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THE BIRTH-MARK: AN ANALYSIS
“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.”
-Nathaniel Hawthorne
The following paper analyzes the main idea and other interrelated dimensions of a short story, “The Birth-mark.” The short story was written by a 19th century’s romantic author, Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1843. The narration pivots two leading dispositions that are Georgina and her husband Aylmer who is an excellent and brilliant scientist. Aylmer loves Georgina from the depth of his heart, but yet a birth-mark on her cheek makes him feel distressed about her imperfection. Consequently, the science emerges in the disguise of a solution but destroys the splendor of everything.
Aylmer yearns for perfection and in his dreams; Aylmer attempts to remove the imperfect birth-mark from Georgina’s cheek. And in due course, Aylmer sleep-talks that in turn develop consciousness in Georgina about her flaw. Later on, it is depicted in the story that Aylmer conducts a myriad of the experiment in his laboratory without taking Georgina in confidence. However, eventually, Georgina explores the truth and allows her husband to carry on. Aylmer assures Georgiana that he is going to try one last time and asks her to drink a potion. By consuming the medicine, Georgina falls asleep, and in her sleep, the birthmark starts to diminish. But it is revealed that the fading of her birthmark was associated with her life and after removal of the blemish she dies.
“The Birth-mark” supports the perception that favors the adversary of science and signifies the human emotions in comparison. The similar notion is portrayed in Hawthorne’s other short stories including “Rappaccini’s Daughter,” in which the science is asserted as a corrupt practice. Similarly, the central posit of “The Birthmark” highlights a substantial conflict between science and the obsessive power of love. And it is elaborated that the possibility of science ruined the beauty and contentment of a beautiful and delicate relationship. However, the new epoch denies such a proposition, but yet it was the most enthralling theme of literature throughout the nineteenth century.
Work Cited
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Selected Tales and Sketches: (the Best Short Stories of Nathaniel Hawthorne). Digireads.com Pub., 2007.
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