“The Birthmark”
“The Birthmark” is a short story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne uses his experiments not working like he plans, His wife’s voice being the only thing to cheer him up, and his obsession of removing her imperfection to make her perfect. These symbolize how man wants the world to be perfect.
“In the latter part of the last century there lived a man of science, an eminent proficient in every branch of natural philosophy” (Hawthorne). Nathaniel Hawthorne uses Aylmer’s experiments to represent man striving for perfection. Aylmer of “The Birthmark” is an accomplished scientist, but he aspires to divinity. He hints that, if he put his mind to it, he could create a human being (From Aylmer's experiment). He will do anything to remove his wife’s imperfection. Aylmer makes a potion that he is going to use on his wife to remove her mark. This potion eventually leads to her death.
Hawthorne show the power of nature when Aylmer is feeling down and none of his potions will cheer him up. No potion can fix how he is feeling. The only thing that makes him smile is the sound of his wife Georgiana singing to him. “She poured out the liquid music of her …show more content…
He loses sight of her beauty and only focuses on her imperfection. Aylmer spends much of his life with her thinking of scientific ways he can remove the mark. He dreams of doing the experiment of removing her mark and cutting her heart out. ”He had fancied himself with his servant Aminadab, attempting an operation for the removal of the birthmark; but the deeper went the knife, the deeper sank the hand, until at length its tiny grasp appeared to have caught hold of Georgiana's heart” (Hawthorne). By removing it, Aylmer secretly hopes to prove that nothing, not even death, lies beyond the correction of his science. Thus, the blemish becomes associated with fear; what Aylmer considers a “frightful object” (Artists and
“The Birthmark” is a short story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne uses his experiments not working like he plans, His wife’s voice being the only thing to cheer him up, and his obsession of removing her imperfection to make her perfect. These symbolize how man wants the world to be perfect.
“In the latter part of the last century there lived a man of science, an eminent proficient in every branch of natural philosophy” (Hawthorne). Nathaniel Hawthorne uses Aylmer’s experiments to represent man striving for perfection. Aylmer of “The Birthmark” is an accomplished scientist, but he aspires to divinity. He hints that, if he put his mind to it, he could create a human being (From Aylmer's experiment). He will do anything to remove his wife’s imperfection. Aylmer makes a potion that he is going to use on his wife to remove her mark. This potion eventually leads to her death.
Hawthorne show the power of nature when Aylmer is feeling down and none of his potions will cheer him up. No potion can fix how he is feeling. The only thing that makes him smile is the sound of his wife Georgiana singing to him. “She poured out the liquid music of her …show more content…
He loses sight of her beauty and only focuses on her imperfection. Aylmer spends much of his life with her thinking of scientific ways he can remove the mark. He dreams of doing the experiment of removing her mark and cutting her heart out. ”He had fancied himself with his servant Aminadab, attempting an operation for the removal of the birthmark; but the deeper went the knife, the deeper sank the hand, until at length its tiny grasp appeared to have caught hold of Georgiana's heart” (Hawthorne). By removing it, Aylmer secretly hopes to prove that nothing, not even death, lies beyond the correction of his science. Thus, the blemish becomes associated with fear; what Aylmer considers a “frightful object” (Artists and