Student Question
Why does Georgiana let her husband remove the birthmark, despite potential deformity or death?
Quick answer:
Georgiana allows her husband, Aylmer, to remove her birthmark because she deeply loves him and is distressed by his obsession with her "imperfection." Aylmer's description of the birthmark as shocking and his disturbed dream about removing it convince Georgiana that he cannot fully love her as she is. Despite the risks of deformity or death, she consents to the removal, driven by her desire to alleviate his distress and prove her devotion.
Georgiana lets Aylmer attempt to remove the birthmark, despite the terrible danger, because she loves her husband so much and he is so troubled by the mark. He tells her,
dearest Georgiana, you came so nearly perfect from the hand of Nature that this slightest possible defect . . . shocks me, as being the visible mark of earthly imperfection.
Georgiana is incredibly hurt by her husband's choice of words. To hear that he is "shocked" by a birthmark that so many other people have called a "charm" both angers and pains her. She believes that he cannot love something that shocks him, and she is angry that he would even marry her in the first place if he was so "shocked" by her appearance. Then, to make matters worse, Aylmer has a dream one night; he doesn't remember it, but Georgiana is very much alarmed by what he said while in the throes of the dream. During the dream, he exclaims, "It is in her heart now; we must have it out!" He is so bothered by the birthmark that it becomes hateful to her, even though it never bothered her before their marriage. Aylmer is sure that he can remove it without causing any harm to her, and Georgiana is compelled by her own feelings to allow him to try.
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