Beauty Flaws And Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Birthmark
Judy Ramsook
November 07, 2005
Insecurities, most people have had them at some point in their lives, be they rich, poor or in between.
It could be that feeling one gets while he/she is out on that first date, when he/she asks himself/herself whether that person with whom he/she is spending a few hours of an evening will like him/her for who he/she is.
Or it could be the feeling one gets when others look at him/her knowing that maybe his/hair is not its neatest or could be self conscious of something else, such as a pimple on one?s face.
And as we all strive for perfection in an imperfect world, are some among us allowing their insecurities or sense of false pride to stand in the way of their progress with life? Or is the quest for flawless beauty taking others to a place that is deemed less beautiful?
In Nathaniel Hawthorne?s short story, The Birthmark, for instance, the doctor Aylmer is troubled about a birthmark on his wife?s face.
So much troubled that he wants it removed in order for his wife?s face to be flawless and without spots.
And in an attempt to remove such a birthmark the good doctor asked his wife, Georgiana, to use a certain lotion that removed spots and freckles.
And while he, the doctor went about the business of his day hoping the effect of the lotion would indeed remove the mark on his wife?s face, she, Georgiana was examining feelings of her own.
She is feeling insecure about her own outer, facial beauty, as her husband wishes to have the spot removed thus giving her the impression that he has not accepted her for who she is.
And if one spot is removed, would one?s mate see something else that he/she does not deem appropriate, such as maybe one?s upper lip might not be as thick as his/her?s mate would like it to be.
And what if some one does all the necessary things to transform himself/herself into whomever his/her mate wants him/her to be what is one truly left with? The burning realization that one?s mate has not accepted him/her for who he/she is.
In a world in which one is constantly under the impression that some one will not accept him/her for who he/she truly is, what are people collecting? They have medicine cabinets full of cosmetics that they hoped would enhance their beauty and most times those cosmetics serve their purpose.
But when it comes to having some part of the human anatomy enhanced through surgical means, some people tolerate the procedure and think nothing of it, but there might be a few members of the population who may become more insecure at the mere suggestion of such transformations.
For if one cannot accept some one for whom he/she is during the first few weeks into their relationship or marriage, what does that person think is going to happen when the hands of time cannot hold back the aging process?
Loving some one and being loved in return are good, but if some one is not happy with a certain mark or spot on his/her loved one?s face do not become obsessed with removing it as Dr. Aylmer did in Hawthorne?s The Birthmark, for it could create more problems one could ever anticipate.
Instead try accepting one?s loved one for whom he/she is, he/she will appreciate it and one?s relationship will be happier.
It could be that feeling one gets while he/she is out on that first date, when he/she asks himself/herself whether that person with whom he/she is spending a few hours of an evening will like him/her for who he/she is.
Or it could be the feeling one gets when others look at him/her knowing that maybe his/hair is not its neatest or could be self conscious of something else, such as a pimple on one?s face.
And as we all strive for perfection in an imperfect world, are some among us allowing their insecurities or sense of false pride to stand in the way of their progress with life? Or is the quest for flawless beauty taking others to a place that is deemed less beautiful?
In Nathaniel Hawthorne?s short story, The Birthmark, for instance, the doctor Aylmer is troubled about a birthmark on his wife?s face.
So much troubled that he wants it removed in order for his wife?s face to be flawless and without spots.
And in an attempt to remove such a birthmark the good doctor asked his wife, Georgiana, to use a certain lotion that removed spots and freckles.
And while he, the doctor went about the business of his day hoping the effect of the lotion would indeed remove the mark on his wife?s face, she, Georgiana was examining feelings of her own.
She is feeling insecure about her own outer, facial beauty, as her husband wishes to have the spot removed thus giving her the impression that he has not accepted her for who she is.
And if one spot is removed, would one?s mate see something else that he/she does not deem appropriate, such as maybe one?s upper lip might not be as thick as his/her?s mate would like it to be.
And what if some one does all the necessary things to transform himself/herself into whomever his/her mate wants him/her to be what is one truly left with? The burning realization that one?s mate has not accepted him/her for who he/she is.
In a world in which one is constantly under the impression that some one will not accept him/her for who he/she truly is, what are people collecting? They have medicine cabinets full of cosmetics that they hoped would enhance their beauty and most times those cosmetics serve their purpose.
But when it comes to having some part of the human anatomy enhanced through surgical means, some people tolerate the procedure and think nothing of it, but there might be a few members of the population who may become more insecure at the mere suggestion of such transformations.
For if one cannot accept some one for whom he/she is during the first few weeks into their relationship or marriage, what does that person think is going to happen when the hands of time cannot hold back the aging process?
Loving some one and being loved in return are good, but if some one is not happy with a certain mark or spot on his/her loved one?s face do not become obsessed with removing it as Dr. Aylmer did in Hawthorne?s The Birthmark, for it could create more problems one could ever anticipate.
Instead try accepting one?s loved one for whom he/she is, he/she will appreciate it and one?s relationship will be happier.
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