Tragic flaw in Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark” Essay - 1201 Words

An expository essay: Tragic flaw in Hawthorne’s â€Å"The Birthmark† In literature a tragic flaw refers in plain words when the main character ends up dead or defeated a characteristic feature of the heroes of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short stories, â€Å"Young Goodman Brown,† â€Å"The Minister’s Black Veil†, and â€Å"The Birthmark†. However this concept is even more extensive and best explained in terms of â€Å"Hamartia†. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica that word can be understood as an inherent defect in the hero of a tragedy or a moral flaw, other sources point out â€Å"Hamartia† as an error in judgment or accident that may lead the hero to ruin as a result. From â€Å"The Birthmark† the reader can notice how the story starts with a happy romance†¦show more content†¦No, dearest Georgiana, you came so nearly perfect from the hand of Nature that this slightest possible defect, which we hesitate whether to term a defect or a beauty, shocks me, as being the visible mark of eart hly imperfection. (Hawthorne, 1843, para. 5) Such arrogance is the reason why the romance became in tragedy. Aylmer as devote scientist had been influenced by discoveries of the 19th century. For him the nature can be modified through science, nature is flawed and man can improve it. In a deeper sense, human life is imperfect because of the death, also the sin, imperfection is a symbol of the mortal life and one of the purposes of science is prolonging life; so perfection is seen as eternity, symbol of immortality. In the case of Aylmer he is married with a woman he considers almost perfect, according to him she is so perfect that is insupportable see in her the birth-mark in her check, because that just emphasizes just a small imperfection that damages the beauty of a perfect work of art, something that recalled the mortal condition of Aylmer’s wife as the life of any other human, a fact that made of the birthmark a nightmare for the couple as describes the story: It was the fatal flaw of humanity which Nature, in one shape or another, stamps ineffaceably on all her productions†¦ The crimson hand expressed the ineludible gripe in which mortality clutches the highest and purest of earthlyShow MoreRelatedBirthday Mark by Nathaniel Hawthorne1146 Words   |  5 Pagesinto during the exploration and application of new technology in The Birthmark. These challenges are not entirely physical but they are more so about an internal struggle within Victorian mindsets. In The Birthmark there are only three characters: Aylmer, a scientist, Georgiana, Aylmer’s wife, and Aminadab, Aylmer’s lab assistant. Hawthorne isolates the characters in their caste to present individual viewpoints of a tragic flaw. Each character promotes innocence but they are caught up in traditionalRead MoreThe Birthmark Analysis1198 Words   |  5 PagesThe Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a dark romantic short story based in the nineteenth century. The short story highlights the relationship between Aylmer and Georgiana as well as the dynamics of the different personality types between the two. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses Aylmer as well as Georgiana an example of tragic flaws to further the conflict in the story. A tragic flaw is a literary device found within The Birthmark. â€Å"Tragic flaw is a literary device that can be defined as a trait in aRead MoreEssay about The Birthmark1138 Words   |  5 PagesAmerican history (Encarta). nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;â€Å"The Birthmark,† like many of Hawthorne’s stories deals with the relationship between men and women. It is a love story where the quest for perfection leads to a tragic end. The protagonist, a scientist named Aylmer, attempts to attain perfection for his new wife Georgiana, by removing a birthmark resembling a small hand from her left cheek. Written in 1843, it was Hawthorne’s first work of fiction right after he married his wife, Sophia Read MoreThemes Through Out Hawthorn. The Literary Works Of Nathaniel1343 Words   |  6 Pagesthe generations, both facts impacted his life, imagination and writings. (â€Å"Nathaniel Hawthorne.† Columbia Encyclopedia) Two of Hawthorne’s short stories â€Å"The Birthmark† and â€Å"Rappaccini’s Daughter† demonstrate a common themes of obsession, corruption, the inferior place of women and the limits of science run throughout these Hawthorne works. These two works of Hawthorne’s can easily be described and dark romanticism. Dark romanticism, a writing genre, is characterized by euphoria and sublimity coupleRead MoreIn The Highly Analyzed Short Story â€Å"The Birth-Mark,† Author1873 Words   |  8 PagesIn the highly analyzed short story â€Å"The Birth-mark,† author Nathanial Hawthorne’s writing is shown to be an allegory with much of the allegorical themes represented through the idea of perfection in society. Hawthorne’s symbolism and themes display his belief that life consists of imperfection and the loss of imperfection results in the loss of life. In his writing he shows the readers â€Å"the power of both science and arrogance† that man is comprised of and uses the story of â€Å"the Birth-mark† as a depictionRead More Aylmers Struggle for Perfection in Nathaniel Hawthomes, The Birthmark2010 Words   |  9 PagesHawthomes, The Birthmark Aylmers struggle for scientific perfection transcends human possibility in Nathaniel Hawthomes The Birthmark. He attempts to perfect that which nature rendered imperfect. When the quest for human achievement opposes divine design it has no chance of succeeding. This key element in Aylmers twisted love leads to the demise of what he seeks so desperately to perfect, his beautiful wife. Georgiannas fatal flaw of humanity (Hawthorne 167), the birthmark, blocks her fromRead MoreThe Birthmark By Judith Fetterley987 Words   |  4 Pagesdesign or pattern, or something else. In â€Å"The Birthmark† it is a tragic and upsetting example of what beauty, gender, and science represent. Georgiana was devoted to make her husband Alymer happy by jeopardizing her life so he wouldn’t suffer from considering her birthmark. Thus potential perfection is not worth a life. Analyzing the gender aspect of the story can be explained by Judith Fetterley. She wrote an article called Women Beware Science: â€Å"The Birthmark†. Alymer simply looks at his wife as someoneRead More`` The Birthmark `` And `` Rappaccini s Daughter ``1934 Words   |  8 PagesHawthorne s books are inspired and fascinate to read. They are full of science fiction and tail of fantasies. The female characters have to face many challenges in their lives due to their natures. The human morals and man ambition are clear in The Birthmark and Rappaccini s Daughter on which the two stories are similar in away. The two stories appear to be similar because innocence characters have to suffer. The hiding meanings are deep within each character and in each story. The two stories maybeRead MoreFrom The Beginning Of Time, The World Has Arguably Treated1865 Words   |  8 Pages From the beginning of time, the world has arguably treated women as unequal to men in relationships, media, lit erature, and more. Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s â€Å"The Birth-Mark† are no different. Though the authors of the two short stories are of different gender, both stories convey a similar message concerning women. â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† revolves around a woman suffering from temporary nervous depression. Against the woman’s better judgment, JohnRead MoreEssay about Birthmark1330 Words   |  6 Pagesnbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Birthmark, there is indeed a representation of a submerged personality in Aylmer. Although the other underlying personality is not represented within himself, it is rather portrayed through his assistant Aminadab. Since Aylmer is lacking so much within himself, he is unable to appreciate his wife even she was dying. Basically if Aylmer had the sensibility of Aminadab he could have realized how beautiful she was even with her birthmark. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;During