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Tia Castor

Ms.Jacobs Freshmen Composition

Literature Essay Literature Analysis

September 21, 2017

The Birth Mark and The Yellow Wallpaper

The story of The Birth Mark by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Yellow Wallpaper by Commented [TC1]: Put summary in here.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman both have similar characteristics among the two male characters.

Alymer (The Birth Mark) and John (The Yellow Wallpaper) are men who feel like they are

superior and know what is right and what is wrong for both the women.. I will be analyzing these

two stories through characterization explaining how these two text may relate to one another In

The Birth Mark, there is Alymer who is extremely obsessed with removing a hand-shaped

birth mark off his wifes face. He wants to remove something that is natural and he has no

control of, but instead of leaving it alone and accepting his wife and her flaws, as he would

say, he convinced her to let him remove it for her and eventually killed her. In The Yellow

Wallpaper there is John who does love his wife but acted as though he knew what was best for

her and eventually drove her crazy because he wanted to keep her trapped instead of listening to

her. In both cases, instead of listening and accepting the women for who they are they end up Commented [TC2]: Dont explicitly state what you will
do; just state your position.
losing them forever. This is revealed through characterization.

In The Birth Mark, the author uses a descriptive tone, so the readers could get a very Commented [TC3]: Is this about characterization? Be
more explicit.
dark sense out of it. In this story Alymer and Georgiana both are the protagonist throughout the

story because they are the more major characters. In this specific story, one would say Alymer is

a man of science who tends to be a control freak someone who wants to play God. Georgiana
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which eventually becomes Alymers wife has a very visible birth mark on her cheek shaped as a

hand. He wants to remove something that is natural and he has no control of, but instead of

leaving it alone and accepting his wife and her flaws as he would say he convinced her to let

him remove it for her. Throughout the entire text it makes you wonder if Alymer was all about

science and was more concerned about his own endeavors or did he really love Georgiana. One

would also say Alymer is cocky and he feels like he can do anything not knowing what the actual Commented [TC4]: Save evaluation for the conclusion.

consequences may be. Georgiana asked him was he sure he would be able to remove the mark

that sat upon her face and he replied, I feel myself fully competent to render this dear cheek Commented [TC5]: To add more.. to it I would briefly
describe how Georgiana was feeling as she asked the
question. Was she hesitant? Curious?
imperfect in her fairest work! (Hawthorne 223). In this quote, it demonstrates how ignorantly

driven he is. As a scientist, who has never performed a procedure like this to feel as though he Commented [TC6]: Definitely save evaluation for
conclusion.
can change what nature has already imprinted on someone shows a lot of egotism. To say you

love someone and turn around and play with his or her life not knowing how dangerous the

outcome may be for that person is selfish. Alymer and Georgiana could not even sit at the table Commented [TC7]: Strong option here.

without Alymer eyes eventually wandering to the side of Georgiana cheek where the birth mark

rested. Though she had some indistinct idea of the method over the spiritual world. At that Commented [TC8]: Is this an incomplete quote? Got a tad
confused
moment Georgiana realized what she thought was more important to her husband. One would

say that Alymer obsessed over the fact he could do whatever he wanted to do because he was a

scientist. This is evident when he says, Do not shrink from me! Believe me, Georgiana, I even

rejoice in this single imperfection, since it will be such a rapture to remove it! (Hawthorne 225).

In this quote, you can tell how desperate Alymer is to be able to remove this birth mark. It will

be such a joy for him. His characteristics throughout this text showed he was a hopeless scientist

who choseice a job he clearly did not know so well, over someone who was going to make him

happy and love him forever. Commented [TC9]: Run-on sentence?

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In The Yellow WallpaperWallpaper, the narrator is a womean whose name was never

mentioned that suffers from depression and anxiety. Even though she feels like something is

wrong with her, her husband John feelt like she is perfectly fine, and is basically making things

up. She says, If a physician of high standing, and ones own husband, assures friends and

relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one ... (Perkins 317). This quote

demonstrates how John is practically saying nothing is wrong with the narrator, and she is only

depressed. During the Victorian erais time period, it was hard for women to be able to have Commented [TC10]: Victoriam Era

their own voice because the men felt as though they knew everything like Alymer did in The

Birth Mark. John felt like the narrator was incapable of knowing what really was going on with

her. her , so he tried confining her to this nursery imprinted in yellow wallpaper. John is a

physician so he feels as though he knows all the answers to what is going on with the narrator

and makes it seem like she is going crazy. John feels like he needs to fix his wife and the only

way to do that is to use the Weir Mitchells rest cure. Instead of sitting down and listening to his

wife he ignored her. It is so pleasant to be out in this great room and creep around as I please!

(Perkins 329). This quote demonstrates the relief the narrator feels when she has finally broken

out of the bars she sees herself in through the yellow wallpaper. Even though throughout the

story one can say John really loved his wife he also was controlling in a way. He made the

narrator stay home in a room while he was out free.

Both John and Alymer in the two short stories The Yellow Wallpaper and The Birth

Mark have similar characteristics. They let their professional ego interfere with their personal

responsibilities for their wives. In The Birth Mark throughout the entire text it makes you

wonder if Alymer was all about science and was more concerned about his own endeavors or did

he really love Georgiana. While, on the other hand, in The Yellow Wallpaper theres no doubt
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that John didnt love his wife he just took different precautions to show that. Even though these

men felt as though they were doing what was best for their wives they overlooked what was

more important. They allowed for their crazed physician techniques to cost them their marriages,

and for one, his wifes life

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Works Cited

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Birth Mark. The Norton Introduction to Literature, edited by

Kelly J. Mays, W. W. Norton, 2017, pp. 219-233.

Charlotte, Perkins The Yellow Wallpaper. The Norton Introduction to Literature, edited by

Kelly J. Mays, W. W. Norton 2017, pp. 316-330.