Tragic flaw in Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark”
An expository essay:
Tragic flaw in Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark”
In literature a tragic flaw refers in plain words when the main character ends up dead or defeated a characteristic feature of the heroes of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short stories, “Young Goodman Brown,” “The Minister’s Black Veil”, and “The Birthmark”. However this concept is even more extensive and best explained in terms of “Hamartia”. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica that word can be understood as an inherent defect in the hero of a tragedy or a moral flaw, other sources point out “Hamartia” as an error in judgment or accident that may lead the hero to ruin as a result. From “The Birthmark” the reader can notice how the story starts with a happy romance and end in tragedy due to the actions and attitudes performed by Aylmer, the hero. The tragic flaw in “The Birthmark” is addressed to the religion and science, specifically the morality and sin (to defy nature, to play God), highlighted issues in novels and short stories of the American writer, “The theme of sin, especially secret sin. Hawthorne was fascinated with the idea of sin and punishment” (Smith, 2011).
Aylmer, the hero is a scientist and philosopher passionate about his labor, until one day he develops a passion for a woman without neglecting his love of science, he thinks he can intersperse his two loves, thus indicates the narrator:
He had devoted himself, however, too unreservedly to scientific studies ever to be weaned from them by any second passion. His love for his young wife might prove the stronger of the two; but it could only be by intertwining itself with his love of science, and uniting the strength of the latter to his own. (Hawthorne, 1843, para. 1)
The passion of Aylmer for science and his wife Georgiana were his greatest strength to be a great scientist but also his greatest weakness can keep his affair with her. His pride by scientific advances and his pursuit of perfection were overshadowing
Tragic flaw in Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark”
In literature a tragic flaw refers in plain words when the main character ends up dead or defeated a characteristic feature of the heroes of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short stories, “Young Goodman Brown,” “The Minister’s Black Veil”, and “The Birthmark”. However this concept is even more extensive and best explained in terms of “Hamartia”. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica that word can be understood as an inherent defect in the hero of a tragedy or a moral flaw, other sources point out “Hamartia” as an error in judgment or accident that may lead the hero to ruin as a result. From “The Birthmark” the reader can notice how the story starts with a happy romance and end in tragedy due to the actions and attitudes performed by Aylmer, the hero. The tragic flaw in “The Birthmark” is addressed to the religion and science, specifically the morality and sin (to defy nature, to play God), highlighted issues in novels and short stories of the American writer, “The theme of sin, especially secret sin. Hawthorne was fascinated with the idea of sin and punishment” (Smith, 2011).
Aylmer, the hero is a scientist and philosopher passionate about his labor, until one day he develops a passion for a woman without neglecting his love of science, he thinks he can intersperse his two loves, thus indicates the narrator:
He had devoted himself, however, too unreservedly to scientific studies ever to be weaned from them by any second passion. His love for his young wife might prove the stronger of the two; but it could only be by intertwining itself with his love of science, and uniting the strength of the latter to his own. (Hawthorne, 1843, para. 1)
The passion of Aylmer for science and his wife Georgiana were his greatest strength to be a great scientist but also his greatest weakness can keep his affair with her. His pride by scientific advances and his pursuit of perfection were overshadowing
References: Hayashi, Y. Science and Religion in “The Birth-mark” and “Rappaccini’s Daughter”. Retrieved March 9, 2014, from http://www.kushiroct.ac.jp/library/kiyo/kiyo37/hayashiscience37.pdf Hawthorne, N. (1843) “The Birth-mark”. Retrieved March 9, 2014, from http://people.bu.edu/actaylor/The%20Birthmark.pdf Hamartia. In Britannica.com. Retrieved March 8, 2014, from http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/253196/hamartia Ohio University. Aristotle & the Elements of Tragedy: English 250. Retrieved March 8, 2014, from http://www.ohio.edu/people/hartleyg/ref/aristotletragedy.html Smith, N. (2011, December 6). Nathaniel Hawthorne: An Overview of the Author and Thematic Analysis of Works. Posted to http://www.articlemyriad.com Zanger, J. (1983). Speaking of the Unspeakable: Hawthorne 's "The Birthmark". Moder Philology, 80(4), 364-371.