Vanity and pride are often considered major sins of the flesh. In Hawthorne's "The Birthmark", vanity and pride play major roles in the downfall of the characters, especially Georgiana. Georgiana is responsible for her own fate to a limited extent due to her husband's vanity, the time period she lived in, and her own soft personality. The reader is able to follow Georgiana's downfall throughout the story until the final climax of her personality flaws and Aylmer's sins ends in her death. .
The primary cause of Georgiana's downfall was one that was out of her control. She mainly fell victim to her husband's vanity. Georgiana's birthmark was a part of her and she was accustomed to seeing it upon her cheek. She received compliments about it. The fact that the birthmark was emblazoned on her cheek had never been a cause of concern for her. For Aylmer, the birthmark was a flaw that grew more egregious with every passing day. Aylmer was so concerned with Georgiana's only physical flaw that his vanity took over his rational thinking. Georgiana fell victim to his vanity due to the fact that she wanted to be pleasing to her husband, and the only way for her to be pleasing to Aylmer was to be rid of the birthmark. .
Georgiana also fell victim to the time period in which she existed. In Georgiana's society a woman was subject to her husband. Aylmer wanted to remove the birthmark; Georgiana would not refute him. The birthmark made Georgiana an abomination to her husband. This played heavily enough on Georgiana's psyche that she began to become self-conscious about the mark. .
Georgiana is so desperate to fit her husband's ideal that she is willing to give her life, if it means the birthmark would be refuted and she would be perfect in Aylmer's eyes. This factor was somewhat out of Georgiana's control. Women of her time were conditioned to be complacent; therefore, she felt compelled to do her husband's bidding.
All he sees is a birthmark "an unbearable flaw in his wife. ... Even she did not mind the presence of the birthmark; she had grown accustomed to it. ... But, Aylmer did not see the birthmark as being such. ... The birthmark faded away as did his wife, breath by breath. ... He could not live, even with just a small birthmark. ...
The Birthmark "The Birthmark" is a love story, concerned with the relation between men and women. ... Soon after marriage, Aylmer confesses Georgiana's birthmark is either a charm or defect. ... Usually Georgiana's birthmark is only slightly redder than her own rosy complexion, but upon being startled, she pales and the tiny mark is highlighted against her whitened cheek. ... In fact, Aylmer renders the birthmark as "a symbol of his wife's liability to sin, sorrow, decay, and death" (453). ... "The Birthmark" proposes that human nature is compound, a sacred mystery. ...
The birthmark continued to taunt his ideal love for women. ... His dominance over her, like the dominant role of husbands of the era, quickly causes her own opinion of the birthmark to change. ... No human is perfect, just as Georgiana's birthmark can not be removed without her tragic death immediately following. ... He could not realize that his obsession of hating the birthmark would lead to his meddling in the works of creation. ... As the birthmark, the symbol of mortality, fades, life is annihilated. ...
In "The Birthmark", Hawthorne described a young scientist who killed his own wife by pursuing a "perfect future" (1) while trying to remove a birthmark on his wife's face. ... The Birthmark on Georgiana face was not seen as ugly but merely as an imperfection to her overall beauty. ... Some believed that Georgiana's birthmark was actually the source of her life. ... In "The Birthmark", Hawthorne describes how "science affects priorities"(4) in life. ... In "The Birthmark" Alymer was a devoted scientist. ...
Individualism In the story "The Birthmark" by Nathaniel Hawthorne there is an underlying theme of individualism. ... The theme of individualism as is portrayed in "The Birthmark" is much different than today's. ... Because Aylmer's public life is to be seen by all, he is ashamed of the birthmark on his wife's face. By wanting to remove Georgina's birthmark he was attempting to redeem him self at any cost. ... In "The Birthmark" Aylmer and Georgiana pay the ultimate price, he by the loss of Georgiana and she with her life. ...
As a reader analyzes Aylmer's struggle to give a definition to the birthmark, his quest to rid Georgiana of her birthmark takes on new meaning. ... Georgiana's birthmark represents a signifier in Aylmer's search for unity. Aylmer sees the birthmark as "the symbol of his wife's liability to sin, sorrow, decay, and death"; nonetheless, some of Georgiana's former "lovers were wont to say (the birthmark gave) her such sway over all hearts," thus seeing the birthmark in a positive light (Hawthorne 170). ... Aylmer watches her until he notices that the b...
In The Birthmark, Georgiana and Aylmer stay together till the end. ... She is the only person in her town with a birthmark on her face. The birthmark itself is also unique for its shape of a hand. ... Georgiana wants to get rid of her unique birthmark. ... Hooper, because Georgiana just believes what Aylmer tells her about her birthmark. ...
Georgiana has a birthmark on left cheek in the shape of a hand. ... In this way, the birthmark seems to only enhance Georgiana's beauty instead of mar it. ... The birthmark, although not a problem before, begins to grow into a mockery in Aylmer's eyes. ... Aylmer spends many hours upon the task of ridding Georgiana of the birthmark. ... She falls into a deep sleep and soon the birthmark begins to fade. ...
Shortly after their marriage he asks her if she had ever thought of removing her birthmark. ... Georgiana first begins to detest the birthmark after hearing a dream of her husbands. ... The birthmark it self represents imperfection. ... (p119) However it was the birthmark that made her human. ... The Birthmark shows the reader that humans should not attempt to play God. ...
