Nathaniel Hawthorne's Birthmark
Nathaniel Hawthorne, writer of “The Birthmark”, included dark romanticism elements in his text. This tale focuses on a scientist named Aylmer, who is married to Georgina. Aylmer’s ultimate goal is to removes Georgina’s hand shaped birthmark on her cheek. Eventually, he invents a potion, which led to the removal of Georgina’s birthmark; unfortunately it also leads to Georgina’s death. The elements of dark romanticism are clearly portrayed in this tale, yet the question is raised whether Hawthorne successfully portrayed the allegory of Georgiana’s birthmark, and his portrayal of the characters’ traits will be crucial in the critical examination of whether this allegory is strong enough for ...
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the “birthmark” physically signifies “flaw” or “imperfection, it is symbolically pointing to human’s flaws which are natural and can become beautiful in their context. Yet, to Aylmer, who privileged the mind, it signifies sin. This is to say, he thought about it as a flaw that indicated the human capacity to sin. On the other hand, to Aminabad, who was Aylmer’s helper, Georgina’s birthmark signifies beauty, difference or a sort of originality. In this tale, Aminabad was the only character that thought of the birthmark as a beautiful ornament in Georgiana’s body; for him it symbolizes more than beauty but actually nature’s beauty.
Mother Nature is a common personification of nature that focuses on the life giving and nurturing features of nature by embodying it in the form of the mother . This female personification of nature is timeless. Thought prehistoric, history goddesses were worshipped for their association with fertility, fecundity, and agricultural bounty. In Nathaniel ...
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the power of science, and also humans’ (i.e. men) constant attempt to control and challenge nature. Contradictory to these themes, the hand shaped “birthmark” ultimately represents the power of nature having a direct hand in every living thing or any object, especially on a “flaw”. Hawthorne’s use of symbolism, explicitly through the “birthmark” symbol and his portrayal of each character trait, demonstrates how his use of the allegory throughout the short story supports the idea of imperfection being natural, thus beautiful.
Aylmer’s fixation on Georgiana’s birthmark started soon after their wedding. One day, while Aylmer was gazing at Georgiana’s “flaw”, which he could not bear ...
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"Nathaniel Hawthorne's Birthmark." Essayworld.com. April 19, 2011. Accessed April 25, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Nathaniel-Hawthornes-Birthmark/98183.
"Nathaniel Hawthorne's Birthmark." Essayworld.com. April 19, 2011. Accessed April 25, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Nathaniel-Hawthornes-Birthmark/98183.
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