Abby Werlock, Associate Professor Emerita of English at St. Olaf College, reiterates Hawthorne's criticism for the depravity of man by stating Hawthorne's belief as the following: God created humanity as imperfect; therefore, Aylmer's attempt to play God and destroy Georgiana's birthmark fails (Werlock). Aylmer refuses to appreciate his wife's beauty, which indeed includes her birthmark and other physical features. Instead, Aylmer focuses on the "flaw" of his wife, ultimately leading to Georgiana's death and destruction. Hawthorne uses Georgiana and her destruction to grandly reveal his belief that people must embrace their humanity and all its flaws.
Georgiana is the most important character in "The Birthmark" because she is the carrier of the birthmark and all of its views, interpretations, and consequences. In "The Birthmark" Hawthorne exposes all the different views of Georgiana's birthmark. To some, including Georgiana at one point, the birthmark, according to Hawthorne, is a beauty mark that "[m]anywould have risked life for the privilege of pressing his lips to the mysterious hand [the birthmark]" ("The Birthmark" 466). Based upon this view, the birthmark is a beautiful mark that is not a flaw, but a blessing. This embracing of the birthmark as a blessing and beauty mark symbolizes the embracement of man's imperfect nature. By including this symbolism, Hawthorne is displaying criticism for the Puritan's belief in total depravity, which stressed the wickedness of human nature, not the embracement of man's imperfect nature. Although Hawthorne provides the readers with his Romantic insight, he also reveals that others thought the mark "rendered her [Georgiana's] countenance even hideous" ("The Birthmark" 466). This quote from "The Birthmark" represents a completely opposite view of the birthmark as an ugly flaw, which is how Aylmer views the birthmark.
Nathaniel Hawthorne One of the most significant writers of the romantic period in American literature was Nathaniel Hawthorne. ... It was Puritan belief that man must be instructed to realize his own depravity, and therefore at childhood the education began for Hawthorne (Hull). ... "Themes of Nathaniel Hawthorne." ... "Nathaniel Hawthorne." ... "Nathaniel Hawthorne." ...
Nathaniel Hawthorne and His Works One of the most significant writers of the romantic period in American literature was Nathaniel Hawthorne. ... Nathaniel Hawthorne explored the themes of pride, sin, and the Puritan cycle in American writing in many of his works. ... The influence of Puritan religion is a common topic in Nathaniel Hawthorne's works. ... It was Puritan belief that man must be instructed to realize his own depravity, and therefore at childhood the education began for Hawthorne (Hull). ... Nathaniel Hawthorne was a great author of his time....
The Puritans inquisitorially quested personal godliness and doctrinal correctness in addition to believing in absolute sovereignty of God, the total depravity of man, and the complete dependence of human beings on depravity of man, and the complete dependence of human beings on divine grace for salvation. ... First, they explain the history of Nathaniel Hawthorne. ... Nathaniel Hawthorne, born in Salem, Massachusetts, July 4, 1804 and died May 11, 1864, was the first American writer to apply artistic judgment to Puritan society. ... (Baym 98) "Nathaniel Hawthorne was a mystery, even to ...
CRITICAL ESSAY ON NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE"S "YOUNG GOODMAN BROWN" I have chosen Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne, because firstly I had already read The Scarlet Letter, and I liked it very much; and secondly, because it maintains the same underlying moral conflict of the novel. The main difference is that the moral conflict is now much more personal for the author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, than the one of The Scarlet Letter. Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1804. ... His father was a sea captain that died when the young Nathaniel was four years old. ... ...
An Analysis of Symbolism in The Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a novel of conflict between a woman in love and the stern Puritan community in which she resides. Hawthorne illustrates that a woman who follows her heartbreaks the laws of the community. ... Now, she chooses it to symbolize the man she loved and lost, Arthur Dimmesdale. ... While light is equal to piety, its absence represents depravity. ... It is the home of the "Black Man," the Devil, and where Hester is to live Gomez 6 once she is cast from the settlement. ...