Friday, February 10, 2012

Beyond Skin Deep

“…he failed to look beyond the shadowy scope of time, and, living once for all eternity, to find the perfect future in the present”


Although Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Birthmark, was written during the Romanticism era, it is a piece that is relatable to the modern time in which we live.  The theme of this short story is the representation of the beauty of nature, which is far more powerful than science.  Aylmer, who’s arrogant confidence gets in the way of his lovely infatuation for his wife, Georgiana, fails to see the beauty of life.  Due to his magical abilities in the laboratory, this scientist is one who strives to correct any imperfection.  Aylmer becomes repulsive toward Georgiana’s single flaw, which is the tiny birthmark of a handprint resting on her cheek.  Like many people today, it is Aylmer’s goal to reach the impossible: perfection.

Georgiana is a charming woman who enchants everyone around her.  Men find the birthmark she possesses to enhance her loveliness, while woman despise her for the all around beauty and the flaw that makes her unique.  Aylmer finds this “visible mark of earthly imperfection” (85) to be a defect that separates Georgiana from the ideal.  This obsession is one that many possess today.  It is the obsession that imperfectability is for some reason not accepted, therefore people go to great lengths to achieve the impossible.  Measures such as plastic surgery, wealth, and even medication have people preoccupied.  People, such like Aylmer, are blinded by the beauty of nature itself, which is far more powerful than any enhancement, for once one goal is reached another is to be attained.  It is a never-ending cycle of reaching perfectibility, and it often time leads to death.

While Aylmer’s mania grows deeper throughout the story, Georgiana’s birthmark embeds deeper into her being and is no longer superficial.  It becomes part of her, and without this pure and honest flaw, she is nothing.  Hawthorne reuses the word “fatal” many times when referring to the birthmark.  This word is powerful in the sense that perfectibility is met after death, when there is no social class.  Georgiana’s birthmark is what differentiates her from anyone else.  It’s fatality lies in the hands of who wishes to rid of it. 

I find the irony Aylmer speaks to be quite amusing.  He replies to Georgiana’s thought of death by exclaiming, “You are fit for heaven without tasting death!” (97).  Little does he know, the elixir, which he has concocted, is a deadly potion that cannot compete with nature.  Once it has been finished and the goal has been met, Aylmer accomplishes his utmost passion and desire, but Georgiana begins to lighten away.  The birthmark becomes more faint and is described as “the stain of the rainbow fading out of the sky” (98).  I think that Hawthorne selected this correlation very thoughtfully.  As the birthmark disappears, nature and mortality itself begins to dwindle.


The Birthmark exemplifies what many people struggle with today.  The feelings of insecurity and acceptance lead to an obsession that can be quite the battle.  Trying to reach perfection is killing what nature has made true, which is what I think Hawthorne is trying to portray.  The theme in which science cannot measure up to that of nature shows how beautiful imperfection can be, for it is what makes us mortal.

2 comments:

  1. Breanna, I found your posting to push me to new limits of thinking. It was written beautifully and provoked many new thoughts about Aylmer, Georgiana, and The Birthmark as a whole that I had not yet deliberated in my mind. When you discussed plastic surgery and wealth, I began to imagine the thought processes of people like Heidi from reality TV who have lots of plastic surgery done in an attempt to achieve perfection. Does she really think that her imitations of perfect structure (plastic surgery) will make her more beautiful than the natural face she was given? I do not see how she could become so upset with how she looked that she decided to have over ten surgeries that left her almost unrecognizable.
    I agree with you when you said Aylmer is “blinded by the beauty of nature itself” and that he is similar to people who have plastic surgery done. Although he is not the one receiving the appearance change, he became obsessed with disliking a physical appearance so much so that he decided to change it. I like how you depicted the acts of reaching perfection as a “never-ending cycle,” saying, “once one goal is reached, another is to be attained.” This led me to think that, according to Aylmer, superficial perfection is more beautiful than natural perfection, which is why he decided to proceed in removing the birthmark from his wife’s face.

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  2. I find it really interesting that you pointed out that in our society today, it is the goal for many to strive for the impossible: many believe that there is an exact definition of perfection and attempt to attain this seemingly absolutist ideal. It seems as if the concept of “perverseness” is not only an aspect of literature, but also a concept present in society today. Many of us embrace the spirit of perverseness because we are invited to poke at the boundaries set forth before us—we are conditioned to be curious about how far we can go crossing the limits before it all goes awry.
    In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark,” Aylmer’s obsession with removing Georgiana’s hand-shaped birthmark not only probes at the issue of perfectionism, it explores the contrast between perfection and mortality. Because Georgiana is so physically attractive, her birthmark, a blemish of defect, stands in contrast to her beauty. To Aylmer, this is not only a depiction of a physical shortcoming—it is a representation of immortality.
    Because mortality and perfectionism are directly in contrast with each other, society today embraces “perverseness” because of the festering desire for more: more money, more time, more beauty. Poking at the limits to seek something so indefinable and obscure only develops the notion that beauty is relative. The laboratory setting not only represents an era of Romanticism, it goes back to portray allegorically how our primitive, human wants lead to social problems—imperfections—today.

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