“The Birth-Mark” is a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It was originally published in 1843. The story follows Aylmer, an ambitious scientist who is newly married. Aylmer becomes obsessed with a birthmark on the cheek of his new wife, Georgiana, and he is determined to remove it. Georgiana, eager to please her new husband, says that she will undergo any risk to have the birthmark removed. The story explores themes of science, nature, hubris, and perception.
The work of American fiction writer Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) was based on the history of his Puritan ancestors and the New England of his own day but, in its "power of blackness," has universal...
Read more
Nathaniel Hawthorne was fond of calling himself the "obscurist man of letters in America." Indeed, Edgar Allan Poe, with whom Hawthorne basically created the short story form in America, once said tha...
Read more
In sketches, tales, and romances published in the second third of the nineteenth century, Hawthorne chose mainly American materials, drawing especially on the history of colonial New England and his n...
Read more
When Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts, on our most patriotic holiday in 1804, his ancestral roots were already deeply planted in New England. Writing in The Scarlet Letter (1850) o...
Read more
On 9 July 1842 Nathaniel Hawthorne and Sophia Peabody were married in a simple ceremony that capped a courtship of nearly five years. Thus Hawthorne, at the age of thirty-eight, assumed his role as he...
Read more
Although Nathaniel Hawthorne called himself "the obscurest man in American letters," his achievements in fiction, both as short-story writer and novelist, offer models fashioned too well for contempor...
Read more
Biography EssayIn sketches, tales, and romances published in the second third of the nineteenth century, Nathaniel Hawthorne chose mainly American materials, drawing especially on the history of colon...
Read more
Theme is the massage or central idea that is implicit in a story, a recurring theme that appears in his stories is trying to play the role of god. The reader infers the theme from the characters' ac...
Read more
Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Birthmark" continues to reflect a reality of science today that believes all things can be improved. Like Aylmer looking at his wife Georgiana and seeing only her birthmark ...
Read more
Both of these stories revolve around a lot of symbolism. These stories, since they really don't make a lot of sense on their own, force the reader to look deeper in an attempt to understand the ideas ...
Read more
Hawthorne's "The Birth-Mark" deals with the discrepancy between the strength of nature and the strength of science. Hawthorne's protagonist, Alymer, represents the world of science, whereas the streng...
Read more
After reading the two famous works: Hawthorne's "The Birthmark" and Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem "Ozymandias", I can readily understand the point that both authors want to make to their audiences. Des...
Read more
"The Birthmark" a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne begins with a scientist who finds a bride. This bride, Georgiana, has a birthmark on her face that Aylmer wants to remove. Aylmer believes the ma...
Read more
Some say that beauty is only skin deep and believe that "inner beauty," is a whole lot more important. They are a small minority. Most of us strive for perfection in appearances--it may be our ...
Read more