Free Essays on The Birthmark

Vanity and pride are often considered major sins of the flesh. In Hawthorne’s â€Å"The Birthmark†, vanity and pride play major roles in the downfall of the characters, especially Georgiana. Georgiana is responsible for her own fate to a limited extent due to her husband’s vanity, the time period she lived in, and her own soft personality. The reader is able to follow Georgiana’s downfall throughout the story until the final climax of her personality flaws and Aylmer’s sins ends in her death. The primary cause of Georgiana’s downfall was one that was out of her control. She mainly fell victim to her husband’s vanity. Georgiana’s birthmark was a part of her and she was accustomed to seeing it upon her cheek. She received compliments about it. The fact that the birthmark was emblazoned on her cheek had never been a cause of concern for her. For Aylmer, the birthmark was a flaw that grew more egregious with every passing day. Aylmer was so concerned with Georgiana’s only physical flaw that his vanity took over his rational thinking. Georgiana fell victim to his vanity due to the fact that she wanted to be pleasing to her husband, and the only way for her to be pleasing to Aylmer was to be rid of the birthmark. Georgiana also fell victim to the time period in which she existed. In Georgiana’s society a woman was subject to her husband. Aylmer wanted to remove the birthmark; Georgiana would not refute him. The birthmark made Georgiana an abomination to her husband. This played heavily enough on Georgiana’s psyche that she began to become self-conscious about the mark. Georgiana is so desperate to fit her husband’s ideal that she is willing to give her life, if it means the birthmark would be refuted and she would be perfect in Aylmer’s eyes. This factor was somewhat out of Georgiana’s control. Women of her time were conditioned to be complacent; therefore, she felt compelled to do her husband... Free Essays on The Birthmark Free Essays on The Birthmark Vanity and pride are often considered major sins of the flesh. In Hawthorne’s â€Å"The Birthmark†, vanity and pride play major roles in the downfall of the characters, especially Georgiana. Georgiana is responsible for her own fate to a limited extent due to her husband’s vanity, the time period she lived in, and her own soft personality. The reader is able to follow Georgiana’s downfall throughout the story until the final climax of her personality flaws and Aylmer’s sins ends in her death. The primary cause of Georgiana’s downfall was one that was out of her control. She mainly fell victim to her husband’s vanity. Georgiana’s birthmark was a part of her and she was accustomed to seeing it upon her cheek. She received compliments about it. The fact that the birthmark was emblazoned on her cheek had never been a cause of concern for her. For Aylmer, the birthmark was a flaw that grew more egregious with every passing day. Aylmer was so concerned with Georgiana’s only physical flaw that his vanity took over his rational thinking. Georgiana fell victim to his vanity due to the fact that she wanted to be pleasing to her husband, and the only way for her to be pleasing to Aylmer was to be rid of the birthmark. Georgiana also fell victim to the time period in which she existed. In Georgiana’s society a woman was subject to her husband. Aylmer wanted to remove the birthmark; Georgiana would not refute him. The birthmark made Georgiana an abomination to her husband. This played heavily enough on Georgiana’s psyche that she began to become self-conscious about the mark. Georgiana is so desperate to fit her husband’s ideal that she is willing to give her life, if it means the birthmark would be refuted and she would be perfect in Aylmer’s eyes. This factor was somewhat out of Georgiana’s control. Women of her time were conditioned to be complacent; therefore, she felt compelled to do her husband... Free Essays on The Birthmark In â€Å"The Birthmark†, Hawthorne described a young scientist who killed his own wife by pursuing a â€Å"perfect future† (1) while trying to remove a birthmark on his wife’s face. This becomes an obsession to Alymer and this obsession proves to be fatal to Gerogiana. The Birthmark on Georgiana face was not seen as ugly but merely as an imperfection to her overall beauty. It was the birth mark that made her human. â€Å"Nature, in one shape or another, stamps ineffaceable on all her reproductions†(2). When Alymer married Gerogiana he put little thought into the birth mark that was on her face. During the marriage Alymer became obsessed with the mark and believed it to be her â€Å"liability to sin, sorrow, decay, and death†(2). Alymer becomes increasingly obsessed with the mark and Gerorgiana tells Alymer to â€Å"do whatever necessary to remove the birth mark no matter what the consequences†(3). She tells him this instead of going off and finding someone who was perfect in his eyes. This is her downfall. She is willing to risk her life for her perfection so that her husband will have a peace of mind. She would do â€Å"what ever necessary to relieve her husband from his misery caused by her birth mark†(3). Some believed that Georgiana’s birthmark was actually the source of her life. That the mark on her face was connected to her blood line that kept her body going with the blood necessary to live. The birth mark was â€Å"In the centre of Georgiana’s left cheek,†¦a singular mark, deeply interwoven, as it were with the texture and substance of her face†(2). The birth mark â€Å"serves as the grasp that nature holds on her† (2) Nature has put a balance on all life. Georgiana was perfect in every way except for her birth mark. Nature put the birth mark on her to keep the balance of life. When Alymer attempted to remove the birth mark he altered the balance. â€Å"Since nature can not be changed or altered†¦punishmen... Free Essays on The Birthmark The Birthmark Imperfections are found in everyone. The difference is that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Those in true love, love unconditionally. The flaws they find in those they love are found to be unique, and make them more amazing to their lover. If someone is not in love, but they believe they are, the quirks and flaws they find in the person can be found to completely destroy the perfect picture they had created for themselves. In the story, â€Å"The Birthmark,† by Hawthorne, the flaw of the Georgiana starts to nag at Aylmer, he forgets all that he loves about her which allows him to be disgusted with her flaw will and drive him completely insane Although the two characters, Aylmer and Georgiana, in â€Å"The Birthmark† believe they are in love, Aylmer is not. In the beginning of their relationship, Aylmer believes Georgiana is gorgeous, but shortly after their marriage, he begins to pick at her most noticeable blemish. The hand shaped birthmark on her left cheek was thought by her other lovers that a fairy had pressed a tiny hand to her face at her birth and this impression was left. At first Aylmer didn’t mind her minor flaw, but soon it began to drive him mad. When she blushes, it conceals itself among her rosy cheek, but when she is pale, it sticks out at him. He finds her now to be imperfect and will risk her life to change her appearance and to make it perfect. Knowing how many times he has failed at most of his experiments, Aylmer will still put Georgiana’s life in danger in order to succumb to his own needs. This in essence shows us that he truly does not care about Georgiana, while she on the other hand is so blindly in love with him that even knowing the consequences still goes along with his experiment. She cares more about Aylmer’s happiness then she does of her own which shows that she loves him unselfishly. At first she is very upset by his suggestion that she should get it removed, b... Free Essays on The Birthmark Individualism In the story â€Å"The Birthmark† by Nathaniel Hawthorne there is an underlying theme of individualism. The character Aylmer is a scientific person. The fact that the whole story is about removing a physical flaw from Georgiana’s face when she is obviously beautiful demonstrates the degree of individualism between men and women. Men’s lives are public and open to society and the lives of women are private. As the story progresses Aylmer sees the birth mark as progressively more repugnant when he originally found Georgiana beautiful. Aylmer only sees Georgiana’s superficial beauty and no longer sees her for her inner beauty, the beauty of nature. Aylmer is a man, who in his time had a public life. The lives of women were seen differently than the lives of men. Women’s lives tend to be more private. The theme of individualism as is portrayed in â€Å"The Birthmark† is much different than today’s. Hawthorne is setting out to warn people that the rules of individualism can be harmful if used irresponsibly. Because Aylmer’s public life is to be seen by all, he is ashamed of the birthmark on his wife’s face. By wanting to remove Georgina’s birthmark he was attempting to redeem him self at any cost. Hawthorne also wants the reader to understand that when men take the role of god into their own hands. With this power the results are usually disastrous. Aylmer and Georgiana are talking about a potion that has the power to postpone death indefinitely, and in her disbelief, she says, â€Å"Aylmer are you in earnest?† Asked Georgiana, looking at him in amazement and fear; â€Å"it is a terrible thing to possess such power, or even to dream of possessing it (Hawthorne, 1963, p. 211)!† This theory of man playing God that Hawthorne points out has been a part of man’s public nature from the beginning of time. There is always a price to pay for individualism. In â€Å"The Birthmark† Aylmer and ... Free Essays on The Birthmark THE BIRTHMARK â€Å"The Birthmark† written in 1843 by Nathaniel Hawthorne tells the tale of husband’s insane obsession with his wife’s perfection, and wife’s willingness to forgo her own happiness in order to prove her undying love to her husband. â€Å"The Birthmark† though written in the 19th century can still be attributed to modern day life styles. Even now we are still trying to obtain â€Å"perfection† through plastic surgery, magical elixirs, and 24 hour fat burning diet pills. Nathaniel Hawthorne was born July 4, 1804 in Salem Massachusetts, the descendent of a long line of puritan ancestors, including John Hawthorne, a presiding magistrate in the Salem witch trails. After his father was lost at sea when he was four, his mother became overly protective and pushed him toward more isolated pursuits. It is said that Hawthorne felt a responsibility for his ancestor’s role in the witch trials. His secluded childhood left him overly shy and he turned his attention to reading. As a child he is known to have studied Shakespeare, Milton, Pope and Thompson. In 1821 Hawthorne entered Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine, where he graduated three years later. There he distinguished himself in the classics, and he wrote several creditable English poems. Also, while at college he became acquainted with the likes of Henry W. Longfellow and Franklin Pierce. Though often held as an excellent writer, Hawthorne could not support himself financially and accepted an appointment as a weigher in the Customs House. After two years of public service a change in the administration left him unemployed and he returned to Salem where he wrote a collection of children’s short stories called â€Å"Grandfather’s Chair†. A new period in his life commenced in 1842 when he married Miss Sofia Peabody, and moved to Concord, Massachusetts. In 1845, yet another rift in the national administration secured for him the appointment of surveyor of The Custom Ho...