Sigmund Fred’s theories and beliefs about psychology are the fundamental elements of Psychoanalytic Criticism. One focus of the psychoanalytical approach to literature is "...the notion that human beings are motivated, even driven, by desires, fears, needs, and conflicts of which they are unaware..." (Tyson 14-15). Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “The Birthmark”, represents such motivational desires and fears through its main character Aylmer, who develops a deadly relationship with his wife Georgianna and her existing birthmark. This paper will argue that Aylmer’s obsession with this birthmark is a combination of his subconscious fear of the birthmark’s threat to his masculine dominance along with his subconscious desire for ultimate
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Jeffrey Howard, author of the article “Nathaniel Hawthorne’s , The Birthmark” has a similar argument in which he attributes Aylmer’s desire to remove the birthmark to his fear of it degrading his masculinity and his idea of physical perfection. Howard goes into detail and explains how the birthmark poses a threat to couple’s marriage by analyzing various forms of symbolism and allegory that exist within the story. Conor Walsh, author of the article “"Aminadab in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Birthmark” discusses Aylmer’s confrontations with nature and his inability to accept imperfections. Barbara. Eckstein, author of "Hawthorne 's "The Birthmark": Science and Romance as Belief” also argues that Aylmer longs to fix Natures’ imperfections due to his positon in society as a scientist while also explaining his desire for control. All of these sources offer an intuitive explanation for Aylmer’s obsessive want to remove Georgianna’s …show more content…
When Georgiana reads Aylmer’s journal, she finds that “his most splendid successes were almost invariably failures, if compared with the ideal at which he aimed” (Hawthorne, 336). These failed experiments demonstrates his lack of control over nature and his lack of success in his scientific endeavors. This leaves Aylmer with a desire for success and control, and “[in] his determination to conquer the birthmark lie these accumulated failures of his middle years”(Barbara, 513). Aylmer is motivated through by his failed experiments to fulfill his desire for control and success by removing Georgianna’s
Jeffrey Howard, author of the article “Nathaniel Hawthorne’s , The Birthmark” has a similar argument in which he attributes Aylmer’s desire to remove the birthmark to his fear of it degrading his masculinity and his idea of physical perfection. Howard goes into detail and explains how the birthmark poses a threat to couple’s marriage by analyzing various forms of symbolism and allegory that exist within the story. Conor Walsh, author of the article “"Aminadab in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Birthmark” discusses Aylmer’s confrontations with nature and his inability to accept imperfections. Barbara. Eckstein, author of "Hawthorne 's "The Birthmark": Science and Romance as Belief” also argues that Aylmer longs to fix Natures’ imperfections due to his positon in society as a scientist while also explaining his desire for control. All of these sources offer an intuitive explanation for Aylmer’s obsessive want to remove Georgianna’s …show more content…
When Georgiana reads Aylmer’s journal, she finds that “his most splendid successes were almost invariably failures, if compared with the ideal at which he aimed” (Hawthorne, 336). These failed experiments demonstrates his lack of control over nature and his lack of success in his scientific endeavors. This leaves Aylmer with a desire for success and control, and “[in] his determination to conquer the birthmark lie these accumulated failures of his middle years”(Barbara, 513). Aylmer is motivated through by his failed experiments to fulfill his desire for control and success by removing Georgianna’s