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Michaela Jacobs

Professor Kiewitz

Literature 2220.501

24 February 2019

The Greed and Defeat of Perfection

“The Birth-Mark” by Nathaniel Hawthorn is the story of a man who strives for perfection

in knowledge and marriage. The text repeatedly uses figurative language to express Georgiana’s

incomparable beauty, but Aylmer becomes so engrossed in the fact that Georgiana is imperfect

because of a birthmark on her left cheek that he makes their marriage miserable. This leads her to

submit herself to her husband’s scientific knowledge in a risky attempt to remove the flushed

blot. This may lead many to believe that this is nothing but an entertaining tale of a science-

fiction format. However, Aylmer’s actions ultimately leads to his lovely wife’s death and to his

resulting misery, and this gives readers a deeper insight into the purpose of the work. Through its

practice of various literary devices, “The Birth-Mark” reveals the hardship and pain that results

from excessive greed and pride.

Perhaps the most frequented type of literary device throughout the work are those that

revolve around Georgiana and her beauty. First, many of these come in the form of comparison

through the use of similes and metaphors. One such simile is used to describe the birthmark. The

text explains that it was, “…like a bas relief of ruby on the whitest marble” (par. 9). By

comparing her complexion to snow, Hawthorne makes it obvious just how fair Georgiana is.

Even the mark that is the center of conflict is described as a precious jewel. Yet another image is

created in the reader’s mind with metaphors. The text explains that the birthmark was but, “…a
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crimson stain upon the snow…” (par. 7). Hawthorne makes it quite clear that the mark is

Georgiana’s only flaw, and he explains that even this flaw does not affect her beauty. In fact, he

describes the mark itself as, “…a healthy though delicate bloom…” (par. 7).By comparing her

complexion to these pale and lovely objects, Hawthorne effectively demonstrates how lovely

Georgiana is despite the one mark of imperfection. Still, this mark does not detract from her

splendor; even it is lovely in its own way. Such language raises Georgiana to a pedestal, and it

aids readers in understanding Aylmer’s greed to want her to be even more beautiful.

However, this descriptive language that exemplifies her beauty is evident in a variety of

forms. For instance, it is supported even further with an allusion. The text explains that the mark

on Georgiana’s cheek is as likely to destroy her beauty as, “…one of those small blue stains

which sometimes occur in the purest statuary marble would convert the Eve of Powers to a

monster” (par. 7). Again, such an allusion makes it clear that Georgiana is a work of art herself.

This line effectively illustrates the mark as a minor imperfection; it is hardly worth mentioning in

comparison with the rest of her.

However, the literary devices do not focus their attention solely to Georgiana. Dialogue is

a key element in revealing Aylmer’s nature. This is often an unflattering view of arrogance in his

capabilities and greed in his need for more. When he sets his mind upon removing the

birthmark, he boldly pronounces,”…doubt not my power” (par. 19). This makes it quite obvious

that Aylmer believes that his knowledge is extreme and surpasses understanding. He also states,

“…I shall have corrected what Nature left imperfect…” (par. 19). He does not appear at all

concerned with the possible effects that such a process would have on Georgiana, and he does

not seem to care that he is meddling with nature. He is in search of ever greater power, and this

leads him to have unlimited pride in his capabilities. According to Galia Benziman, this greed
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comes in the form of trying to, “…harness technology for the purpose of overcoming the

biological limitation of his sex and procreating a new being” (Benziman 375). Aylmer is trying

to become increasingly powerful by going beyond what nature intended and by challenging

nature herself.

Similarly, allusion is another key factor in unlocking the full picture of Aylmer. When

Georgiana first consents to allowing Aylmer to remove the mark, he proclaims, “Even

Pygmalion, when his sculptured woman assumed life, felt not greater ecstasy than mine will be”

(par. 19). This allusion in the text joins these two stories. Again, Aylmer is greedy as he seeks

the power to create life, and this is exemplified in his admiration of another well-known tale.

Benziman continues that many stories of the time period revolve around the idea that, “…a male

may create new life without a woman: Zeus’s delivery of Athena, Pygmalion’s creation of a

living woman by his art…” (Benziman 375). The men actually crave the ability to create life.

They want power that is not theirs to grasp, and this leads to Aylmer’s ultimate failure.

Through the collaboration of these various literary techniques, Hawthorne makes

Aylmer’s greed completely obvious. First, Aylmer is not content with a beautiful wife. Even he

explains, “…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 earthly imperfection” (par. 5). Through this dialogue, Hawthorne reveals that Aylmer

recognizes the birthmark as her only physical flaw. Nonetheless, personification of the hand

makes this obsession with the mark apparent to readers. The text describes how, “…his eyes

wandered stealthily to her cheek, and beheld, flickering with the blaze of the wood-fire, the

spectral hand that wrote mortality where he would fain have worshiped” (par. 9). Aylmer is so

obsessed with the one mark, that it almost becomes a real character in the story. By using this
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device to exemplify the mark to the point that it nearly becomes another character, Hawthorne

successfully mimics the mindset that Aylmer hosts. No matter how lovely she is, Aylmer always

searches for more. In other words, Aylmer desires to, “…ascend from one step of powerful

intelligence to another, until the philosopher should lay his hand on the secret of creative

force…” (Rosenberg 145, 146). His greed to know more and to control more is evident. He will

never be satisfied with what he has, and it is largely his pride in his knowledge that drives him to

attempt removing the mark. Again, literary devices such as dialogue exemplify his nature to

show his greed and that he is power mad.

By showing the outcome of the greed and pride, the story forms the theme. His insane

greed and desire for power leads Aylmer to kill his beautiful wife. He is so proud in his

knowledge that he does not highly consider any adverse effects that such a procedure would

have. He even states, “I feel myself fully competent to render this dear cheek as faultless as its

fellow…” (par. 19). He is not hesitant; he completely focuses on the idea that his own knowledge

is strong enough to do the surgery. Further personification makes Georgiana’s passing clear. The

text describes how, “The fatal hand had grappled with the mystery of life, and was the bond by

which an angelic spirit kept itself in union with a mortal frame” (par. 90). The birthmark is not

literally a binding rope or material, and it does not literally struggle against life. Nonetheless,

Hawthorne gives the mark human qualities to reveal that it was the removal of the mark that

killed her. It makes it clear that Aylmer’s obsession led to his own emptiness and misery as he is

left with nothing.

Nathaniel Hawthorne uses an abundance of literary devices that draw readers into “The

Birth-Mark” and that make the emotions real. Hawthorne’s devices such as simile, allusion,

dialogue, and personification permit him to create a realistic character with developed emotions
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without actually having to describe that individual to his readers. By showing rather than telling,

he evokes the same emotions in reader’s hearts rather than their minds. This connection with

readers forces them to reflect on their own lives. The story then transcends from a random tale to

a demonstration that warns against the flaws of greed in human nature. By using literary devices

to show that Aylmer’s greed and his pride leaves him miserable and lonely, Hawthorne calls on

the reader’s emotions to consider parts of their own life where they seek an unattainable height

of power and perfection.

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Works Cited

Benziman, Galia. “Challenging the Biological: The Fantasy of Male Birth as a Nineteenth-

Century Narrative of Ethical Failure.” Women’s Studies, vol. 35, no. 4, June 2006, pp.

375–395. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/00497870600669234.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “The Birth-Mark.” The Norton Introduction to Literature, edited by Kelly

J. Mays, shorter 12th ed., W. W. Norton, 2017, pp.339-350.

Mariaf626. "OCD Gardener.” Flickr, Flickr, 28 May 2013,

www.flickr.com/photos/84623109@N04/8871524565/in/photolist-evWTb6-eaNZcE-

9ZJrp9-9ZFyUD-9ZFyZ6-tDjJpg-qv8LYF-xctFct. Accessed 19 May 2019.

Rosenberg, Liz. “`The Best That Earth Could Offer’: `The Birth-Mark,’ a Newlywed’s

Story.” Studies in Short Fiction, vol. 30, no. 2, Spring 1993, p. 145. EBSCOhost,

sinclair.ohionet.org:80/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&d

b=a9h&AN=9511241782&site=eds-live.