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Symbolism In The Birthmark

1099 Words5 Pages

Riley Nylander
Mrs. Joosse
Honors English III
3/3/23

Imperfection, Morality, and Science Versus Nature Depicted in The Birthmark

Perfection has never been achievable by the human race, yet everyday people strive and exert themselves for this impossible goal. An example of this desire and greed for perfection is portrayed in “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, specifically with the main male character known as Alymer. In Hawthorne’s short story “The Birthmark”, the author uses symbolism, character development, and genre to develop the theme of nature versus science, imperfection, and mortality. Symbolism is a rich concept throughout the whole short story of “The Birthmark'', primarily surrounded by the presence of the birthmark on …show more content…

As Nathaniel Hawthorne states in “The Birthmark'', “... the spectral hand that wrote mortality where he would fain have worshiped”(7). This tiny piece of his wife symbolizes imperfection of humankind, as well as death in ways he becomes uncomfortable to. Alymer is described as a “...man of science…”(Hawthorne 5), and he is hyper fixated on the idea of imperfection versus perfection. “...expressed the ineludible gripe in which mortality clutches the highest and purest of earthly mould"; it was "the symbol of imperfection" (p. 766). Such a reading, then, permits him to transform Georgiana into the subject of a scientific experiment…”(Weinstein ⅜). The recurrence of how nature causes these imperfections fuels Alymer throughout the story. With this fixation, Alymer starts to experience vivid dreams about the hand, haunting him every day and night. Alymer …show more content…

Georgiana also develops this sense of consciousness of the mark, ultimately leading to her demise at the end of the story. Dark romanticism is characterized by human wrong, punishment, guilt, sin, and self-destruction. Georgiana never had any self destructive attributes, but throughout the story she develops into a guilty, self destructive individual searching for love from her spouse. Janssen notes,“...the marriage of a perfection-seeking scientist to a flawed wife was attended with truly remarkable consequences and a deeply impressive moral, to the directive addressed to the reader of "Earth's Holocaust" that the illumination of the bonfire [indiscriminately destroying civilization] might reveal some profundity of moral trust heretofore hidden in mist or darkness”(Janssen ⅕-⅖) Dark Romanticism leads into the themes of imperfection, mortality, and science versus nature when Georgiana’s continuous self-immolation causes her overall downfall, fighting for what she first thought would save her marriage and her love. The background of punishment for Alymer at the end also portrays Dark Romanticism, with being left with the thought that he killed his own wife and perfection was not obtainable.For example, Weinstein states, “...a literary penchant for the gothic, an interest in popular science, and a continued fascination with the proposition

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In the text, Georgiana demonstrates her tolerance towards Alymer, as she remains obedient, and faithful, as his experiment reveals her a narrow chance of success. She is too tolerant to him, which made her easy to manipulate and control, as Hawthorn writes, “Much as he had accomplished, she could not but observe that his most splendid success were almost invariably failures, if compared with the ideal at which he aimed” (8). Although she noticed the slight chance of success, she still viewed her husband as a god, who she must not reason with further. Jane, on the other hand was intolerant to her husband. She was aware of the mistreatment by her husband, which ultimately compelled her to get revenge against him by making him faint, as Gilman writes “Now why should that man have fainted?

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