Symbolism of Marred Perfection in The Birthmark

Anything Less Than Perfection Will Not Do in Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark”

In “The Birthmark,” Hawthorne explores the theme of science vs. nature—but ultimately the story is about one man’s inability to accept anything less than perfection from his spouse. The protagonist, Aylmer, is a scientist who is obsessed with perfection and sees the birthmark on his wife’s cheek as a blemish that must be removed. He spends all of his time and energy trying to find a way to remove it, even though it inevitably ends up costing her life. He becomes a man obsessed with removing the symbol of imperfection, unable to see her as a human being; he sees only the birthmark, which doubles as a hideous symbol of Original Sin, in a spiritual sense. In contrast, his wife, Georgiana, is content with the way she looks and sees the birthmark as a part of her identity. The story suggests overall that the human condition suffers from a spiritual imperfection and that it is folly to try to remedy this situation through natural arts or sciences.

Hawthorne states clearly in the beginning of the story that Aylmer is more a man of science than a man of faith. Hawthorne states that Aylmer “had devoted himself, however, too unreservedly to scientific studies ever to be weaned from them by any second passion” (1). Aylmer’s love, in other words, is in human knowledge. He is not someone who has submitted himself to a higher, transcendental way. It is not like his wife has done. She reflects this transcendental spirit in her approach to him. She submits because she sees beauty in submission.

Aylmer should be moved by her absolute trust in him to feel compassion for her and to accept her as she is. Yet, he cannot—because he lacks a sense of transcendental value. But he also lacks a sense of true human nature and frailty. He symbolizes a kind of spiritual Puritanism (Sheer). He sees her birthmark as sin in the flesh and its effects: “Selecting it as the symbol of his wife’s liability to sin, sorrow, decay, and death, Aylmer’s somber imagination was not long in rendering the birthmark a frightful object, causing him more trouble and horror than ever Georgiana's beauty, whether of soul or sense, had given him delight (Hawthorne 3).” Yet, she gives herself up to her husband, submitting herself, and putting herself in his hands. If he should choose to push his science to its extremes and end up killing her in the process in order to remove this mark or stain of Sin, she accepts it with a saintly submission.

The major sin of Aylmer extends from his inability to accept his wife as a fallen human creature like himself: Hawthorne states, “The momentary circumstance was too strong for him; he failed to look beyond the shadowy scope of time, and, living once for all in eternity, to find the perfect future in the present” (20). As a result Aylmer himself falls and becomes obsessed. He uses alchemy to try to change his wife. Yet it is not his wife who is the problem. The problem is the spiritual defect in him. He projects this defect onto his wife. He sees it in her birthmark that he tries to remove with his science and arts (Gatta).