How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Paragraph)
Quote #7
The walls were hung with gorgeous curtains, which imparted the combination of grandeur and grace that no other species of adornment can achieve; and as they fell from the ceiling to the floor, their rich and ponderous folds, concealing all angles and straight lines, appeared to shut in the scene from infinite space. For aught Georgiana knew, it might be a pavilion among the clouds. (29)
This last sentence is particularly important, given the theme in the story of the contrast between the body and the spirit. Aylmer, in removing Georgiana's body, is trying to make her entirely spirit, devoid of the earth-bound humanity which brings is necessarily flawed.
Quote #8
He handled physical details as if there were nothing beyond them; yet spiritualized them all, and redeemed himself from materialism by his strong and eager aspiration towards the infinite. (52)
We can directly apply this idea to what Aylmer is currently doing with Georgiana. His obsession is with physical details, in the sense that the birthmark is a physical blemish on her body. On the other hand, he makes the thing spiritual by associating the birthmark with all the non-physical blemishes of man: sin, sorrow, decay, and death.
Quote #9
It was the sad confession and continual exemplification of the shortcomings of the composite man, the spirit burdened with clay and working in matter, and of the despair that assails the higher nature at finding itself so miserably thwarted by the earthly part. (52)
We've already learned that Aminadab represents man's earthly part while Aylmer represents his spirit. In this passage, Hawthorne writes that the earthly part thwarts the spirit. How do we see this in the relationship between Aminadab and his boss?