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How is foreshadowing used in "The Birthmark"?

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The use of foreshadowing helps the reader to realize that Aylmer's attempts to rid his wife's face of the birthmark will end in disaster. Aylmer is a scientist, who devotes himself to his studies and experiments. When he first sees Georgiana, he notices her birthmark and immediately becomes obsessed with removing it. He does not love Georgiana for herself, but rather for her beauty. Although Georgiana is willing to undergo the operation at first, she changes her mind when she realizes how much pain it will cause her and how much it might deform her face.

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Let's consider the use of foreshadowing in "The Birthmark." As you read, you likely get a growing suspicion that Aylmer's quest to remove his wife's birthmark is going to end in disaster. As a reader, you feel this way because Hawthorne drops these little hints—foreshadowing—throughout the story. There are many examples of foreshadowing in this text, so you have a great number of examples to choose from.

In the opening paragraph, Aylmer's characterization reveals that he has devoted himself to scientific studies to such a degree that he could never "be weaned from them by any second passion." This foreshadows the way he will approach his wife's "imperfection": as a scientific task that must be accomplished. His love toward her will be secondary to his scientific achievement.

Aylmer's dream is another example of foreshadowing; in his dream, he sees himself performing an operation to remove the birthmark. However,...

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as he cuts increasingly deeper, he realizes that the birthmark is wrapped around Georgiana's heart. Still, he is resolved to "cut or wrench it away." This dream foreshadows the great lengths Aylmer will go to in order to rid himself of the birthmark which causes him such "trouble and horror."

Georgiana confronts her husband, insisting that she wants him to attempt to rid her face of the birthmark which is such a source of disgust for Aylmer. She acknowledges that the removal might cause "deformity" and its roots may "go as deep as life itself." These comments foreshadow Georgiana's willingness to submit to death as a means of pleasing her husband and her willingness to conform to his ideals of beauty.

When Aylmer's assistant, Aminadab, prepares for the removal, he comments that if he was fortunate enough to have Georgiana for his wife, he would "never part with that birthmark." This comment reinforces Georgiana's beauty and other charming qualities and reminds readers that not all men find her unattractive. It foreshadows the danger that awaits Georgiana because she has chosen to place her faith in her husband's scientific accomplishments.

The scientific failures in the laboratory also foreshadow the failure of Aylmer's experiment on his wife. Instead of acknowledging his limitations, he insists that he has presented "too powerful a stimulus" and later throws a metallic plate into a jar of acid. Clearly Aylmer cannot guarantee the success of this experiment, yet he brazenly insists upon the "perfect practicability of [the] removal" of the birthmark. This foreshadows that his attempts to remove Georgiana's birthmark will also be unsuccessful.

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