David Lee
Professor Shepard
English Composition II
5 November 2018
Science Versus Nature: An Analysis of Hawthorne’s Aylmer
Following the explosion of scientific study and thought in the Age of Enlightenment and the rise of factories and unnatural machines in the Industrial Revolution, many authors and artists began to turn against the rationality and machine-like state of modern society. These creators were part of a new artistic, musical, intellectual, and literary movement called Romanticism. Characterized by a favoring of emotion over reason, a focus on the individual, and a love and glorification of the past and nature, Romanticism rose to prominence in the early to mid-nineteenth century. Among the most famous American Romantic authors is Nathaniel Hawthorne, renowned writer of many romantic novels and short stories, such as “The Birth-Mark.” This story tells the folly of a scientist, Aylmer, as he seeks to remove a birthmark from his wife’s cheek. Swept up in the seemingly endless abilities made possible by his research, Aylmer feels that anything is possible with the power of scientific study and views himself in a godlike manor. This blindness ultimately becomes Aylmer’s downfall. In Hawthorne’s “The Birth-Mark”, Aylmer turns out to be a static character through his lack of change despite his mistakes.
Blinded by his pride, Aylmer fails to realize and value what he has, always striving for perfection. At the start of the story, Aylmer is introduced as a “man of science,” whose devotion to scientific studies had led him to believe that science gave man ultimate control over nature (Hawthorne 339). Aylmer’s inability to be satisfied with anything less than perfect, a trait instilled in him as a result of his believed ability to perfect all things through science, quickly poisons his marriage to Georgiana. Aylmer’s obsession with flawlessness is touched on by Professor Nancy Bunge in her analysis of “The Birth-mark”, in which she writes of how “people so yearn to transcend human limits, they will destroy themselves rather than reconcile themselves to imperfection.” (30) Soon after they are married, Aylmer brings to their attention the small birthmark on Georgiana’s cheek, asking if has ever “occurred to [her] that the mark upon [her] cheek may be removed.” Aylmer continues, referring to the birthmark as a “visible mark of earthly imperfection,” showing his discontentment with anything flawed. (Hawthorne 340) This unfortunately includes the small, seemingly insignificant birthmark on his wife’s otherwise beautiful face, “he becomes increasingly obsessed with the birthmark, seeing it as a symptom of frailty he must conquer.” (Bungle 28) Motivated only by his ambition to overpower any aspect of nature he deems imperfect, Aylmer disregards Georgiana’s belief that the birthmark is a charm rather than an imperfection. In doing so, Aylmer is cemented as an ambitious, overly proud character.
While causing a loved one sadness would typically inspire lasting feelings of guilt or sorrow, these emotions are short-lived for Aylmer. When Georgiana brings up the topic of her birthmark and its removal a few days later, Aylmer first denies having ever dreamt about it. However, Aylmer quickly succumbs to his pride, proclaiming he is “convinced of the perfect practicability of its removal.” (Hawthorne 342) Unable to resist the temptation of conquering nature and recreating his wife to be perfect in his eyes, Aylmer stays true to his character. His desire to remove the birthmark has little to do with truly disliking his wife’s appearance, rather the birthmark is seen by Aylmer as another avenue for him to overcome nature. Aylmer’s obsession with removing the birthmark is discussed in Professor of English John Gatta’s essay about “The Birth-mark”, stating the “physical project is at once an outgrowth of the psychological obsession that begins to take hold in him from the first days of his marriage and an expression of his peculiar philosophical vision.” By riding his wife’s face of the mark, Aylmer can further prove to himself that nothing, not even nature itself, can pose a challenge incapable of being shaped by his scientific abilities.
Despite losing the only thing he ever loved as much as science, Aylmer stays true to his character. Aylmer’s inability to settle for anything that he could not further improve upon ends up costing him Georgiana. Author Lewis Horner touches on Aylmer’s effect of Georgiana’s fate in his criticism, writing “His unrelenting obsession with scientific achievement coupled with his aspiration for the perfect places a seal upon Georgiana's fate.” Had Aylmer not been corrupted by the futile pursuit of perfection, he “would have looked beyond material reality, including his wife’s physical flaw, and attended to her spirit.” (Bunge 30) When the birthmark disappears from his wife’s cheek, Aylmer rejoices, proclaiming that she is now “perfect.” (Hawthorne 350) Having achieved a momentary triumph over his wife’s imperfection with the fading of her birthmark, Aylmer views the experiment as a success. Aylmer’s obsession with the pursuit of faultlessness in all things remains his main motivation, causing him to overlook the beautiful near-perfection of his wife.
Hawthorne’s protagonist well illustrates the Romantic theme of the subservience of science to nature. Even at the moment of Aylmer’s triumph over the birthmark, nature refuses to be concurred, resulting in the death of his wife. Aylmer is critically flawed in his unrelenting pursuit of perfection and his belief his scientific mind can solve all problems. Blindly following his pride, Aylmer remains the same character he was at the start of the story: an arrogant and unsatisfiable man ready to throw away everything he loves just to prove to himself that nothing is impossible through science.
Works Cited
Bunge, Nancy L. "Artists and Scientists." Nathaniel Hawthorne: A Study of the Short Fiction, Twayne Publishers, 1993, pp. 27-55. Twayne's Studies in Short Fiction 41. Twayne's Authors Series, http://www.northeaststate.edu:2058/apps/doc/CX1714400014/GLS?u= tel_a_nestcc&sid=GLS&xid=89354b65. Accessed 31 Oct. 2018.
Horne, Lewis B. "The Heart, the Hand and 'The Birthmark.'." Short Story Criticism, edited by Rachelle Mucha and Thomas J. Schoenberg, vol. 89, Gale, 2006. Literature Resource Center, http://www.northeaststate.edu:2058/apps/doc/H1420071514/GLS?u=tel_a_ nestcc&sid=GLS&xid=b88e2101. Accessed 4 Nov. 2018. Originally published in American Transcendental Quarterly, no. 1, 1969, pp. 38-41.
Gatta,, John, Jr. "Aylmer's Alchemy in 'The Birthmark.'." Short Story Criticism, edited by Rachelle Mucha and Thomas J. Schoenberg, vol. 89, Gale, 2006. Literature Resource Center, http://www.northeaststate.edu:2058/apps/doc/H1420071519/GLS?u=tel_a_ nestcc&sid=GLS&xid=a165ba36. Accessed 5 Nov. 2018. Originally published in Philological Quarterly, vol. 57, no. 3, Summer 1978, pp. 399-413.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “The Birth-Mark.” The Norton Introduction to Literature. Shorter 12th ed., edited by Kelly J. Mays, W.W. Norton, 2016, pp. 339-350.