The Birthmark Themes and Symbols
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The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Lesson Plans by Rebecca Ray
In the “The Birthmark”, the narrator introduces Aylmer, a brilliant scientist, and his wife Georgiana. Aylmer loves his wife, but she has a small birthmark on the side of her left cheek that he despises. This is a dark and eerie tale of one man’s unhealthy obsession with perfection, leaving readers with thoughts on science, life, and love.
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![The Birthmark By Nathaniel Hawthorne - "The Birthmark" Summary](http://cdn.storyboardthat.com/storyboard-cells/989865/cell-col-0-row-0-w400.png "The Birthmark By Nathaniel Hawthorne - "The Birthmark" Summary")
![The Birthmark By Nathaniel Hawthorne - Vocabulary in "The Birthmark"](http://cdn.storyboardthat.com/storyboard-cells/989868/cell-col-0-row-0-w400.png "The Birthmark By Nathaniel Hawthorne - Vocabulary in "The Birthmark"")
![The Birthmark By Nathaniel Hawthorne - "The Birthmark" TWIST Analysis](http://cdn.storyboardthat.com/storyboard-cells/989873/cell-col-1-row-0-w400.png "The Birthmark By Nathaniel Hawthorne - "The Birthmark" TWIST Analysis")
![The Birthmark By Nathaniel Hawthorne - "The Birthmark" Themes and Symbols](http://cdn.storyboardthat.com/storyboard-cells/989876/cell-col-0-row-0-w400.png "The Birthmark By Nathaniel Hawthorne - "The Birthmark" Themes and Symbols")
Storyboard Description
The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne Theme Analysis
Storyboard Text
- THEMES AND SYMBOLS
- IMPERFECTION
- SCIENCE
- THE BIRTHMARK
- The theme of imperfection is implied in multiple ways. First with Georgiana’s birthmark, then later with Aylmer’s journal entries about his not-so-perfect experiments. Finally, in the end when Georgiana dies as a result of the quest for perfection, it is found that there is no such thing.
- A universal theme is man's pursuit for scientific advancement and knowledge and its effects. Aylmer's quest to rid his wife of her imperfection through science shows the reader how naive and narrow-minded man can be. Just because someone has the power or knowledge to do something doesn’t always mean it should be done.
- The birthmark is a symbol of man’s imperfection and also man’s mortality. The birthmark could be an allegorical symbol for man’s fall from Eden. Alymer thinks Georgiana would be the epitome of Godly perfection without it. All men are made in the image of God, but after Adam and Eve’s fall from grace, man was flawed.
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