Preview

Essay On The Birthmark

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
236 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Essay On The Birthmark
In Nathaniel Hawthorne's,“The Birthmark,” he used a literary theory called Moral Criticism. From my understandings Moral Criticism is a type or literary criticism based on moral lessons or ethical teachings. This kind of literary theory has been encouraging good out of the reader since 360 B.C. An example other than The Birthmark that I can think of would be The Tortoise and the Hare. This would be an example of Moral Criticism because it conveys a hidden message that teaches moral lessons.
I believe that moral criticism is exactly what Hawthorne was trying to portray. This is not just a story about a husband who tries so hard to make his wife perfect and ends up killing her. This is a story that is supposed to teach people that not
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    War Rages on in Like Water for Chocolate
    • 887 Words
    • 4 Pages

    War Rages on in Like Water for Chocolate

    her journey toward self realization. She is forbidden to marry because of a long held…

    • 887 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Literary Criticism of John Steinbeck's the Chysanthemums
    • 1027 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Literary Criticism of John Steinbeck's the Chysanthemums

    When using the Moral/Intellectual criticism, the analyst approaches the content and values of the story. The intent of the Moral/Intellectual approach is to find the underlying message and/or lesson that is in the story. The message or lesson that is found in the work can then be applied to either the main character or the reader.…

    • 1027 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Gender Roles In The Birthmark By Nathanial Hawthorne
    • 240 Words
    • 1 Page

    Gender Roles In The Birthmark By Nathanial Hawthorne

    The Birthmark”, written by Nathanial Hawthorne portrays how gender roles can psychologically affect a human due to perspectives from those who play an influential role in a person's life. Georgiana, one of the protagonists of the short story, had a red birthmark located on her cheek. She had no shame in the red birthmark, as people always claimed it to be “attractive”. This displays gender roles towards women, as it seems as if what only matters is the physical looks of a female, not her personality.…

    • 240 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Georgiane's Birthmark
    • 134 Words
    • 1 Page

    Georgiane's Birthmark

    Aylmer is the scientist whose seek for the way to perfection his wife, Georgiana. Georgiana have a small red birthmark on her left cheek and she do not want to remove it. Aylmer interpreted the birthmark as a sign of mortality and sins. He thinks that he came overcome it by removing the birthmark. Aylmer talked to Georgiana about removing her birthmark and she said that she will risk her life to have the mark erase. As a result of his attempt trying to remove the birthmark, he ends up killed Georgiana. Aylmer realized that it’s not always necessary to seek for perfection and better things. Since he had removed his wife’s birthmark and she is now perfect, Georgiana had to heaven because human world is not a place for an angel to…

    • 134 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Symbolism In The Birth-Mark By Nathaniel Hawthorne
    • 265 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Symbolism In The Birth-Mark By Nathaniel Hawthorne

    In "The Birth-Mark" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author floods the story with many forms of symbolism to show there is no true form of perfection on earth. Although trying to accomplish such a thing, Aylmer not only highlights his failures as a scientist, but also kills his beautiful wife. After many nights of gazing upon his wife's porcelain face, slaying her heart with his disgusted looks, Aylmer convinces his wife Georgiana to let him conduct an experiment on the hand-shaped, rosy birthmark she flaunted upon her cheek, to remove such flaw and achieve pure perfection on earth. Within Aylmer's laboratory exists two contrasting rooms that display not only the workplace for the grungy men, but the heavenly boudoir of which his wife so pleasently…

    • 265 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Essay Comparing The Shape Of Things And The Birthmark
    • 1548 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Essay Comparing The Shape Of Things And The Birthmark

    The Shape of Things and The Birthmark have a lot of similarities and differences. Both pieces of literatures characters focused on a couple. A main character each piece of literature have the common objective of changing human imperfections to become more desirable and in the end, achieve similar results. However the Motives and other aspects differ in both pieces.…

    • 1548 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Obsession In Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Birthmark'
    • 561 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Obsession In Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Birthmark'

    A short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Birthmark”, is a short story about a newly married couple and the husband becomes obsessed with his wife’s birthmark. The birthmark is a symbol in the text. The text reads as follows “The crimson hand expressed the ineludible gripe in which mortality clutches the highest and purest of earthly mould, degrading them into kindred with the lowest, and even with the very brutes, like whom their visible frames return to dust. In this manner, selecting it as the symbol of his wife's liability to sin, sorrow, decay, and death” (Booth 215 ). Hawthorne is telling us the readers that love is not perfect using the symbol as the birthmark itself. The husband, Alymer wants to control nature to try to fix this birthmark , but in all reality it is his insecurity. Alymer wants perfection in his wife and this perfection does not exist.…

    • 561 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Internal Conflict In The Birthmark
    • 759 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Internal Conflict In The Birthmark

    Have you ever wondered if internal conflict improves the literary work? Minor and major characters face internal conflict in almost every literary work. Internal conflict is the key to creating more complex characters that people can relate to more. Internal conflict adds emotional depth, and provides reasoning behind motives.…

    • 759 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Symbolism In The Birthmark
    • 837 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Symbolism In The Birthmark

    "The Birthmark" by Hawthorne is a short fiction that warns readers to take a second thought towards pursuing physical perfection. Throughout the story, Hawthorne uses a great deal of symbolism. These symbols in Hawthorne's "Birthmark" not only foreshadow the outcome of the story but also reinforce the theme significantly. The birthmark in the story is a tiny, hand-shaped imperfection on Georgiana's cheek. This tiny mark on Georgiana's cheek may seem to be charming by others. However, to her husband, Aylmer, the birthmark is far from charming. In fact, it is perceived as a "crimson hand"(329) that lures him into destruction. By trying to manipulate Georgiana's natural beauty with science, Aylmer acts as a devil and brings Georgiana to the end…

    • 837 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Symbolism In The Birthmark
    • 1103 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Symbolism In The Birthmark

    In Hawthorne's short story, "The Birthmark," he examines that nature is supposed to be imperfect and cannot be changed. Hawthorne's main character, Aylmer is a static and stock character who does not change and is a mad scientist. He is determined to remove his wive's birthmark and is in denial that nature is imperfect and not everything can be changed. Hawthorne examines the theme that nature is supposed to be imperfect he shows it through Aylmers thoughts about how nature works. Aylmer is a part of nature himself and tries to achieve perfection by making his wife perfect and removing the birthmark. Lastly, Hawthorne uses symbolism to once again portray that nature cannot be changed and it is meant to be imperfect. The dream Aylmer has a deception…

    • 1103 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Birthmark: Obsession Of Perfection
    • 1490 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Birthmark: Obsession Of Perfection

    The relentless pursuit of human perfection has always been an intrinsic trait of human nature and science has been a mean to achieve it. This statement brings us to the main idea of Hawthorne 's short story "The Birth-mark." It shows the story of a scientist who is obsessed with the removal of his wife 's birthmark, considering it a symbol of her human imperfection. "The Birth-mark" is possibly influenced by Hawthorne 's times where science began to gain knowledge about our world and was considerably glorified, through scientific experiment, humankind can discover, know, and do just about anything. As the narrator explains, “In those days when…

    • 1490 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    The Birthmark
    • 1163 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Birthmark

    This world cannot withstand the concept of perfection. Perfection is something reserved for the boundaries of Heaven and cannot be synthetically created by any human being. Nature is raw, flawed and does not take well to being improved upon. This is why Nature ultimately has the final say in what can and cannot existence. In “The Birthmark”, Hawthorne suggests that nothing and no one is perfect nor has the ability to obtain said perfection. An obsession to surpass Earthly Nature can and will result in the destruction of what was once loved.…

    • 1163 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Birthmark Vs The Birthmark
    • 708 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Birthmark Vs The Birthmark

    All the six readings have something in common, which is the search for perfection, how humans can create perfection, and all its downfalls and benefits. These stories tell a lesson on why everyone should be comfortable in their own skin rather than hurting themselves and others around them. There is no such thing as a perfect human being, society just sets expectations, because they know the people will follow blindly. Truly if you are comfortable in your own skin it will shine in your personality and attract the right people.…

    • 708 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Birthmark
    • 412 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Birthmark

    1. Our society tends to be obsessed with the idea of physical perfection. How does our society manifest that obsession? How is the "Birthmark" an early version of our modern obsession with physical perfection?…

    • 412 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Function of Criticism
    • 1484 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Function of Criticism

    MATTHEW ARNOLD “THE FUNCTION OF CRITICISM AT THE PRESENT TIME” (1864) Arnold, Matthew. “The Function of Criticism at the Present Time.” Critical Theory Since Plato. Ed. Hazard Adams. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1971. 592-603. Pragmatic theorists from Plato onwards have emphasised the impact which literature has on the reader. Here, Arnold, arguably England’s most important cultural critic in the second half of the nineteenth century and someone who has exerted enormous influence on subsequent generations of critics even here in the Caribbean, focuses not on what literature does to the reader but what the reader or critic ought to do to the literary works which he reads. Influenced by Plato’s belief that the objective, absolute truth can be known, Arnold offers a ‘disinterested’ model of reading that aspires to be objective about both the meaning and value of the work in question (i.e. both what the work is about and its moral impact) and which, even though it appears very dated today in the light of recent theoretical developments, was profoundly influential upon literary criticism until at least the 1960's. Arnold begins by defending the role of the critic against the accusation that the role performed by the creative writer is far more important: they argue for the “inherent superiority of the creative effort of the human spirit over its critical effort” (592). Arnold does not deny that a “free creative activity” (593) is the “highest function of man” (593) and that he finds in it his “true happiness” (593). However, he argues that this activity can be exercised “in other ways than in producing great works of literature or art” (593). Men may also express it, he contends, in “well-doing” (593), “learning” (593), and “criticising” (593). Moreover, he argues, the ability to write great works is not possible in all eras and “therefore labour may be vainly spent in preparing for it, in rendering it possible”…

    • 1484 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics