An analysis of the short story the birthmark by nathaniel hawthorne
The birthmark nathaniel hawthorne pdf
He disappears for hours and then shows her his cabinet of wonders. Georgiana is appalled, but Aylmer says the poison is more good than bad. Now he will resume his studies of the creation of life. Still, to figure out how to remove the birthmark, Aylmer returns to his old pursuits concerning the chemical origins of life. He introduces us to a scientist and philosopher called Aylmer who has stopped his work for a while to marry a beautiful woman called Georgiana. Georgiana asks if it might be possible to remove it, acknowledging that the attempt could be dangerous. She takes a look in the mirror and smiles. Next he tries to create a portrait of her with a metal plate, but when the plate shows a hand, he throws it into acid.Georgiana has had many suitors, and they have reacted to the birthmark in different ways. She willingly drinks it.
The birthmark setting
She begins to feel unloved and imperfect, so much, that she is willing to risk everything to get the birthmark erased. In her room, Georgiana thinks about how noble it is that Aylmer refuses to love her as she is, insisting instead to create his ideal version of her. Aminadab, Aylmer's assistant, comes out to assist in shifting unconscious Georgiana to another room. Hawthorne was born on July 4, in Salem, Massachusetts. She promises to drink whatever he tells her to drink. Contrary to being oblivious to his failures, Aylmer seems to be very bothered by them, perhaps explaining why he cares so much about succeeding in this experiment so that he can have a perfect wife and come a little closer to perfection himself. How to cite this page Choose cite format:. Her body feels strange. Aylmer hastily destroys the image. Georgiana is horrified and hurt.However, he gave up on this attempt because nature makes it easy to mess things up, only rarely makes it possible to fix things, and definitely does not allow the creation of life from nothing. She stands her ground and refuses, saying he should trust her and not try to hide his fears.
The birthmark quotes
Relationships are difficult to begin and harder to maintain. Aylmer reassures her that he now loves the birthmark because it will be so wonderful to get rid of it. She cheerfully says no but grows serious when she sees that he asked the question seriously. Active Themes Georgiana pleads with Aylmer not to look at the birthmark. This serves as a reminder that Georgiana is human and that, so long as that is the case, it is unfeasible to achieve perfection of any kind. Furthermore, Aylmer is obviously not as confident as he wants Georgiana to think he is. Aylmer sees only that he can now unite his love of science with his love of Georgiana. Aylmer tells her that he had dreamed that he removed the birthmark, which ran beyond her skin and went deep down to her heart, which he decided to cut out. He shows her another potion that can erase out any freckles, but he believes her scar will need a much deeper cure. Active Themes Next, Aylmer presents Georgiana with a pot of dirt. He asks her to sing for him to raise his spirits, which he readily does. Active Themes One day soon after Aylmer and Georgiana are married, Aylmer asks his wife if she has ever considered trying to remove the birthmark on her cheek.Instead of getting plastic surgery, a toupee, using steroids, or dieting excessively, people would be better off accepting who they truly are.
As a result, Hawthorne is commenting on the fact that, in the real world, it is virtually impossible to attain flawlessness.
A few hours later, Georgiana goes to the laboratory to find Aylmer. The analysis of these two stories show both similarities as well as the differences between the main themes of Vampirism, Communion.