526 Hawthorne, Nathaniel
obsessed with his own knowledge, he can enjoy her
presence only when she reflects his love for science.
As he explains the history of alchemy, he becomes
more animated and lively than we have seen him
before. Displaying his intellect for his wife reaffirms
his priorities, as his pleasure is not derived from
the interaction with her but from the opportunity
to have his intellect admired. This is, in part, an
effort to reassure her of his abilities. However, while
Georgiana waits for him to be ready, she discovers
a record of Aylmer’s experiments and comes to find
that the grand majority of his successes were actu-
ally the unexpected outcomes of failed experiments.
Here, Hawthorne comments on the unstable nature
of scientific progress: One cannot always predict
accurately the outcome of one’s experiments. He is
also foreshadowing the tragic outcome of the tale;
if Aylmer’s experiments rarely work out the way he
wants them to, Georgiana might be in more danger
than she thinks. However, rather than grow con-
cerned about Aylmer’s ability and obsession with
science, Georgiana grows to love her husband even
more for his imperfections.
Shortly before conducting his final experiment
with Georgiana, Aylmer shows her a container
of elixir, which represents the power of science to
destroy. It is at this point that Aylmer’s obsession is
revealed to be a god complex, and when Georgiana
professes her worship of him, he tells her she may
admire him more fully after he rids her of the birth-
mark. While it was clear before that Aylmer’s con-
cern with the mark was selfish, this comment shows
that he wants to remove it not just for the pleasure
he’d derive from seeing his wife as “flawless,” but also
for the twisted sense of importance he would gain
from altering nature to please him.
As the tale comes to an end, Aylmer’s last experi-
ment completes his pattern of failure, and while the
mark does disappear, Georgiana dies in the process.
Aylmer’s obsession with science made him dissatis-
fied with what he had, made him think he could
improve it, and the story ends sadly.
This tale brings up a number of issues, includ-
ing the nature of love as well as the morality, or lack
thereof, behind human experimentation. Aylmer’s
ego has twisted his sense of his own scientific prow-
ess to the point that his wife becomes a test subject
and he becomes a god. Technology is no help to
Aylmer and does nothing more than help him to
kill his wife. In the end he is left with nothing to
show for this latest experiment but another failure,
not because he failed to remove the birthmark but
because he failed to recognize the value of love over
the value of science.
Ronald DavisWork in “The Birth-mark”
Work has the potential to become an all-consuming
force in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birth-mark.”
Two of the three main characters, Aylmer and Ami-
nadab, both work in a laboratory. Aylmer is a scien-
tist, and Aminadab is his assistant. While both men
focus on furthering scientific knowledge, they do
not share the same dedication to their work. Aylmer
will risk anything for the sake of discovery, whereas
Aminadab tempers his dedication to his work with
common sense and human compassion.
The final main character, Aylmer’s wife Geor-
giana, does not hold a traditional job. Instead, her
work is to love and care for her husband uncondi-
tionally. In this way she is very similar to Aylmer;
both characters hold their “work” above all else
and cannot be persuaded to deviate from it for any
reason. Throughout the story, the work of the two
characters intertwines. Aylmer takes it upon himself
to attempt to remove a birthmark from Georgiana’s
face via scientific means; Georgiana’s attempts to be
an ideal wife allow for this experimentation to hap-
pen, with no argument as to the safety, or the sanity,
of the pursuit.
As the story progresses, Aylmer focuses more
and more on the removal of the birthmark, sacrific-
ing all other pursuits and allowing his job to invade
even his dreams at night. He becomes haunted by
the mark, which causes Georgiana to feel bad. In
her mind, her birthmark has changed from a mark
of her character to a symbol of how she displeases
her husband and, in turn, how she is failing at her
job. One night Georgiana hears Aylmer speaking of
the mark in his sleep, and this provokes a conversa-
tion between husband and wife in which they both
determine the best course of action to fulfill their
respective duties. Aylmer must have the mark out;
Georgiana must please her husband, therefore the