Short Story: The Birthmark

The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Release Date: March 1843
Publisher: The Pioneer
Audience: Everyone
Pages: 19
Read the Story Here: The Birthmark
Story Rating: 3.5/5







What was it with the 19th century and mad scientists bent upon the perfection of the human body? We had perhaps the most famous of all mad scientists-Dr. Frankenstein-create a monster in search of bodily perfection, and now we have Aylmer who, believing that the birthmark upon his wife's face represents the imperfections of nature, sets out to remove it using the technology of man.

Hawthorne, not one to skimp on symbolism in his tales (See "Young Goodman Brown") also packs a lot of symbolism into the three main characters: Aylmer (our resident mad scientist), Georgiana (his wife), and Aminadab (Aylmer's assistant). Further, how these characters are described, what they say, how they play off one another and, ultimately, their fate in the story have lead to multiple modes of interpretation and analysis of this story.

However, that aside, this short story is a good read insofar as watching Aylmer's descent from loving husband to almost brute dictator over his wife in his attempts to remove the birthmark and the extremes he will go to to remove it, proving man's superiority over nature. Much like Dr. Frankenstein, what starts out as an attempt towards perfection soon turns the opposite way and the bright future envisioned by Aylmer becomes dark indeed.

I recommend a read, I mean, its only 19 pages and if you have a little time between stops, this is a good short story to check out. If you are interested in something less digital, Hawthorne did publish this short story in Mosses from an Old Manse in 1846 and the collection also includes "Young Goodman Brown", another excellent short story from Hawthorne. Check it out on Amazon.