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The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne: Summary | Short Story
The Birthmark
ABOUT THE STORY
The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne
This short story "The Birth-Mark" was written by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne. This story examines the obsession with human perfection. It was first published in the March 1843 edition of The Pioneer. Later, it appeared in a collection called "Mosses from an Old Manse" of Hawthorne's short stories which was published in 1846. It follows the story of a scientist named Aylmer and Georgiana, his wife. His wife has a red hand-shaped birthmark on her left cheek. Although the birthmark on her cheek is a symbol of Nature, Aylmer finds it to be very ominous.
The main theme of the story is the concept of conflict between science and nature.
FULL PLOT SUMMARY
The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne
The story begins with the narrator. Here he talks about Aylmer, a smart scientist as well as a natural philosopher who took a break from his experiments for a while especially to marry the beautiful Georgiana. One day, Aylmer asks his wife Georgiana if she has ever thought of removing a birthmark on her cheek. In a very cheerful way, Georgiana says no to her husband. But later she gets serious when she finds her husband serious regarding her birthmark. According to Georgiana, many people have told her the mark is like a charm and she also trusts them. But for Aylmer, any mark on her almost perfect face is quite shocking. Georgiana becomes upset at first and then weeps. She asks her husband how he can love her if he finds her shocking.
The narrator says that Georgiana has a small red hand-shaped birthmark on her left cheek that disappears when she blushes. Those people who like her find the mark so charming. They will risk a lot just to kiss it. But some women disagree with her birthmark. They think the mark spoils her beauty. But the narrator thinks that's silly.
Aylmer can't stop thinking about the particular birthmark on her cheek. He sees it as a symbol of death and sin. The birthmark becomes more important to him than his wife Georgiana's beauty. One night, she informs him about a dream he had. In that dream, he was talking in his deep sleep. He was mentioning about removing her birthmark by taking out her heart. Aylmer remembers dreaming of using a knife to cut out the birthmark. In the dream, he reached his wife's heart and decided to remove it. Georgiana says that she is willing to risk her life to get rid of the birthmark. Being excited, Aylmer agrees to try. He expresses his confidence in his skills. He compares himself to Pygmalion before kissing his wife's unmarked cheek.
Both of them decide to move into the apartments where Aylmer's lab is located. Aylmer has made cool discoveries regarding volcanoes, fountains, mines, and other natural wonders. Now he plans to continue his study regarding the creation of life. When both enter the lab, Aylmer shudders by Georgiana's appearance. Meanwhile, she faints. Aminadab, an assistant of Aylmer, comes there and says that he wouldn't want to rid of the birthmark if Georgiana were his wife.
When Georgiana wakes up, she finds herself in nice-smelling rooms. Aylmer has adorned the rooms just for her. Aylmer tries to make her feel comfortable with some of his magical creations: “airy figures, absolute bodiless ideas, and forms of unsubstantial beauty”. He shows her some moving scenes that mimic real life. He also gives her a flower that grows quickly but dies when she touches it. Later, he attempts to create a portrait of her with a metal plate. But when it shows a hand of her cheek, he gets angry and finally throws portrait into acid.
Between his experiments, Aylmer starts talking to Georgiana about alchemy. He thinks that he can change ordinary metal into gold and make a potion for living forever. But he admits that doing so would be wrong. After being disappeared for hours, he reveals his collection of wonders to her. Among his wonders, one is a vial with a strong perfume and another is a poison that can kill anyone instantly or delay death depending on the amount of dose. Georgiana is thoroughly shocked, but Aylmer insists that the poison is more good than bad. He also shows her a potion for wiping freckles. But he believes that her birthmark requires a more powerful cure and solution.
Georgiana figures out that Aylmer has been doctoring her food or making her breathe something in the air. Her body feels odd. She reads the books in his scientific library as well as the records of his experiments. She also notices that his accomplishments never quite reach the goals that he has set. But she admires him for his studies. Aylmer finds her crying over his journals. Though he speaks kindly, he's angry. She sings to cheer him up.
Some hours later, Georgiana goes to the lab to find Aylmer. When he sees her, he gets angry. He accuses her of snooping and asks her to leave. But she stays firm and insists that he should trust her. She encourages him not to hide his fears. She also promises to drink whatever he asks her to drink. Aylmer mentions that the mark goes deep and removing it off could be risky. In her room, Georgiana thinks about how noble it is that Aylmer refuses to love her as she is but insists on making his ideal version of her.
He takes out a potion and gives it to her. He claims that it won't fail. He also demonstrates how it heals a flower's blemishes. Later, Georgiana drinks it and sleeps. Aylmer watches her with care for some time. It seems almost like it's a scientific test. The birthmark slowly fades away. His assistant Aminadab laughs. When Georgiana wakes up, she looks in the mirror. She tells Aylmer not to be upset about rejecting "the best the earth could offer." Later, she passes away.
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