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The Search for Perfection in Nathaniel Hawthorne the birthmark
Human beings are known to strive for perfection. Thus, many scientists are known to challenge nature by using science to fix problems. Similarly, the birthmark is a romantic story by Nathaniel Hawthorne that talks about human perfection. The main character Aylmer is a scientist obsessed with perfection. He marries a beautiful wife with a birthmark on her cheek. However, Aylmer feels that the birthmark is a flaw that needs to be rectified. Hawthorne uses several motifs to represent the theme of science and nature. He explores this theme through the main character Aylmer which epitomizes the conflict of science and nature in many ways.
The story the birthmark revolves around the conflict between science and nature. Aylmer is obsessed with removing the birthmark on his wife’s face using his many failed experiments. He is driven by his scientific knowledge to try and eliminate this imperfection. It is this obsession for perfection that kills his wife (Colacurcio 102). Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, the birthmark reveals a man’s obsession with scientific knowledge to become a perfectionist.
In the story, Nathaniel portrays Aylmer as a renowned scientist and recognized as a great philosopher, he is known for significant scientific discoveries. Aylmer had committed his life to discover how nature works. However, when he marries Georgiana, a woman described by the narrator as a beautiful young lady, Aylmer sees Georgiana’s birthmark as a flaw that can be solved using his scientific discoveries. Georgiana’s birthmark, which is described as a tiny handprint on her check, which bothers Aylmer (Ginsberg 135). This becomes the central theme of the story. Even though Aylmer is a devoted scientist and his life revolved around performing various experiments, at one point, he is willing to put aside his work commitments to marry Georgiana. The birthmark on Georgiana’s face presents a new perspective to the story; the narrator uses it as an essential symbol to enhance his narrative. According to Aylmer, the red birthmark on Georgiana’s cheek makes her look imperfect and must be removed.
From the narrators’ perspective, Georgiana as a beautiful woman admired by several other men. Aylmer equally loves Georgiana and is willing to marry her. However, his obsession with perfection drives him to make his wife perfect by removing the birthmark on her cheek. It is this obsession of imperfection that blinds Aylmer, who cannot see anything good about her wife (Hawthorne). Even though other suitors acknowledging Georgiana’s beauty, Aylmer considers her unattractive simply because of the birthmark. He feels obligated to remove it. In the story, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the birthmark as a symbol to expand his theme as he reveals some of the consequences related to using human sciences to compete with nature.
In describing the beauty of imperfection, the narrator describes Georgiana’s birthmark as a crimson red, but also describe her face as white as snow with marbles. He states that “The mark wore a tint of deeper crimson” (Fehrle 88), which means that this is an imperfect feature because when she blushed, the mark became indistinct vanishing in between the full check which brilliantly glows. The narrator continues to describe the birthmark stating that as it shifts motion, “it caused her to turn pale there was the mark again, a crimson stain upon the snow” (Fehrle 89). This is showing some contrast to what he describes as a symbol of the beauty of imperfection.
The irony behind the birthmark is that Georgiana begins to feel insecure because Aylmer does not like the birthmark.However, many people view her birthmark as natural beauty. This later ruins their marriage because Georgiana becomes bothered by her husband’s reaction of her birthmark and agrees to let him experiment with removing it (Hawthorne). Georgiana finds Aylmer’s experiment book showing all his operation had failed. She doubts if the experiment would work. Despite confronting her husband, she is convinced that the test would succeed. He tries a multitude of methods with his assistant Aminadab, which fails to work (Hawthorne). Even though Aylmer is oblivious to his failures, he seems to care more about succeeding in this experiment and have a perfect wife without considering the consequences of this dangerous experiment
The irony of the story is that Aylmer wanted an ideal wife, and convinced Georgiana to remove her birthmark to become perfect. Aylmer was imperfect by the fact that when Georgian read his experiment book, all his previous experiments had failed to achieve what he aimed at finding. The irony behind the birthmark is that many people reacted to it differently. Some people yearned to kiss it while others had speculated that the mark was a glorious symbol that came from a fairly touch when Georgiana was born. This made her have alluring qualities that attracted many men in her life. However, Georgiana got married to someone more obsessed with removing this natural beauty to make her beautiful.
Nathaniel uses the character to enhance his theme of perfection in the story and also warn the readers of the consequences of humans wanting to control and alter nature. The removal of birthmark becomes the central theme of the story to enhance the idea of perfection. After convincing his wife, Aylmer succeeds in removing the birthmark (Ginsberg 137). However, the joy is short-lived; he experiences a brief moment of happiness, thinking that he had made a perfect wife. However, Georgina could not recover after the experiment; she eventually dies. Essentially, Aylmer has succeeded in his plan o make an ideal wife, but he did not consider the consequences of his experiment; he, unfortunately, causes his wife’s death in the process. Aylmer’s’ dissatisfaction with his wife’s mark ruins most of the things he has achieved in life. Using the story The Birthmark, Hawthorne suggests that human beings cannot be perfect, and being imperfect is just part of human nature.
Hawthorne describes human obsession using the birthmark as a motif to show how scientific knowledge can make people be blind. Throughout the story, Aylmer is portrayed as a perfectionist who wants to change nature, yet people cannot be perfect since the human condition is imperfect. As a result of his obsession, Aylmer kills his wife. It is the conflict of nature and science that leads to Georgiana’s tragic death. The story eventually ends as Georgiana dies. Despite Aylmer achieving much, he is still obsessed with perfection to the extent of sacrificing his wife to achieve his goals.
The birthmark is a significant symbol in the story because it blocks Aylmer from seeing the beauty of his wife. Instead, his quest for perfection leads to the death of his wife. It was making him a complete failure as a scientist and a husband. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s story The Birthmark, the author uses symbolism ad irony to show how Aylmer tried to alter nature by believing that he could make his wife, Georgiana, to be perfect. As a result, be becomes obsessed with scientific knowledge and convinces his wife to participate in a dangerous experiment that eventually kills her. In his desperate attempt to remove the visible mark, he kills his wife.
In the story, the strive for perfection causes conflict between the two characters. Georgiana endures both physical and emotional pain, just to please his husband. Aylmer imposes his values and risks her life to remove the unwanted mark on her cheek Aylmer is in conflict is with nature because he is obsessed with science which overshadows the love he feels for his wife. He tries to tamper with nature only to end up killing his wife. It is Aylmer’s need for perfection that complicates the story. His desire to create a perfect wife prevents Aylmer from seeing other goods things in life. The only thing in this story Aylmer can see is the imperfection that turns to be a fixation in trying to create an ideal woman. But still, perfection is not achieved in this process.
Through the story, Aylmer’s obsession reveals the consequences of humans strive for perfection. Aylmer is a scientist, risks Georgiana’s life to gain scientific knowledge and create perfection. Nathaniel presents how obsession and thirst for scientific knowledge can overshadow human thinking. The Birthmark is a story with valuable moral lessons that teach us that we cannot change what is not meant to be changed.
Works Cited
Colacurcio, Michael. “The Teller and the Tale: A Note on Hawthorne’s Narrators.” Nathaniel
Hawthorne Review 45.2 (2019): 99-129.
Fehrle, Johannes. “Destined to fail: cosmetic surgery, female body image, and Nathaniel
Hawthorne’s” The birthmark”.” The Failed Individual: Amid Exclusion, Resistance, and
the Pleasure of Non-Conformity (2017): 99.
Ginsberg, Lesley. “The Birth-Mark,” Rappaccini’s Daughter,” and the Ecogothic.” Ecogothic
in Nineteenth-Century American Literature. Routledge, 2017. 114-133.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, and Winifred Phillips. The birthmark. Alex Catalogue, 1996.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Birthmark (Psychological Thriller): A Dark Romantic Story on
Obsession with Human Perfection From the Renowned American Author of” The Scarlet
Letter”,” The House with the Seven Gables” &” Twice-Told Tales”(Including
Biography). e-artnow, 2015.