 729 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Essay On Symbolism In The Birthmark

    In his story The Birthmark, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the female character, Georgiana and her corresponding traits and personalities to symbolize traditional femininity and male dominance found in earlier times. He also uses this symbolism to deliver the message to the reader that perfection is not real and should not be perused, because it will eventually lead to misery. Aylmer, the husband of a beautiful woman, is in love with science perhaps as much as he is in love with his wife. But, he is not completely content with her. After marrying her, he is becoming more and more aware of a singular mark on her face: a birthmark with the shape of a hand.…

    • 729 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    The Roles Of Women In The Birthmark, By Nathaniel Hawthorne
    • 1283 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Roles Of Women In The Birthmark, By Nathaniel Hawthorne

    Weak, domestic, and familial are some of the words women in the nineteenth century were defined as. The societal expectations of wives during the nineteenth century included separate spheres, roles that they had at home, devotion they showed towards their husbands, and education they had. In the short story, “The Birthmark”, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, published in the nineteenth century gives an internal view of roles between women and men. Aylmer a men that craved science experiments, science being the main source for him, science being the one for him, he compared his love for science with the love of Georgiana, his wife. Georgiana a young woman, fancied by many men, and was very beautiful, but she had a charm on her left cheek that was seen…

    • 1283 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    The Pursuit Of Humanity In The Birthmark By Nathaniel Hawthorne
    • 1336 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Pursuit Of Humanity In The Birthmark By Nathaniel Hawthorne

    Through her death Hawthorne argues that the pursuit for perfection will ultimately leave one to nothing. His argument is revealed through the concepts that humanity is flawed because they are mortal, science cannot replace God, and perfection ultimately comes with a cost. Topic Sentence 1: One of the most important symbols presented throughout Hawthorne’s short story is Aylmer’s wife, Georgiana’s, birthmark. The birthmark symbolizes multiple things such as humanity’s flaws, insecurities, and weaknesses, which ultimately ends with the the idea of human mortality. Georgiana is a beautiful woman who is desirable by many men, however her hand-shaped birthmark…

    • 1336 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    The Theme Of Symbolism In The Birth-Mark By Nathaniel Hawthorne
    • 1261 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Theme Of Symbolism In The Birth-Mark By Nathaniel Hawthorne

    “The Birth-Mark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a story sets itself apart from the many others already read during this semester. Most of the short stories read in this class have had an ironic ending the reader wouldn’t expect. The use of foreshadowing and strange amount of predictability in this short story are what set it apart from others and is what grabbed my attention. Hawthorne uses symbolism that goes even deeper than what can be read in the story itself. Symbolism, foreshadowing, and character build up all tie into the plot, which altogether leads the reader to the overall theme of the story.…

    • 1261 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Theme Of Romanticism In Nathaniel Hawthorne's Birthmark
    • 769 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Theme Of Romanticism In Nathaniel Hawthorne's Birthmark

    Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Birthmark exhibits many examples of Romanticism in numerous ways. In particular, the characters depict the elements of Romanticism extremely well. Two aspects of Romanticism are the importance of imagination and strong emotions. In Birthmark, the wife displays these traits through her actions. The wife comes to imagine a future in which she does not have to have the “hideous” birthmark on her face anymore and submits herself to her husband’s experimentation.…

    • 769 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Imperfection In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Birthmark
    • 1268 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Imperfection In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Birthmark

    When Georgiana’s way of thinking was altered in regards to how she saw herself and that her imperfection was something to hate rather than love, she changed her perspective of what was important to her. She began to worry only about what people and Aylmer might think and no longer payed attention to what she truly cared about or how she truly felt. No one should have to feel insecure because of someone else’s opinions and we should be able to focus on the beauty…

    • 1268 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    The Significiality Of Religion In The Birthmark, By Nathaniel Hawthorne
    • 1062 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Significiality Of Religion In The Birthmark, By Nathaniel Hawthorne

    Nathaniel Hawthorne’ s short story, “The Birthmark”, demonstrates a war between the artificiality of science and the spirituality of religion. Hawthorne uses the characters Aylmer and Aminadab as symbols of ideologies and mindsets epitomized in Romanticism. Romanticism, as classified in the “The Birthmark”, is interested in the matters of imagination and artistic expression, straying from the science-driven Enlightenment philosophies that concentrate mainly around reason, logical thinking, and the strive to gain more knowledge. Aylmer’s attempt to remove the birthmark on the face of his wife, Georgiana, supplements his belief that nature can be altered or corrected. Aylmer’s ultimate defeat reflects the end of the Enlightenment era and start…

    • 1062 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Essay On The Birthmark
    • 531 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Essay On The Birthmark

    Georgiana felt like an object of disgust in her husband’s eyes, and was desperate for his approval. Georgiana fell victim of Aylmer’s superficial outlook, and felt that the removal of the birthmark was worth whatever risk she…

    • 531 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Literary Analysis Of 'The Birth-Mark' By Nathaniel Hawthorne
    • 1002 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Literary Analysis Of 'The Birth-Mark' By Nathaniel Hawthorne

    Literary Analysis of “The Birth-Mark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, “The Birth-Mark”, illustrates the characteristics of Romantic literature through allegory and symbolism. Romanticism is a type of literature or attitude that arose during the late 18th century and mid-19th century. Romanticism focused primarily on imagination, appreciation of nature and feelings and emotions over science. The purpose of this research is to explain how Nathaniel Hawthorne uses Romantic literature to warn his audience of the destructive potential of an obsession with science and the human desire for perfection and to explain what exactly motivated Aylmer in the first place. In “The Birth-Mark”, Aylmer, a newly wed, notices a small birthmark…

    • 1002 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Nature And Science In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Birthmark
    • 852 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Nature And Science In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Birthmark

    Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story The Birthmark features Aylmer, a famed scientist, and Georgiana, a beautiful woman with a unique birthmark. Throughout the story, the couple delves into the world of science as Aylmer devotes himself to removing Georgiana’s birthmark with his experiments. Hawthorne purposely pokes at scientists who envision themselves as godlike, meaning that they can control nature at their will. As the story delves further and further into Aylmer’s madness, the distinction between nature and science is made clear. The Birthmark tells readers that although science can allude humans into taking they can determine fate, at the end of it all, the true destiny of everyone and everything relies on nature.…

    • 852 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    What Is The Moral In Washington Irving's The Birthmark By Nathaniel Hawthorne
    • 1220 Words
    • 5 Pages

    What Is The Moral In Washington Irving's The Birthmark By Nathaniel Hawthorne

    Georgiana 's family and friends tell her that "some fairy, at her birth-hour, had laid her tiny hand upon the infant 's cheek," which in turn would make others love her even more. Many men would have "risked their life for the privilege of pressing his lips on the mysterious hand. " It is plain to see, to most people, that this hand print birth mark is nothing other than a gift. The imperfection only makes Georgiana more alluring, and more unique. Alymer, however, can only regard the mark, as a curse.…

    • 1220 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More

Related Topics

Ready To Get Started?
Discover
Company
Follow
©2024 Cram.com
Privacy Policy |  About Ads |  Site Map |  Advertise  | 
  • Cookie Settings