Abstract
This paper gives an in-depth analysis of the character Georgiana and her transformation in Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story "The Birthmark." The reviewer describes the symbolic meaning of Georgiana's birthmark and how it affects her marriage and self-image. It also examines Georgiana's image of her husband, and how she sees herself through his eyes. According to the paper, Hawthorne felt the birthmark was a sign of human imperfection that Aylmer, Georgiana's husband,and eventually Georgiana did not allow. The paper concludes that when Georgiana allowed Aylmer to give her the elixir, she gave him permission to kill her, so long as the birthmark was vanquished.

From the Paper
"It is established right away that the blemish on Georgiana's face plants a seed of strife between the married couple. Aylmer begins with a seemingly innocuous question: "...has it ever occurred to you that the mark upon your cheek might be removed?" (84). His wife Georgiana hasn't given it much thought and is "simple enough" to imagine it as a "charm", but Aylmer sees the blemish as "the visible mark of earthly imperfection" (85). Georgiana reels with shock at her husband's opinion of her blemish, and this marks the first step in her transformation. Before the discussion, Georgiana is blissfully unaware of Aylmer's feelings. It seems as if this is the first time Georgiana has been forced to confront her birthmark. Once she has been made to consider the mark as a flaw rather than a "charm", she will never again be as optimistic."

Tags:blemishes, marriage, obsession, birthmark

Abstract
This paper explains that Nathaniel Hawthorne lived at a time when science was viewed with equal parts awe and suspicion. Hawthorne was, in fact the descendant of a Protestant minister which may have led to the cautionary tone of his works when writing of science. The paper examines how this cautionary tone is evident in "The Birthmark" and is made apparent by Hawthorne's use of symbolism in the story.

From the Paper
"The birthmark in question is a tiny strawberry mark in the shape of a "singular mark" that "bore not a little similarity to a human hand" (Hawthorne 3). Hawthorne's narrator suggests that this tiny hand was a fairy mark. However, given that the union between Aylmer and Georgiana was deemed a spiritual one and that the mark was "deeply interwoven [. . .] with the texture and substance of her face" the power behind that hand would seem to be a much greater one indeed."

Tags:hawthorne, birthmark, symbolism

Abstract
This paper compares and contrasts how the theme of man's appreciation of beauty is handled in each of two stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne, "The Birthmark" and "Rappaccini's Daughter".

From the Paper
"Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Birthmark" and "Rappaccini's Daughter" both deal with man's pursuit of beauty yet his failure to recognize true beauty when he finds it in nature. Instead man always tries to improve on what he has and often with ..."

Tags:The, Birthmark, Rappaccini's, Daughter

Abstract
This paper analyzes two works of literature that explore the destructive fascination for science and nature: Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" and Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Birthmark." It discusses the characters of Alymer and Frankenstein, both men of science, and how they are responsible for their fate.

Tags:Frankenstein, The Birthmark, Alymer, Hawthorne, Shelley, Prometheus

Abstract
The paper examines Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story "The Birthmark", which explores a variety of paradoxes through its setting, characters, and plot. The paper discusses how Hawthorne uses these paradoxes to comment on deeper issues of humanity. In particular, "The Birthmark" highlights the contrasts between perfection and imperfection, real and artificial, and the earthly and the spiritual. The writer proposes that Hawthorne's overall point is that life must include paradox and opposition in order to make it worth living, that people are always struggling and attempting to change and improve things. Hawthorne suggests that this may be absolutely futile.

From the Paper
"Alymer wants to control the earthly; he wants to manipulate and perfect it as scene through his own journal of his previous experiments. "In his grasp the veriest clod of earth assumed a soul" (Hawthorne 186). He wants to create something. Yet, he frequently fails. "It was the sad confession and continual exemplification of the shortcomings of the composite man, the spirit burdened with clay and working in matter, and of the despair that assails the higher nature at finding itself so miserably thwarted by the earthly part" (Hawthorne 186). Alymer is burdened and defeated by the earthly represented by both his wife and assistant. In the end, Georgiana's death is another example of his perpetual defeat. Aminadab, however, enjoys the defeat and chuckles to himself."

Tags:shortcomings, paradox, Alymer, Aminadab

Abstract
This paper discusses several of the themes in "The Birthmark," by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The writer explores how Hawthorne creates a complex story about the human psyche from the themes of the conflicts between science and nature, and between man and science. The paper also discusses the themes of morality, love, obsession, and madness. The writer concludes that obsession is ultimately the cause of Aylmer's and Georgiana's tragedy.

From the Paper
"It was not Aylmer's disgust for his wife's birthmark that drove him to commenting on it and calling for its removal, it was his love for science and his need to prove that he could make something that nature made even better. In the very beginning of the story it states that Aylmer didn't even mind the birthmark until after they had been married. "Masculine observers, if the birthmark did not heighten their admiration, contented themselves with wishing it away, that the world might possess one living specimen of ideal loveliness, without the semblance of a flaw.""

Tags:perfection, God, hate, fairies, disgust, shock

Abstract
This paper discusses how "The Birthmark" explores the notion of how religion and science can become confused when man oversteps his boundaries in the universe. It explains that Hawthorne successfully combines these two aspects through language, which serves to be the perfect foundation for discovery.

From the Paper
"An example of how Hawthorne confuses science and religion with language can be seen when Aylmer tells his wife that her birthmark is a "visible mark of earthly imperfection" (601). In addition, we also know that Aylmer selected the mark as "the symbol of his wife's liability to sin, sorrow, decay, and death"(601). Here we see how Aylmer couples the mark with original sin and it is safe to assume that if he can remove it from her, she will be prefect not only physically but spiritually as well. Aylmer becomes consumed with the mark and even dreams of removing it. In his dream, he uses a knife to remove the mark and "the deeper went the knife, the deeper sank the hand, until at length its tiny grasp appeared to have caught hold of Georgiana's heart" (603). Aylmer is trying to make something spiritual out of something physical. Here we see how early in the story Hawthorne is linking religion with science to emphasize Alymer's obsession. In fact, his passion at times to take on a religious fervor. Another example of this can be seen when Aylmer speaks of removing the mark in terms of something like a miracle."

Tags:aylmer, language, discovery

Abstract
This paper examines and analyzes the setting, mood, characters, and plot of Nathanial Hawthorne's "The Birthmark" and, through this analysis, explains how Hawthorne's story teaches us that boundaries not only exist between man and nature, but that they should also be respected.

From the Paper
"This setting of "The Birthmark" serves as the perfect backdrop for the tale, taking place in the "latter part of the last century" (Hawthorne 600). Aylmer is a "man of science, an eminent proficient in every branch of natural philosophy" (600). While Aylmer was married man, it is difficult to assume that he was completely normal. In a time when the "mysteries of Nature seemed to open paths into the region of miracle, it was not unusual for the love of science to rival the love of woman in its depth and absorbing energy" (600). This key passage gives us insight into Aylmer's character. We know that while Aylmer is married, he is also very passionate about science. Nature, the narrator tells us, is on the brink of miracles, and this mentality is one that captures Aylmer and holds him like a prisoner."

Tags:unexplored, science, tampering, knowledge, beautiful, creature, alchemist?s, laboratory

Abstract
This paper discusses the ideals of symbolism and analogies in comparison to Modern day America that are found in Nathanial Hawthorne's novel, "The Birthmark." The author examines some of these different themes including feminism, discrimination, physical and spiritual imperfection, decay and duplicity. The author feels that this is a very well-written commentary on society at the time.

From the Paper
"From this perspective we may argue that the birthmark is used as a symbol of the inability of men to accept women on equal terms for themselves. Instead they need an idealistic visions of what they believe a woman should be, complete with all of the relevant social and societal trappings. A woman here is not a person, but an object or worship, and as such she is no longer a real person, but a non person that is the creation of the man's mind. This is a feminist perspective, but a valid notion on the way that men of the time sought to perceive women and reduce them to objects rather then accept them as equals."

Tags:direct, indirect, symbolism, feminism, visions, social, person, object, duplicity, commentary, discrimination, physical, imperfection, sin, equality, men, women, spiritual, equal

Abstract
A look at Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Birthmark". The author analyzes and interprets the theme of human nature in the novel and other symbolic elements around this concept.

From the Paper
"The Birthmark" explores a very intriguing and deep theme: man's attempts to transform nature in order to make it more perfect than it already is. Hawthorne goes into details into the subject of human mortality and the spiritual aspects of the scientific experimentations with the Nature's laws. He shows us that human intrusion into the universal wholeness and attempts to take control over nature can be unpredictable and often fatal.

Tags:nature, human, control, perfection, mortality