Nathaniel Hawthorne The Birthmark Themes

Important Themes of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The BirthMark in Contemporary Times Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American Romantic writer who lived from 1804 to 1864. Much of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s work discussed and represented controversial issues and ideologies of his time through careful charter and plot choice. Hawthorne’s work The BirthMark represents his disdain for cold intellectual obsession with sciences that disturbs natural human relationships and promotes unnecessary, excessive changes in a person's appearance . Hawthorne’s idea of scientific obsession destroying relationships and promoting unnecessary cosmetic changes can be translated into contemporary culture in the form of individuals who fall victim to the poor self image and the

However, in contemporary times this conflict also has the unique ability to be studied in a different facet of human relationships. This same conflict can be studied with a person’s internal relationship. The contemporary internal version of Hawthorne’s conflict can also be placed on a similar spectrum, but a single person can’t be used to represent each end of the spectrum as it did in the marital spectrum, which put Aylmer and Georgiana on each end. On the internal spectrum, a person's internal feelings about themselves is put one end and represent irrationality and on the other end the beauty and plastic surgery industries which represents destructive scientific obsession. The major differences between the marital spectrum of conflict and the internal spectrum of conflict is that the internal spectrum features an irrationally side of the spectrum instead of rational side like in the marital

Because such industries were not as major in Hawthorne’s time, the marital spectrum is a better for an in depth examination of Hawthorne’s The Birthmark because it examines the plot in a more holistic way and doesn’t just focus one character.
A major difference between the conflict in Hawthorne’s The Birthmark and the conflict in contemporary times is how the conflict progresses. When Hawthorne wrote The Birthmark he wrote it so that Aylmer inflicted the pain he felt from his damaged self esteem and ego onto another person, Georgiana; however, in contemporary times that pain is reflected back onto the individual struggling with the damaged ego and self worth. Hawthorne hides his disdain in Aylmer and Georgiana relationship, Aylmer represents the intellect that brings destruction to human relationships and an individual’s self