The Birthmark is one of Hawthorne's more famous short stories. It tells the story of a scientist who is obsessed with the removal of his wife's birthmark. In Aylmer's mind, the birthmark becomes the symbol of human imperfection. He wants to rid his wife of her flaws.
I found "The Birthmark" to be slow reading. Much of this is due to the fact that Hawthorne is writing in the nineteenth century.
The main characters in this story are Aylmer the scientist and his wife Georgiana. Aylmer kills his wife trying to remove her birthmark and make her perfect. Aylmer's love for his wife rivals his love for science.
Hawthorne's message is that being imperfect is just part of being human. Also that men are usually fools who don't know a good thing when they have it.
No comments:
Post a Comment