d+the+birthmark

Introduction: Nathaniel Hawthorne, born in 1804, was an American writer who wrote many short stories and novelist. The majority of his works dealt with the themes of New England Puritanism. Even as a young adult, Hawthorne had a severe dislike for Puritans--even going so far as to add a "w" to his name to distance himself from his family; an infamous family of Puritan ministers. Though Hawthorne largely disagreed with Puritanism as a whole, Hawthorne was most critical of the belief in Transcendentalism. This facet of Purtianism, emphasizes that mortals can attain perfection through conscious devotion to the Lord and the Scriptures.

While "The Birthmark" was first published in the March 1843 edition of "The Pioneer". This short story, is regarded as one of Hawthorne's most famous short stories.

Thesis: Hawthorne wants to demonstrate that mortal perfection is unattainable. Paragraph 1: A)"he failed to look beyon d the shadowy scope of time, and, living once for all in eternity, to find the perfect future in the present" -The "perfect future in the present" refers to "finding perfection while alive"  -Aylmer failed to do so.  -*tied back to thesis*  B) "the parting breath of the now perfect woman passed into the atmosphere, and her soul, lingering a moment near her husband, took its heavenward flight." -Removal of imperfection resulted in death - shows that it is impos s ible to attain perfection while alive. C) "Thus ever does the gross fatality of earth exult in its invariable triumph over the immortal essence which, in this dim sphere of half-development, demands the completeness of a higher state." -Basically says "The inevitability of death makes impossible the search for perfection" This is exemplified when Georgianna dies as a result an attempt to make her perfect.  D) " The fatal hand had grappled with the mystery of life, and was the bo nd by which an angelic spirit kept itself in union with a mortal frame. " -The hand signified the perfection of the human spirit bonded to the imperfection of the human body. By severing it, Aylmer killed Georgianna by symbolically "releasing her spirit".

Paragraph 2: A) "It was the fatal flaw of humanity which Nature, in one shape or another, stamps ineffaceably on all her productions, either to imply that they are temporary and finite, or that their perfection must be wrought by toil and pain." -Basically, it means you either have imperfection / a "temporary" life or a painful perfection. Imperfection is shown through the birthmark, a painful perfection is shown through Georgiana's death when her only imperfection is removed  B) "In this manner, selecting it as the symbol of his wife's liability to sin, sorrow, decay, and death, Aylmer's sombre imagination was not long in rendering the birthmark a frightful object" -Shows that Aylmer looks at the birthmark as the only thing holding Georgiana back from perfection. C) "Had she been less beautiful,--if Envy's self could have found aught else to sneer at,--he might have felt his affection heightened by the prettiness of this mimic hand, now vaguely portrayed, now lost, now stealing forth again and glimmering to and fro with every pulse of emotion that throbbed within her heart" -Shows Aylmer's temptation to aim at achieving perfection after seeing something so close to it. (How does this tie into the thesis?) (it is human nature to strive for perfection but not to obtain it)  D) "The crimson hand expressed the ineludible gripe in which mortality clutches the highest and purest of earthly mould, degrading them into kindred with the lowest, and even with the very brutes, like whom their visible frames return to dust" -The mortal imperfection brings everyone to the same level, so a perfect being is impossible in the physical world.

**Amanda Orcutt ... Fact sheet – The Birthmark ** **Passage ** [pgs. 22-23] –  **1.** "By Heaven! it is well-nigh gone!" said Aylmer to himself, in almost irrepressible ecstasy. "I can scarcely trace it now. Success! success! And now it is like the faintest rose color. The lightest flush of blood across her cheek would overcome it. But she is so pale!" **2**. He drew aside the window curtain and suffered the light of natural day to fall into the room and rest upon her cheek. At the same time he heard a gross, hoarse chuckle, which he had long known as his servant Aminadab's expression of delight. **3**. "Ah, clod! ah, earthly mass!" cried Aylmer, laughing in a sort of frenzy, "you have served me well! Matter and spirit--earth and heaven --have both done their part in this! Laugh, thing of the senses! You have earned the right to laugh." **4**. These exclamations broke Georgiana's sleep. She slowly unclosed her eyes and gazed into the mirror which her husband had arranged for that purpose. A faint smile flitted over her lips when she recognized how barely perceptible was now that crimson hand which had once blazed forth with such disastrous brilliancy as to scare away all their happiness. But then her eyes sought Aylmer's face with a trouble and anxiety that he could by no means account for. **5.** "My poor Aylmer!" murmured she. **6**. "Poor? Nay, richest, happiest, most favored!" exclaimed he. "My peerless bride, it is successful! You are perfect!" **7.** "My poor Aylmer," she repeated, with a more than human tenderness, "you have aimed loftily; you have done nobly. Do not repent that with so high and pure a feeling, you have rejected the best the earth could offer. Aylmer, dearest Aylmer, I am dying!" **8**. Alas! it was too true! The fatal hand had grappled with the mystery of life, and was the bond by which an angelic spirit kept itself in union with a mortal frame. As the last crimson tint of the birthmark--that sole token of human imperfection--faded from her cheek, the parting breath of the now perfect woman passed into the atmosphere, and her soul, lingering a moment near her husband, took its heavenward flight. Then a hoarse, chuckling laugh was heard again! Thus ever does the gross fatality of earth exult in its invariable triumph over the immortal essence which, in this dim sphere of half development, demands the completeness of a higher state. Yet, had Aylmer reached a profounder wisdom, he need not thus have flung away the happiness which would have woven his mortal life of the selfsame texture with the celestial. The momentary circumstance was too strong for him; he failed to look beyond the shadowy scope of time, and, living once for all in eternity, to find the perfect future in the present. · **Hawthorne **– Nathaniel Hawthorne was a 19th-century New England writer best known for writing //The Scarlet Letter//. Many of his works reflect his somewhat Puritan background and are highly moralistic. “ Even as a young adult, Hawthorne had a severe dislike for Puritans--even going so far as to add a "w" to his name to distance himself from his family; an infamous family of Puritan ministers. Though Hawthorne largely disagreed with Puritanism as a whole, Hawthorne was most critical of the belief in Transcendentalism. This facet of Puritanism emphasizes that mortals can attain perfection through conscious devotion to the Lord and the Scriptures.” ****[i]**** Hawthorne often holds certain moral values up as exemplary and, at the same time, points out that man is failing miserably in attaining them. In fact, he's often cited as a key player in the "Dark Romanticism" genre, in which man's failures and flaws are examined and criticized. · **Context of The Birthmark ** – "**The Birthmark**," published in March of 1843 in a literary journal called //The Pioneer//, is one of Hawthorne's more famous short stories. It's probable that "The Birthmark" was significantly influenced by Hawthorne's times. In the mid-1800s, science's star was rising and, most interestingly, seeping into the field of philosophy. A school of thought called Positivism sprang up, which pretty much glorified the scientific method and said the only way we could learn things was through scientific experimentation and careful observation. Out with lofty meta-physics; in with physical observation. Hawthorne's main character Aylmer, in one reading of "The Birthmark," epitomizes this point of view. Whether or not Hawthorne totally rejects Positivism is subject to debate, but he is certainly questioning the validity of such a limited approach to gaining knowledge about our world. · “The 19th century saw the birth of science as a profession; the term **scientist** was coined in 1833 by William Whewell. Among the most influential ideas of the 19th century were those of Charles Darwin, who in 1859 published the book //The Origin of Species//, which introduced the idea of evolution by natural selection. Louis Pasteur made the first vaccine against rabies, and also made many discoveries in the field of chemistry, including the asymmetry of crystals. Thomas Alva Edison gave the world a practical everyday light bulb. Karl Weierstrass and other mathematicians also carried out the arithmetization of analysis for functions of real and complex variables; they also began the use of hypercomplex numbers. But the most important step in science at this time was the ideas formulated by Michael Faraday and James Clerk Maxwell. Their work changed the face of physics and made possible for new technology to come about.”****[ii]**** · **Synopsis ** – In The Birthmark, the main character, Aylmer, is a 19th century scientist that craves to find perfection on earth with the use of science. This craving leads to his obsession with perfecting his wife and, in the end, finding a way to make every mortal person perfect in every way, even if it leads to sacrificing the one he loves. · **Themes ** – There are five main themes throughout this short story: · **Science ** – Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote "The Birthmark" at a time when the scientific method was being glorified and people were starting to think science really could take us anywhere we wanted to go. He set his story about 60 years earlier, in the 100-year-long wake of the Newtonian Revolution, in the Age of Enlightenment, when science was gaining its momentum. His story argues that, despite the general optimism, science really does have its limitations. There are certain things that humans are not privileged to know, not capable of doing. It is not only ignorant, the story seems to say, but downright dangerous to try and play God. · **Mortality ** – "The Birthmark" has lots to say on human nature, but its most important assertion is that to be human is necessarily to be flawed. To strive for perfection is to deny one's own mortality, to deny what makes us human, and to achieve such perfection is essentially impossible. The story also examines the division between man's physical, earthly half and his lofty, spiritual half. "The Birthmark" seems to argue that part of us is necessarily earthbound, yet part of us will always seek to be immortal and spiritual. · **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Example - paragraph 7 **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">, "My poor Aylmer," she repeated, with a more than human tenderness, "you have aimed loftily; you have done nobly. Do not repent that with so high and pure a feeling, you have rejected the best the earth could offer. Aylmer, dearest Aylmer, I am dying!" *can also relate to “Foolishness and Folly” · **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Example - paragraph 8 **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">, The fatal hand had grappled with the mystery of life, and was the bond by which an angelic spirit kept itself in union with a mortal frame. As the last crimson tint of the birthmark--that sole token of human imperfection--faded from her cheek, the parting breath of the now perfect woman passed into the atmosphere, and her soul, lingering a moment near her husband, took its heavenward flight. *can also relate to “Man and the Natural World” · **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Man and the Natural World **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> – "The Birthmark" is interested in Nature as the personified creator of all things. It tells the story of a man who challenges Nature in trying to become a creator of sorts himself, in trying to "repair" a "flaw" that Nature has left on another human being. One of the many morals of the story is that Nature, like a "jealous patentee," carefully guards her secrets and can't be beaten or even matched by man. Part of the problem with the unbounded scientific urge, Hawthorne argues, is that it ignores the natural boundaries Nature sets for man's accomplishments. · **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Example - paragraph 3 **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">, "Ah, clod! ah, earthly mass!" cried Aylmer, laughing in a sort of frenzy, "you have served me well! Matter and spirit--earth and heaven --have both done their part in this! Laugh, thing of the senses! You have earned the right to laugh." · **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Foolishness and Folly **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> – "The Birthmark" fits into Hawthorne's body of work in the Dark Romanticism genre, which means it holds up to scrutiny the flaws of mankind. In this case, the main character Aylmer suffers from over-ambition and blind obsession. He seeks to remove his wife's birthmark – the symbol of necessarily flawed humanity – and make her perfect. In his single-minded pursuit of this ideal, Aylmer ignores all the warning signs urging him to stop. Through his story, Hawthorne illustrates the flaws of mankind and the consequences that come with foolish obsession. · **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Example - paragraph 8 **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">, Thus ever does the gross fatality of earth exult in its invariable triumph over the immortal essence which, in this dim sphere of half development, demands the completeness of a higher state… The momentary circumstance was too strong for him; he failed to look beyond the shadowy scope of time, and, living once for all in eternity, to find the perfect future in the present. · **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Marriage **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> – "The Birthmark" uses the example of a newly married couple to ask questions about the nature of love and the dynamic of marriage. Scientist Aylmer seems to love his wife in so far as he can perfect her into something entirely outside the realm of human imperfection. His wife Georgiana is so committed to her husband that she defines herself utterly through his vision of her. We find ourselves wondering what it means to love, to trust, and to commit to another person, and what consequences the extreme of any one of these might bring. · **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Literary Features **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> – · **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Symbolism **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> – **The Birthmark** – Hawthorne's message is that being imperfect is just part of being human. If you are not flawed, you're not human anymore. This is the case with Georgiana, which is why her spirit goes up to heaven and leaves her body. For another example, the birthmark's visibility shifts with the changing color of Georgiana's face. Whether she is pale or flushed determines how much the birthmark shows. We also note that the birthmark is red – the color of blood, and the color of passion. One interpretation of this story is that the birthmark represents Georgiana's sexuality. Aylmer, uncomfortable with his wife's sexual power, wants to remove it to keep himself in control. · **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Example paragraph 1 & 2 **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">, And now it is like the faintest rose color. The lightest flush of blood across her cheek would overcome it. But she is so pale!" … <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">He drew aside the window curtain and suffered the light of natural day to fall into the room and rest upon her cheek.   · **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Tone **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> – The very last paragraph of this short story (paragraph 8) brings together the entire tone of the story, which is moralistic. Witnessing Aylmer’s struggles and obsessions throughout the story helps the reader to understand how he is feeling at the end of the story. It is safe to say that Aylmer is shocked at his wife’s death. He has loved her, but only to a point because her imperfection slowly started to take over his feelings and he urged to make her immortally perfect. All of this comes crashing down after his experiments and tests failed and his wife died as soon as her imperfection left. “The momentary circumstance was too strong for him; he failed to look beyond the shadowy scope of time, and, living once for all in eternity, to find the perfect future in the present.” (paragraph 8) The last sentence helps as well to bring the tone of morality because it shows that nothing can be perfect while we are alive and following the natural order and circumstances of life. Nothing, and no one, is perfect because we were born as individual and unique people, and if we were meant to be perfect and practically immortal, then nothing would be real in the world. Imperfection shows that we are only human, in every natural sense of the word, and no one can change that, not even a scientist like Aylmer. · **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Diction/Writing Style **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> – Up until this passage, the short story is filled with elevated diction to describe the personality of Aylmer. He is a man of science, so, with that said, being intelligent and highly educated can show the use of the elevated diction. As the story progresses, the seriousness and pure scientific standpoint of Aylmer’s life slowly starts to dissolve and it becomes more friendly and loving, which is saying something when it comes to Aylmer. As he gets closer to figuring out how to perfect his wife, he starts to love her even more, as does Georgiana. This final passage is the end of it all; the science is all gone and now it is just his dead wife after she drank his elixir which did, in fact, take away one imperfection, even though it just lead to another one because she was too pale. · **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Allusions **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> – Aylmer’s character can allude to a few historiographers from the ages. One of these historiographers, who specialized in occult arts and magic, was Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim (1486-1535). He was the author of //Three Books of Occult Philosophy and On the Uncertainty and Vanity of the Arts and Sciences: An Invective Declamation. Both books dealt with// natural philosophy and occult sciences, as well as the success in alchemical operations or the ability to use magical secrets in order to control both the natural world and the world of spirits. He is also known for his accounts in praising women. For more information about Agrippa, go to []/. Another allusion was to Albertus Magnus (Albert the Great). Magnus, known to have been inspired and follow Aristotle’s theories and philosophies, had personal interests and studies in many subjects, some being ethics, anthropology, and psychology, more specifically, human psychology and the relationship between the soul and the body. All of these subjects are the foundation of the inner meaning behind this short story. For more information about Magnus, go to [].

<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">*Note: Almost all information was found on [], unless it was cited as so. Anything else was interpreted from personal knowledge, with the help of the previous website listed.

[i] http://ibpd7.wikispaces.com/d+the+birthmark

[ii] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/19th_century#Science