These interests allowed Hawthorne to recognize the harm that results in humans" reluctance to accept the fact that imperfection is a natural part of human existence. He demonstrates this in "The Birth-mark" with the words Alymer's assistant speaks about Georgiana, "If she were my wife, I"d never part with that birth-mark"(Hawthorne 770). In this case, the practical man outwits the scientist in recognizing that Georgiana's "imperfection" was in fact the key to her soul. Without it, she could not live. Thus, through his writing, Nathaniel Hawthorne is able to voice his thoughts and opinions from his own personal interests and study to his readership.
One of the gothic era's most famous novels is Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. This novel is a perfect example of an ambitious literary figure, Victor Frankenstein, who attempts to attain immortality through the creation of a being out of non-living things. However, Shelley portrays her disapproval of Victor's actions by using the remainder of the novel to unfold Victor's downfall. From the moment Victor creates the monster, he realizes he has made a fateful error, " I beheld the wretch - the miserable monster whom I had created" (Shelley 35). By the end of the novel, the monster himself reveals he has punished Victor, "I, who irretrievably destroyed thee by destroying all thou lovedst" (Shelley 163). In her introduction to the novel, Shelley discusses the question of infusing life into a dead body through "galvanism". She first heard and pondered this scientific goal of the Enlightenment at a night conversations at the Diodati. The idea of infusing life into matter had been in existence for thirteen years. "It was through the writing of Frankenstein itself that she arrived at this position though, predictably, she was considerably chastened by Frankenstein's own attempt at usurping the powers of both woman and creator" (Mishra).