Hawthorne's The Birthmark

Wow, this story scream MAD SCIENTIST! From the beginning of the story Aylmer is portrayed as the antagonist. His wife, I can imagine as a beautiful woman, is made to feel less than by her own husband, because of her having a small mark on her cheek. Back in the time this story was set there were many practices in medicine that we would consider ludicrous and dangerous today, as Aylmer’s remedy for Georgiana’s mark is. The worst part of all was that he killed his wife but was still pleased because the mark on her face was gone.

The story seems weird and bazar but it has also has a sense of romanticism. Georgiana had such a love for her husband that she would rather give up her own life, than to disgust and burden her husband. Early on in the story I get a sense Aylmer doesn’t feel the same; rather his love is for science and perfectionism. It’s almost as if he thinks he is better than God because he would never design something with so many flaws.

The Birthmark was a little hard for me to follow because to the wording, however the wording does help me understand the setting. This was not a story that I enjoyed reading. I believe that everyone has flaws just as Georgiana did flaws that make us one of a kind; things we should embrace instead of get rid of. I feel this story is just as important today as it was in the time it was written. There are so many people chasing their image of perfection they forget to live! A slave to tanning, or surgery or eating disorders instead of admiring what God has given them to begin with, beauty.