The Birthmark

In this story, Aylmer is a successful scientist, portrayed as a very smart man. He take some time off in order to get married to Georgiana. Georgiana is beutiful to Aylmer, all except for the birthmark on her cheek. I immediately dislike Aylmer because being the intelligent man that he is, he should know better than to insult Georgiana by asking questions that reference her getting her birthmark removed. If it was a big enough deal to him, he should have dealt with it before they got married. When he makes these remarks it makes Georgiana feel as though she is not loved by him. Many people admire Georgiana's unique birthmark (it is in the shape of a hand). Aylmer eventually gets to the point where the birthmark consumes him, and represents more than just a mark on her face. For him he sees the birthmark as a sin and even a sign of weakness (mortality, which is something that Aylmer despises, as he later dedicates his work to finding a potion that could make him immortal). It consumes Aylmer to the point of him dreaming of killing Georgiana even after he removes the mark from her face with a knife. Georgiana gives in and agrees to wanting her birthmark erased from her face and Aylmer is delighted at this. When Georgiana comes to Aylmers laboratory, she faints. Even Aylmers assistant states that he would not remove the birthmark if he was in Aylmers position. After Aylmer has been back at his work for a while, and has shared many ideas with Georgiana about potions he could create, and idea that he has, she realizes that she feels funny. Aylmer has been adding something to her food, or she thinks he may have put something in the air that she is breathing. One day she reads his journals, realizing that he never actually accomplishes exactly what he set out to do. She cries. Aylmer comforts her, but he is angry with her. He carries this anger with him and when Georgiana comes to visit him in the laboratory he explodes again, telling her to quit prying in his experiments. He has brainwashed Georgiana. He comes to her with a potion and shows her that it can clear spots, so she drinks it. As she sleeps, the birthmark disappears. When Georgiana awakes she tells Aylmer that he has rejected the best that the earth could offer, and then she dies, just as the flower had died earlier.

There is a lot of symbolism in this story, with the birthmark, and all of Aylmers creations. His creation of the flower is what stands out in my mind. It grew so extremely fast, and died just as quickly. This story goes to show that we should really value earthly things, and stop trying to make everything bigger and better and just appreciate things the way that they are.