How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Paragraph)
Quote #4
It needed but a glance with the peculiar expression that his face often wore to change the roses of her cheek into a deathlike paleness, amid which the crimson hand was brought strongly out, like a bass-relief of ruby on the whitest marble. (9)
Because Aylmer recoils at the mark, it makes Georgiana pale, which makes the mark stand out even more. Aylmer seems in many ways to be his own worst enemy here.
Quote #5
Aylmer now remembered his dream. He had fancied himself with his servant Aminadab, attempting an operation for the removal of the birthmark; but the deeper went the knife, the deeper sank the hand, until at length its tiny grasp appeared to have caught hold of Georgiana's heart; whence, however, her husband was inexorably resolved to cut or wrench it away. (14)
We've got some major foreshadowing going on here – and yet Aylmer himself misses it! He is so blinded by his obsession that he fails to see the many, many warning signs he passes along the way.
Quote #6
When the dream had shaped itself perfectly in his memory, Aylmer sat in his wife's presence with a guilty feeling. Truth often finds its way to the mind close muffled in robes of sleep, and then speaks with uncompromising directness of matters in regard to which we practice an unconscious self-deception during our waking moments. (15)
The idea of self-deception is certainly an important one here, especially when it comes to Aylmer. We have to think that, on some level, Aylmer knows that attempting to remove his wife's birthmark will cause her death. The only question is whether he knows this consciously or unconsciously. At any rate, he recognizes the severe risk and goes forth with his procedure anyway.