The Birthmark | Themes
Romanticism and the Ideal
“The Birthmark” argues that the artistry of nature, even when imperfect, surpasses any art created by humankind. As a result, idealistic endeavors that aspire to an art more beautiful than what nature offers are morally flawed. Because Georgiana “comes so nearly perfect from the hand of nature,” Aylmer’s idealism as well as his arrogant confidence in his skills motivates his desire to remove the mark “so that the world might possess one specimen of ideal loveliness without the semblance of a flaw.” At moments, the narrator as...
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