The Birthmark Thesis

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Argumentative Essay: Final Draft - Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Birthmark" is a short story that explores the dangers of obsession with perfection and the cost of valuing physical beauty over inner qualities. The story follows the relationship between Aylmer and Georgiana, as Aylmer becomes increasingly fixated on removing a small birthmark from Georgiana's cheek, leading to tragic consequences. In the story, Aylmer's obsession with perfection and his attempt to remove Georgiana's birthmark symbolizes the destructive effects of a patriarchal society's unrealistic expectations of women's physical beauty, ultimately highlighting the dangers of valuing external appearances over inner qualities, as well as the emotional toll that these standards have on women. Aylmer''s perfectionism basically is also …show more content…

Through the character of Aylmer, Hawthorne illustrates the destructive consequences that can for the most part arise from fixating on actually minor flaws or imperfections. Aylmer\'s actually obsessive pursuit of perfection ultimately particularly leads to the death of his wife, Georgiana, and serves as a cautionary tale for readers about the dangers of perfectionism, or so they thought. The character of Georgiana also serves as a symbol of the ways in which women generally have historically been judged and objectified based on their generally physical appearance, and the limits that kind of have been placed on their lives as a result in a really big way. Throughout the story, Georgiana literally is defined by her birthmark and Aylmer\'s attempts to specifically remove it, rather than for her definitely own actually personal qualities. This provides valuable insight into how societal expectations can limit individuals and specifically rob them of their true identities in a major