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How Does Nathaniel Hawthorne Use Irony In The Birthmark

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After his wife suffered a miscarriage, author Nathaniel Hawthorne was motivated to write a short story titled “The Birthmark”. Written in 1843, this story delves into ideas about mortality as well human perfection. As an intelligent and creative writer, Hawthorne dives into serious topics such as seeking human perfection and playing with ideas of mortality. Not only does this story hint at ideas of seeking human perfection, but it shows the consequences of dealing with such serious matters. To briefly summarize this story, it begins by describing newlyweds Aylmer, a skilled scientist, and Georgiana, a beautiful woman with only one imperfection. Georgiana has a red, hand-shaped birthmark on her cheek. In the story, Aylmer quickly becomes obsessed …show more content…

Throughout Hawthorne’s short story, he used irony to enhance and bring about dramatic effect within his writing. For instance, Hawthorne used irony when describing the removal of Georgiana’s birthmark. Specifically, the narrator states “It was true. The hand on her face had been her link to life” (Hawthorne, 1843), this situation is ironic because, in Aylmer’s efforts to make Georgiana perfect, he took away her vitality. Aylmer was so invested in taking away her one imperfection that he could not see the consequences of his actions. Furthermore, irony is seen within this story due to Aylmer’s blindness to the true meaning of life. Aylmer became so obsessed with making Georgiana perfect and proving that he is capable of doing so, that he made Georgiana’s life horrible and killed her in his efforts. Ultimately, Aylmer's actions and desires lead to his own wife’s downfall. Furthermore, there is irony connected to the elixir Aylmer created. Aylmer stated that the elixir “cannot fail” (Hawthorne, 1843) and to prove the effectiveness of the elixir he poured some into a dying plant and brought it back to life. In proving its effectiveness, the readers believe the elixir will work, however, the readers quickly learn this is not true. Ironically, the one thing that Aylmer believes can make Georgiana perfect is the one thing that kills her. All in all, Hawthorne’s use of irony enhanced his story and made for a more exciting and unpredictable ending. Just as irony is used to do this, symbolism is another key literary device used within Hawthorne's

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Which leads him to the point of using science to remove the birth mark. Aylmer’s obsession of removing the birth mark led to the death of his wife, Georgina. Hawthorne uses Aylmer to present a common issue that individuals have. Furthermore, each scholar help better understand the theme of obsession and achieving a goal that leads individuals to a path of negativity because of individuals’ foolishness to achieve perfection, science vs naturality, and mental isolation.

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Some important techniques used in The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne are conflict and figurative language, especially irony and symbolism. The conflict drives the story, and affects how different characters change in positive and negative ways, as well as how the characters interact. Hawthorne also uses many types of figurative language, including irony and symbolism. Arthur Dimmesdale himself is a very ironic person; everyone adores him and thinks he is an amazing person, but on the inside he has built up guilt from the crime he has committed, and even refers to himself as “the worst of sinners”. The irony of Dimmesdale is very important to the end of the story, when he confesses his crime to everyone, and how people react.

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It is first seen when Georgiana asks Aylmer to describe his dream. Aylmer explains the dream as himself attempting to operate on the birthmark; however, to his dismay, the birthmark went deeper until it seemed to have “caught hold of Georgiana's heart.” In spite of the danger in the situation, he was still determined to eliminate the dreaded mark at all costs. Aylmer’s dream implies that he is willing to risk the life of his wife in order to achieve perfection. Hawthorne’s next use of foreshadowing is seen in his description of the boudoir.

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Alymer’s perception of the symbolism of the birthmark is revealed right after Georgiana’s thoughts were given. “You came so nearly perfect from the hand of Nature, that this slightest possible defect, which we hesitate whether to term a defect or a beauty, shocks me, as being the visible mark of earthly imperfection” (Hawthorne 212). Aylmer thought that the birthmark symbolized the imperfection of earthly things. His view was elaborated on later in the story “selecting it as the symbol of his wife’s liability to sin, sorrow, decay, and death” (Hawthorne 213). In addition to Aylmer’s view of the birthmark as a mark of earthly imperfection, he also thought of it as a symbol for his wife’s inevitable fall from near perfection as she ages.

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Hawthorne uses imagery sense of smell to get readers to imagine the scene, “When Georgiana recovered consciousness she found herself breathing an atmosphere of penetrating fragrance, the gentle potency of which had recalled her from her deathlike faintness” (Hawthorne). “The Birthmark” also creates irony with “Aminadab, the less inferior man to Aylmer is the one who speaks sensible to Aylmer by disclaiming that if Georgiana was his wife, he would not try to remove the birthmark” (“The Birthmark”). The figurative language helps enhance the story. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s meaning for the story was a man’s strive to perfection only caused the death of his wife. Aylmer was too focused on what perfect could be, and Georgiana blindly agrees with him and decides to remove the birthmark, despite never having a problem with it.

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