Women beware science

In this article it talks about how Aylmer only tries to perfect the physical side of Georgina, and he doesn't care about her character. It also talks about how perfection can not exist. It also says that Georgina reminds Aylmer of what he can not be so because he cant perfect himself he tries to perfect Georgina.

The Story of Pygmalion

The story of Pygmalion is about a sculptor who falls in love with an ivory statue of a woman he has made. Venus, the goddess of love, brings the statue to life, and Pygmalion marries it. Aylmer’s reference to Pygmalion reveals much about his own character. By comparing himself to the sculptor, Aylmer believes that he is clever enough to create the perfect woman. He also reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of his own project. Unlike Pygmalion, Aylmer isn’t creating a woman where none previously existed. He is tampering with a perfectly beautiful woman. The reference to Pygmalion reveals that Aylmer’s self-regard has blinded him to the true nature of his experiment.

A reference to sculpture reveals the narrator’s distaste for Aylmer’s image of himself as a magical creator of life. Before Aylmer refers to Pygmalion, the narrator condemns those jealous women who claim that the birthmark spoils Georgiana’s beauty, saying that making such a claim is as silly as pretending that a tiny blue mark in  in marble would turn a statue of Eve into a monstrosity. It is a small moment, but a revealing one. http://www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/the-birthmark/section3.rhtml

A Psychological Reading of "The Birthmark"

In this analysis, James Quinn and Ross Baldessarini talk of how "obsessed with imperfection in human nature" Aylmer is.  It talks of the conflict Aylmer has between personal idealization and reality--an "obsessional neurotic conflict."  They infer that Aylmer is obsessive-compulsive especially when dealing with the struggle to attain "perfection" in his wife.

"Georgiana commits totally to her husband, even though she knows full well that his experiment will likely fail, just as his prior experiments have failed. She becomes the prototype of the good wife, who is his willing subject, even in the face of death. Aylmer, on the other hand, can be regarded both as a heartless scientist, vainly seeking the impossible, but also as a loving husband who believes his wife deserves nothing less than perfection." Why is it that Georgiana would let her husband perform this experiment on her? Especially after finding that book of failed experiments. As it says, she must have known this experiment would fail too. So why does she allow it? Sounds like Georgiana loved her husband so much that she was willing to let him try to improve her 'imperfetion'; she loved him so much that she was willing to 'be a good wife' and follow the instructions of her husband; she loved Aylmer so much that she was willing to die. I also find it an interesting perspective about Aylmer: that he thinks his wife doesn't deserve anything but perfection, and that's why he did the operation. I always pegged him as heartless also, and that he was being stupid by not appreciating his wife! But maybe he was doing this out of love for his wife? I had never thought about it that way and it stirs up many more questions and theories that one could play off of and use for writing.

Analysis of Major Characters

In 'The Birthmark' Alymer is used as a symbol of intellect and science.  His mind overpowers his sense of decency and he does things that aren't really noraml.  He shows us how when the mind works independent of morality it will result in death or disaster.  Georgiana is portrayed as this beautiful woman who men are just amazed by.  These men also love her birthmark and think it makes her more beautiful, but Georgiana only cares what Alymer thinks of her.  Alymer finds her birthmark ugly and does not like it.  So since she wants to do anything to make Alymer happy, she is willing to risk her life to get rid of the birthmark. 

Hawthorne's "The Birthmark": Science and Romance as Belief

Alymer views science as his religion, and romance is Georgianna's religion. Both of  them would do anything for their favorite subject. It's been recorded in history that man has tried to overcome nature by trying to "create life...without the help of women's childbearing capacity", which is exactly what Aylmer was trying to do. By removing the horrid birthmark from Georgianna's face, Aylmer was willing to kill his wife in order to fulfill a scientific discovery that conquers nature. Sadly, "he is left with another failure to add to his folio." Georgianna, however, thinks the opposite of Alymer. She was willing to prove her love and sacrifice her life for her husband's happiness. It was "better for Gorgianna to die for love and perfect beauty," than to live without romance or her husband's affection.

The Return of the Repressed: Illiteracy and the Death of the Narrative in Hawthorne's "The Birthmark"

This academic article really looked into a deeper meaning and different themes of "The Birthmark."  The author of the article explores the connections between the destruction of the mark and the actual structure of the narrative.  Because of the different viewpoints of the birthmark and the multiple symbols it can represent, the story seems to contradict and diminish itself, similar to Aylmer's desire to destroy the birthmark.  This article also emphasizes the characters' inability to "read" the mark and find the true meaning.  Aylmer and Georgiana see the mark as a flaw instead of seeing the real beauty behind it.  Their "illiteracy" results in the death of Georgiana.  The article also points out other symbols such as Aylmer's obsession with looking and gazing at the mark and the femaleness of the mark that make the mark such an important figure in the story.

Analysis of “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Aylmer is described in the beginning as a man who is a great scientist and loves nature, who also has a beautiful wife that he loves. Despite the amount of love Aylmer has for his wife, the birthmark on her cheek is a big imperfection and he wishes to remove it. He even gets Georgiana to hate it and wish it gone. His striving for perfection came to the death of his wife.

Eve's Daughter, Mary's Child: Women's Representation in Hawthorne's 'The Birthmark'- Kary Meyers Skredsvig

 This academic article delves into the feminist perception of the Birthmark.  Author Kary Meyers Skredsvig discusses the symbolism of the characters Aylmer, Georgiana and Aminadab in regards to their gender roles. She focuses on how their roles as males and females affect their perception of dominance and submission. Because Aylmer and Aminadab are males they have a higher status in society. Georgiana, being a women is looked down upon. Skredsvig compares Georgiana to biblical Eve and Mary as a way to represent her a demon or an angel. Her birthmark marks her as imperfect and is a flaw that is ingrained all the way down to her soul. Her submission and willingness to remove this impurity and make herself perfect for her husbands approval is the angelic essence within her.

Literary Anaylsis of the Birthmark

In this analysis of the Birthmark it focuses on the symbols of the birthmark, the mirrors and the flower and how they represent the barriers of the earthly, sinful world and heaven. The elusiveness of perfection is the driving force behind Aylmer's need to remove Georgiana's birthmark. His quest for an unearthly perfection is crossing the barrier that he has no right to cross.

http://www.fictionpress.com/s/2061159/1/Literary_Analysis_of_The_Birthmark

Literary analysis: The Birthmark, by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The analysis showed how conceit and arrogance had the power to destroy. Aylmer was always looking for perfection and arrogantly believing that he could achieve this. He became obsessed with what he thought was a flaw, and even said it was a "symbol of his wife's liability to sin, sorrow, decay and death." He drove Georgiana to agree with him, and pushed her to insanity.

Literary Analysis of Symbolism in "The Birthmark"

This article shows the symbolism of the methods of science shown to Georgiana and how they reflected in what she thought of herself and what others thought of her.  Something I found interesting was that it brings up the flower that Aylmer showed her, and mentions it being said as being perfect but when she picked it, it died.  This shows the fact that when she tried to pick a perfect, she causes it to die, which shows the imperfection in humans.

http://www.fictionpress.com/s/2061159/1/Literary_Analysis_of_The_Birthmark

The Return of the Repressed: Illiteracy and the death of the narrative in Hawthorne's "The Birthmark" - Shakinovsky

This article focuses on the feminism that was depicted in the Birthmark.  The thing I found most interesting was when the article talked about Aylmer changing Georgiana's thoughts about her birthmark.  While reading the story by myself I thought it was odd that Georgiana felt so strongly about the originality of her birthmark, but at the end of the story she hated it just as much as Aylmer.  I think this is a great example of feminism because back then a woman's opinion was not nearly as strong as a man's.  I think Georgiana felt this way towards Aylmer.  She knew she wasn't going to win the argument over the birthmark staying or leaving, so she gave in and let his opinion be the "right" one.  I think many women back then felt this way.  The man's decision always went, but it might not have necessarily been the right one.  In today's society that is NOT how it works!

I think that the birth mark represents mans imperfections and flaws. The birth mark is deep in Georgina's skin which says mans flaws are put deep inside us and hard to get rid of. Aylmer wants to get rid of Georgina's flaws and make her perfect. I think thats why she died, because she became perfect and perfect is not humanly possible.

http://www.shmoop.com/birthmark/birthmark-symbol.html

Speaking of the Unspeakable: Hawthorne's "The Birthmark" - Zanger

This analysis is about the relationship between maturity and immaturity, Platonism and Christian authoritarianism. Striving for perfection beyond the human can be fatal. It says that marriage exists in complete isolation from society, totally fill the screen. Alymer's dominance over Georgiana is made very evident in the major settings of the story.

natures boundaries

http://www.shmoop.com/birthmark/man-the-natural-world-theme.html

This article talks about how perfecting nature can not be done. Alymer tries to 'Repair' natures 'flaws' by removing the birthmark and when he does, his wife dies. This website claimes that nature has its limits and boundaries just as much as anything else does and when you cross those boundaries there will be consequences. Alymer's consequence was a tough one, he killed his wife.

The Birthmark-The symbol of imperfection

In this analysis, Aylmer is defined as a man striving for "perfection" in his wife.  It also talks of how he wants to "manipulate nature" and how his arrogance is shown when he says, "what will be my triumph when I shall have corrected what Nature left imperfect in her fairest work!"

Read more at Suite101: The Birthmark —Summary and Analysis: Nathaniel Hawthorne's Moral Allegory About the Danger of Science | Suite101.com http://suite101.com/article/the-birthmark-summary-and-analysis-a219869#ixzz271DzXs6I

Science has limitations

http://www.shmoop.com/birthmark/science-theme.html

this article talks about the time that Hawthorne wrote this story. It was when science was really starting to take a jump and people thought that science could solve all problems. By writing thus story some think Hawthorne tried to prove that science really does have its limitations.

Symbolism behind names

I as my post was earlier it was over the symbolism in the colors of white and red. This post is over more symbolism but instead over the colors but over the names in the story.

Alymer, at first it doesn't give you a true meaning but gives you related name that the name could have come from then. The original name actually mean famous and noble.
Georgiana, Feminine form of the name George which means farmer or earth worked,,, Greek meanings
Aminadab, derives from a german name amandus. Which means lovable, worthy of love.


www.behindthename.com

Symbolism of Aylmer and Georgiana

This article describes Aylmer as a wizard and intelligent, but he tries to play the role of God by removing the imperfect birthmark. It describes Aylmer as a devil figure. The example they use for this is that when Georgiana enters the lab the first thing she sees is the furnace and the hot worker with the glow of fire. They think this is symbolic of the devil working away in hell. This article also describes Georgiana as angelic and heavenly with her birthmark.

http://gencobb.com/think/literature/literary-reviews/review-of-the-birthmark-by-nathaniel-hawthorne/

themes on perfecting nature with science

http://www.articlemyriad.com/comparison-themes-birthmark-rappaccini-daughter/

This article talks about how Nathaniel Hawthorne's story, "The Birthmark" and another story of his ("Rappaccini's Daughter") both refer to his thoughts and opinions on attempting to correct nature with science. Hawthorne proves in his stories that trying to fix nature and its natural beauty is impossible, because when Alymer tries to 'perfect' Georgiana by  trying to remove her birthmark she dies. A possible reasoning behind this is because if you are perfect you can no longer survive on earth, because perfection does not exist on earth.

"Some have observed a similarity between Aylmer and a vampire, one of the most well-known characters in nineteenth-century romanticism. Like in vampire myths, the victim, Georgiana, participates in her own destruction." I thought this was an interesting theory! I never would have thought about Aylmer as a vampire..? :S http://www.gradesaver.com/young-goodman-brown-and-other-hawthorne-short-stories/study-guide/section4/

Plot

This article starts out talking about the plot of The Birthmark. It also elaborates on the characters.http://www.articlemyriad.com/full-plot-summary-analysis-birthmark/

Rhetorical Analysis

This article is a rhetorical analysis of The Birthmark. It talks about how Hawthorne uses comparison and personification in his writing. http://voices.yahoo.com/the-birthmark-nathaniel-hawthorne-rhetorical-analysis-7997378.html

Perfection

http://www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/the-birthmark/themes.html

This article from sparknotes talks about how it was a big mistake for Aylmer to try to make his wife perfect because perfection is heavenly and does not exist on earth. By removing Georgianna's one flaw Aylmer was basically sentencing her to death because if he made her perfect she could no longer be on earth. Georgianna's birthmark made her human. Imperfections are nature's way of reminding us that everything comes to an end, but Ayler tries to defy nature with science. If he were able to remove his wife's birthmark he would have overcome death itself, but this is impossible. Nature cannot be overcome by science. Nature is beautiful, but never perfect.

symbolism of the birthmark

On this cite it talks about the birthmark representing Georgina's humanity, like representing her flaws. Alymer is trying to rid her of her flaws. In the story it talks about the birthmark changing color to match the color of Georgina's face, for instance when it turns red. This article says the color of red shows blood and passion. It also says the birthmark is symbolic because it represents Georgina's sexuality, Alymer is feeling not in control so he rids of the birthmark to keep himself in control.

http://www.shmoop.com/birthmark/birthmark-symbol.html

http://www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/the-birthmark/themes.html



This article has many different sections about the symbolism in the story, but the one I want to call you attention to is the color one. In the book two color are referred to over and over again together. The colors are white and red. White being the color of her cheek. White is used as a meaning of perfection. The beauty that we find on a day with fresh snow. The perfection on a prime piece of marble. While the white of her is still beautiful the color of the birthmark is red. Red is normally used for evil but in this case it is used as an imperfection. The color of blood, bad, evil, all of it is not good in our eyes. The color of her later blushed cheek is the same color of red as the red in her birthmark making it disappear. This goes to show the closeness and lack of a boundary of beauty that she really has.

Austin Sadler

foreshadowing

http://www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/the-birthmark/section1.rhtml

In this article they are depicting the foreshadowing that happened through out the story The Birthmark.

"Aylmer dreams of cutting off Georgiana’s birthmark and finding that the roots plunge down into her heart, which he decides to cut out; Georgiana faints the first time she sees the laboratory; the beautiful, fast-blooming flower Aylmer creates withers and turns black as soon as Georgiana touches it; a reflection of Georgiana in a metal plate reveals the shape of a hand, so Aylmer throws the plate into acid, destroying it. Over and over, we see that Aylmer’s experiments usually go awry and have destructive, unintended consequences."  

By showing us multiple events of failure, and destructiveness we are able to foreshadow the consequences of what is to come of Georgiana.  When first reading The Birthmark many would passover these clues, but like this article states, Nathaniel Hawthorne included many scenarios leading up to the death of Georgiana.  

The Birthmark Foreshadowing

In this article of SparkNotes, it talked about foreshadowing. In the story one foreshadowing event was when Alymer dreamed about the birthmark and it went as deep as her life, and that morning his wife asked him about the dream so he told her that he fears it might go down into her heart. This foreshadows that if Alymer takes away the birthmark, Georgina will die.
http://www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/the-birthmark/section1.rhtml

The Laboratory and Boudoir in the Birthmark

This article analyzes two specific symbols: the laboratory and the boudoir. The difference between the laboratory and the boudoir is symbolic in the story the Birthmark because language and imagery used to describe them. Even the atmospheres in the two rooms starkly contrast each other. The boudoir represents Georgiana, her spirit, and life itself. While the laboratory represents Aylmer and his mortality. The two rooms represent the differences in life and death and also the differences between men and women. The article significance of these two rooms and their placement next to each other.

http://www.shmoop.com/birthmark/laboratory-boudoir-symbol.html

Analysis of Major Characters

This article analyzes the meaning and symbolism of the two main characters: Aylmer and Georgiana.  It brought up some really interesting points about Georgiana's complexity as a character.  The article suggests that Georgiana's complete devotion to her husband which resulted in her death could indicate that Hawthorne's purpose might have been to show that "women should not be expected to obey their husbands at all costs."  It also points out that even though Georgiana seemed like the vulnerable housewife, she spent her time reading and understanding Aylmer's scientific library and experiments, revealing the highly intelligent and noble woman she was.
http://www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/the-birthmark/canalysis.html

science vs. Nature

 In the story Georgina herself and her birthmark represent the power of nature. Alymer represents science and its imperfection. Georgina's beautiful voice restores Alymer's good mood which would be nature proving its power to science. Alymer however tried to correct Georgina's birthmark and the result of using science to correct nature was death and unhappiness. This article refers to how science is evil and nature is perfection and beauty.  http://www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/the-birthmark/themes.html

The Birthmark

This analysis tells of how Aylmer was seeking perfection in his wife (because he thought she deserved perfection), and he finally found it in her last dying moments.  John Schlismann elaborates on the thought that Aylmer is a very selfish person, wanting to change his wife to make her become "perfect" because he loves science more than he could ever love any human being.  In contrast, Georgiana shows complete unselfishness, wanting to risk her own life in order to be perfect in her husband's eyes--which is a very significant "mark of the time" according to Schlismann.
http://ezinearticles.com/?An-Analysis-of-the-Birth-Mark-by-Nathaniel-Hawthorne&id=1295421

Analysis

I found an analysis and in it, it talks about questions thA you may have had at the end of the story and also single answer for the question.. Such as, when gorgina was dying, did her husban then see her as perfect and was his goal accomplished??.  This analysis also talks about possible themes that the birthmark may represent. http://ezinearticles.com/?An-Analysis-of-the-Birth-Mark-by-Nathaniel-Hawthorne&id=1295421

Academic Articles available for reading...

Eve's Daughter, Mary's Child: Women's Representation in Hawthorne's "The Birthmark" - Skredsvig

• This analysis examines the intimate, intricate relationships among human subjectivity, knowledge, and representation in terms of gendered identities. In Hawthorne's "The Birthmark," Georgiana not only embodies but internalizes traditional patriarchal representations of women, thus negating selfhood.

The Return of the Repressed: Illiteracy and the death of the narrative in Hawthorne's "The Birthmark" - Shakinovsky

•  Studies the ways of reading the mark on Georgiana's body in the short story "The Birthmark," by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Discussion of the literary notion of the token in the book "Bodywork" by Peter Brooks; Account of social and cultural responses to the mark; Ambiguities surrounding the mark's capacity for figuration. Brooks focuses strongly on the narrative attempt to inscribe the body -- to create, identify, or discover its particular mark or token as an aspect of a larger epistmophilic urge. In "The Birthmark" the notion of the marked body works precisely the opposite way.
• This article focuses on the symbol of the birthmark and the sexuality and textuality of the mark:
• how the removal of the mark opposes its significance
• social and cultural responses to the mark
• narrator reveals his own attitude about the mark
• Alymer "misread" the mark
• "femaleness" of the mark
• shape of the mark - significance of the hand
• feminist view
• transition of Georgiana from being defensive about her mark to agreeing with Aylmer
• how Alymer stares at the mark - shows his thoughts of inferiority toward women

Speaking of the Unspeakable: Hawthorne's "The Birthmark" - Zanger

• Theme - the ruthless course of the nineteenth century; relationship between maturity and immaturity; relationship between Platonism and Christian authoritarianism; striving for perfection beyond the human and the recognition that such striving can be fatal; metaphoric arena selected to dramatize such striving was the marriage union; the marriage exists in complete isolation from society, totally fill the screen; Alymer's dominance over Georgiana is dramatically particularized in the major settings of the story.

 Hawthorne's "The Birthmark": Science and Romance as Belief - Eckstein

• excess of science and romance
• kind of sexist
• Aylmer only wanted Georgianna as his wife so he could prove to "fix" her and be a great scientist
• mind is man, nature is woman; science brings them together as Mind and Nature

Women Beware Science: "The Birthmark" - Fetterley

• This article focuses on the feminist perspective in "The Birthmark," but also focuses on idealism in the story such as how one might think the story is about "a man's desire to perfect his wife," but the consequence of this is her death. Some other points highlighted in this article are:
• it is her "physical system" that is the reason for Aylmer's obsession to remove the birthmark
• it accentuates the fact that she (Georgiana) is imperfect all because of this one flaw
• it shows how the story portrays women as powerless
• it also shows how men gain power over women

The Invisible Hand Made Visible: "The Birth-Mark" - Weinstein

• Contemporary readers agree that Hawthorne was experimenting with traditional allegory in order to create a new allegory, but that's all they can agree about. There are multiple mixtures of theories that can be applied to Hawthorne's writing.
• Hawthorne quotes "I am not quite sure that I entirely comprehend my own meaning in some of these blasted allegories"
• How he couldn't present himself as a clean slate ecause everything would come second to science
• His failures in the lab make Georgiana the perfect experiment for science and love
• The birthmark was holding her back and separating them from loving each other

A Psychological Reading of "The Birthmark" - Quinn and Baldessarini

• Aylmer, a scientist whose ambition may be to control nature, provides an exceptionally good example of an obsessive character. He is obsessed with imperfection in human nature and is unable to achieve a mature human relationship. 

Aylmer as "Scheidekunstler": The Pattern of Union and Separation in Hawthorne's "The Birthmark" - Napier

• This is a psychological complexity analysis. Symbols discussed:
• Scheidekunstler
• Georgiana (herself)
• The name Georgiana
• unity and disjointment
• Aminadab (as Alymer's dopplerganger)

Birthmark

http://www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/the-birthmark/themes.html

Aylmer thinks his wife is so unperfect, that she shouldn't be on earth, even though she had a "heavenly beauty". Georgina's tiny birthmark drives her husband crazy, and drives him to "kill" her to make her perfect. Hawthorne also makes a point to not include any of the people who thought Georgina's birthmark as part of her beauty. It only showed Aylmer's point of view, as where he saw it disturbing and where it got in the way of their marriage. -A small theme you could get from this story is no matter who you are, you cannot win against nature. For example Aylmer had all his experiments booked for success, but he still was not good enough to face nature's small sense of beauty.

The Invisible Hand Made Visible: "The Birth-Mark"

This article discusses the different styles of allegory that Hawthorne used.  The one thing critics agree upon is that Hawthorne combined different styles of writing but there are many perspectives that can be used to analyze his work.  One critic says Hawthorne "modifi[ed] a sacrosanct Puritan form by mixing it with contemporary themes and styles".  I don't know what that means but it obviously shows that Hawthorne mixed different styles of writing because another critic has an entirely different perspective and says Hawthorne "apparently adopts the allegorical mode in order to turn it against allegorical intentions".  The rest of the article analyzes the symbolism Hawthorne used and is a really good article.

The Birthmark Symbol

This article tells us how the narrator and Alymer look at Georgiana's birthmark and her as a whole. Her face color is like snow and her birthmark is crimson/red in color. The Narrator sees Georgiana as beautiful and her birthmark makes her more beautiful. Alymer looks at Georgiana's snowy white face and sees a stain. Much as a hunter who has shot an animal would look for the blood trail to track the animal down.


http://www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/the-birthmark/canalysis.html

The Birthmark

This shows the real meaning of the red and white of the birthmark. It is said to highlight Georgiana's purity and imperfections.  The words reveal that the narrator thinks that Georgiana's birthmark and the red and white shades on her face make her more beautiful. It is said when Georgiana blushes her white skin turns the color of her birthmark. It suggests that nothing exists between Georgiana's beauty and one flaw.
http://www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/the-birthmark/themes.html

SparkNotes: The Birthmark: Analysis of Major Characters

http://www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/the-birthmark/canalysis.html

This article shows tells not only about the characters but also their symbolism. "Aylmer is a character, of course, but he also functions as a symbol of intellect and science." This article also states not only a summary of the story but the underlying purpose of reading it.