LaRochelle 1

Brayton LaRochelle

English 102

Betty Cotter

1 March 2013

“The Birthmark” through a Feminist Lens

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark” is a story of a man and a woman who share

views that parallel perfectly with the stereotypical male and female roles of the 1800’s.

Hawthorne does a fantastic job of crafting a character who falls perfectly into the role that

feminists would fight to defend for years after his time. The protagonist Georgina is a beautiful,

obedient, and faithful wife, who treats her deranged husband as if he is the king of the world, and

is willing give anything to please him, evidentially even the gift of her life. “The Birthmark” is a

depressing tale of woman who is able to put aside all of her personal fears and desires in order to

please the man whose name she has acquired. It is a story of a classic 1800’s woman who has her

personality and life stripped of her by a man, characteristic of many women of her time. The

only difference is she is not only stripped of her life as an independent woman, but also her life

on this earth.

“The Birthmark” is a story of Alymer, a successful scientist and self-proclaimed

alchemist, who is well renowned for his discoveries in the field. The story begins in medias res,

with Alymer beginning his change in lifestyle. One day out of the blue, the man who has devoted

every second of his life to his studies finally “washed the stain of acids from his fingers, and

persuaded a beautiful woman to become his wife” (Hawthorne 420). Shortly after the marriage

he stared at his wife with “trouble in his countenance” (Hawthorne 420). He decided that this

woman’s beauty was ruined by a birthmark, a small blemish on her cheek. He asked her if she
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had ever considered having it removed, and when she realized that this comment was of utmost

seriousness, she was appalled. Her entire life she had been drooled upon by men that crossed her

path and they had all looked at this birthmark as part of her beauty. She rebutted “To tell you the

truth it has been so often called a charm that I was simple enough to imagine it might be so”

(Hawthorne 420). Here two things can be understood by readers. First, they can conclude that

Alymer is the first person to look down upon such a beautiful woman. It comes as a complete

and utter surprise to her to hear this insult come from her new husband’s mouth. Upon bursting

in to tears she exclaims “Then why did you take me from my mother’s side? You cannot love

what shocks you!” (Hawthorne 421) It also gives readers an idea of the sincerity, honesty, and

modesty that this woman possessed within her heart. It instantly creates a feeling of pity for this

woman, who may be getting herself into a situation that she should have avoided with this

scientist.

Alymer grows obsessed with crafting a cure for this birthmark, and slaves day after day

over the task in his laboratory. While Alymer is locked away, Georgina begins to consume the

majority of her time reading philosophical and scientific works in Aylmer’s library. The reason

the narrator mentions this is likely is to stress the true intelligence of Georgina that persists far

beyond her exterior. Aylmer’s idea of “perfection” is very characteristic of the male view of

perfection at the time (to a gross extreme of course). His obsession with her perfection has no

relation to her moral self, and is entirely on his idea of aesthetic perfection. The narrator almost

seems to side with Georgina and show sympathy to her by portraying her as not only beautiful,

but an intelligent, smart, and emotionally sound woman, with a lot to offer beyond her exterior.

A modern or even not so modern feminist would use women like this as a scapegoat for the

wrongful view of women in nineteenth century society. Hawthorne uses the narrator’s true
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understanding of Georgina to show how perfection is not just skin deep, an idea that Alymer is

unable to grasp. This is probably due heavily to the expectations and norms of society at this

time, and not just his deranged mentality.

While in the midst of reading her husband’s collection she stumbles across some of his

own works, shuffled in with the other scientific journals. These works were a written

documentation of what she considered the life of the man she married. The narrator described

them as “both the history and emblem of his ardent, ambitious, imaginative, yet practical and

laborious life” (Hawthorne 427). Instead of the onset of jealousy as you would expect a woman

in her situation, she accepts her role as a woman completely devoted to her husband and loved

and respected him for his hard work. The narrator later presents her thoughts “Georgina, as she

read, reverenced Aylmer and loved him more profoundly than ever, but with a less entire

dependence on his judgment than heretofore. Much as he had accomplished, she could not but

observe that his most splendid successes were almost invariable failures, if compared with the

ideal which he aimed.” This thought showed that Georgina was beginning to understand that she

was potentially destined to be a product of another of his failed experiments, and gave a bit of

foreshadowing on the end of the story. It seems at this point as if Georgina begins to understand

her probable fate. Although she begins to see herself as his next failed experiment, she continues

on as his puppet, a slave of a man, a woman tamed by a whip of love. Her only chance of escape

is overthrown by her sincere and unending devotion. This also shows her invariable and

unending devotion to her husband, as any good wife of the time should. Georgina is a martyr

who represents the women of her time who were often as hopelessly devoted as she. She seems

to be willing to accept the ultimate sacrifice, for the potential happiness of her husband, who is

far from a man deserving of such loyalty.

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As the plot continues to unfold and the scientist grows more insane, more is revealed

about the sincerity of this poor girl. Since the discovery that Alymer made about his wife’s

cheek, he has become obsessed with finding a “cure” for this imperfection. It becomes very clear

that this man views his wife as an object of beauty, a toy for him to manipulate, which is

extremely characteristic of the male role in relationships of the time. He exercises his societal

right to control this woman as a pet, but brings the idea to another level. The narrator makes it

clear using a lot of interiority of Georgina’s thoughts to show the emotional effect he is having

on her. The girl who once believed that this birthmark was a “charm” slowly begins to hate

herself for this mark, as a direct result of the misery it brings her husband. She shows her

devotion and trust towards his decision to cure her of this mark first by saying “Danger is

nothing to me; for life, while this hateful mark makes me the object of your horror and disgust, -

life is a burden which I would fling down with joy. Either remove this dreadful hand, or my

wretched life” (Hawthorne 427). Her unending devotion to this man is enough for her to question

her own beliefs, and even go as far as hating herself for the blemish she once considered a mark

of beauty. The narrator shows this transition with the excerpt “Still, whenever she dared to look

into the mirror, there she beheld herself pale as a white rose with the crimson birthmark stamped

upon her cheek. Not even Aylmer now hated it so much as she” (Hawthorne 427)

Georgina continues to be completely devoted to the mad scientist throughout the story, but there

are a few instances where she stands up for herself in a way that is uncharacteristic of a woman

of her time who is supposed to submit to every whim and desire of their superior. There is a

scene in the story where she follows Alymer into his lab, and interrupts his work. He is infuriated

and exclaims “Why do you come hither? Have you not trust in your husband? Would you throw

the blight of that fatal birthmark over my labors? It is not well done. Go prying woman, go!”
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(Hawthorne 428) The reader would easily expect a woman of that time to back down to her

husband, but she is too strong and intelligent to allow him to manipulate her this time.

Georgina stands up for herself at the anger of what Aylmer had been hiding “Nay
Aylmer,” said Georgina with the firmness of which she posed no stinted
endowment, ‘it is not you that have a right to complain. “You mistrust your wife;
you have concealed the anxiety with which you watch the development of this
experiment. Think not so unworthily of me, my husband. Tell me all the risk we
run and fear not that I shall shrink; for my share in it is far less than your own.”
(Hawthorne 428)
When he denies telling her what he has been truly doing she shows her ultimate sign of devotion

to him. Georgina has already begun to understand her fate, but is willing to set aside the eminent

reality and continue persist beyond this to continue to be what she believes is her duty as his

wife. She takes the exact role to which women of her time should do to the ultimate extreme and

states “I submit. And Aylmer, I shall quaff whatever draught you bring me; but it will be on the

same principle that would induce me to take a dose of poison if offered by your hand”

(Hawthorne 429). This ultimate sacrifice shows not only the beauty, courage, and love found

within this girl, but the part of the role that Hawthorne made so clear. She was a woman of the

1800’s and her job was whatever her husband deemed it to be.

Upon the moment of the final scene Alymer enters the room with the mysterious potion,

which he has concocted to remove this blemish and cause his wife to finally be “perfect.” This is

the point where the rising action begins. Although fear is evident in Georgina, her strength and

devotion to being a woman how society demanded prevailed over her mortal fear. She accepted

the potion which was almost definitely not going to work with the words “There needed be no

proof. Give me the goblet, I joyfully stake all upon your word” (Hawthorne 430). This is the

climax of the story, for there is no longer any chance for Georgina to escape her fate. To the

surprise of the readers the potion seems to begin to work. The blemish slowly fades to nothing.
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Aylmer’s final words confirm yet again his twisted idea of perfection which in his eyes is truly

skin deep. “My peerless bride, it is successful! You are perfect!” (Hawthorne 431). To the

distress of Alymer his work was in vain. Georgina suddenly awakes and utters her final words of

utter devotion and love for her demented husband. “Do not repent that with so high and pure a

feeling, you have rejected the best the earth could offer. Alymer, dearest Aylmer, I am dying!”

(Hawthorne 431) This last bit of insight before the tragic death of Georgina brings together all of

the devotion she had toward her husband, and is the falling action of the story. She fulfilled all of

her expectation as his slave of a wife, and filled every role a woman of her time could imagine.

The reality of this last scene is that as Alymer said she was perfect; except she was not perfect

how he envisioned her. She was perfect to the true definition of the word. She was a pure of

heart, intelligent, and devoted to the man she loved. She was not the stereotypical definition of

perfect; she was the moral definition of perfect, for at the moment of her death her beauty was

sacrificed. What remained was the evidence of the ultimate sacrifice, the body of a woman

determined to please a man; a man who was as far from worthy as a human could possibly be.
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Works Cited

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “The Birthmark” The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael

Meyer. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011. 421-431.