The Birth-Mark: Annotated Edition
- ISBN-10
- ISBN-13
- 9798570830035
- Series
- The Birth-Mark
- Pages
- 39
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2020-11-24
- Author
- Nathaniel Hawthorne
Description
The narrator introduces Aylmer, a brilliant yet lonely scientist who is "proficient in every natural branch of philosophy" (Hawthorne 152). Aylmer abandons his scientific endeavors to pursue and marry the beautiful, sweet-natured Georgiana. One day, Aylmer gazes at his wife and asks her if she's ever considered removing the red hand-shaped birthmark on her cheek. Georgiana tells him no, as most men have found the birthmark charming. Aylmer expresses his dissatisfaction with the birthmark, reasoning that Georgiana's face is near perfection, so any blemish, mark, or physical flaw downright shocks him. Georgiana is initially angered by Aylmer's callousness, but she soon resents and obsesses over the mark just as her husband does. Her self-confidence shatters, and she becomes repulsed by her own appearance."The Birth-Mark" centers on the marriage between a brilliant yet misguided scientist, Aylmer, and the beautiful Georgiana. Aylmer begins to resent the tiny, hand-shaped birthmark on Georgiana's cheek, as he views it as a symbol of universal human imperfection. As Aylmer's repulsion and obsession with the birthmark grows, Georgiana begins to devolve into a mere subject of one of Aylmer's dangerous experiments. The simple premise progresses into a bleak, moralistic reflection on the dangers of relying on science to change human nature.
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Other editions
-
- 2019-06-27
- 36 pages
- Paperback
- Independently Published
