The Birthmark Themes

Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote "The Birthmark" at a time when the scientific method was being glorified and people were starting to think science really could take us anywhere we wanted to go. He set hi...

"The Birthmark" has lots to say on human nature, but its most important assertion is that to be human is necessarily to be flawed. To strive for perfection is to deny one's own mortality, to deny w...

"The Birthmark" is interested in Nature as the personified creator of all things. It tells the story of a man who challenges Nature in trying to become a creator of sorts himself, in trying to "rep...

"The Birthmark" fits into Hawthorne's body of work in the Dark Romanticism genre, which means it holds up to scrutiny the flaws of mankind. In this case, the main character Aylmer suffers from over...

"The Birthmark" uses the example of a newly-married couple to ask questions about the nature of love and the dynamic of marriage. Scientist Aylmer seems to love his wife in so far as he can perfect...