Aylmer's obsession with Georgiana's birthmark makes her feel ugly. His desire to remove the birthmark creates a great chasm, and his wife, is frightened by the things he tells her..... his dreams. As a result, she practically begs him to rid her of something that never before bothered her, and in the end, his elixir ends her life.
Full Answer
How does Aylmer treat Georgiana's birthmark?
Aylmer brings Georgiana into his laboratory to begin the treatment. She feels nervous, and Aylmer tries to comfort... (full context) Georgiana pleads with Aylmer not to look at the birthmark. To cheer her up, he gives... (full context) Next, Aylmer presents Georgiana with a pot of dirt. As she watches, a plant sprouts and flowers.
Will Aylmer’s obsession with Georgiana ruin his marriage?
Aylmer is already ruining his marriage through his obsession with his wife’s failure to be perfect. While Georgiana originally didn’t mind the birthmark, she now begins to reevaluate it, since her husband so clearly hates it.
Why does Aylmer scold Georgiana for reading his journal?
Aylmer finds Georgiana reading his books and scolds her for it, saying that reading his journal almost makes him go crazy, but Georgiana assures Aylmer that it has only increased her admiration of him. He tells her to suspend judgment until after he has removed the birthmark, when he’ll actually deserve her praise.
Why does Aylmer ask Georgiana to sing for him?
Aylmer then asks Georgiana to sing for him, which she does, and her singing makes him happy. When he returns to the inner room of his laboratory, Georgiana realizes she forgot to tell him about a strange feeling in the birthmark which has made her restless, so she follows him.
How does Georgiana feel about her birthmark does her relationship to it change over the course of the story how?
She is very happy to almost be rid of burdensome birthmark, but once the birthmark, finally, completely fades, so does Georgiana. The potion that was used for the removal of her birthmark was poisonous and causes her to die.
What kind of alterations does Aylmer make to his laboratory in preparation for Georgiana seclusion?
What alterations does Aylmer make to his laboratory to prepare for Georgiana's seclusion? He comes up with many things to try and make her feel comfortable in there. What is the function of Aminadab? Why is Georgiana willing to risk death for the removal of the birthmark?
What bothers Aylmer most about the birthmark on his wife's face?
She wants her husband to love her, and feels as though you cannot love what shocks you. As time passes, Aylmer is more and more bothered by his wife's birthmark. He grows to find it utterly intolerable, this "fatal flaw of humanity" which Nature has stamped upon her face (8).
How is Aylmer described when he sees the birthmark disappearing?
How is Aylmer described when he sees the birthmark disappearing? He is still disgusted by it even though it is disappearing.
What was Aylmer's reaction to the sight of Georgiana's birthmark?
Aylmer saw the mark as a sign of his wife's eventual sadness, sickness and death. Soon, the birthmark caused him more pain than Georgiana's beauty had ever given him pleasure.
Why does Aylmer create a secluded abode within his laboratory for Georgiana?
This attempt to shelter Georgiana is both misguided and impossible; just as his attempts to remove the birthmark are really an attempt to remove her humanity, so Aylmer's desire to shelter her from evil is a desire to shelter her from her own humanity.
What does Georgiana learn about Aylmer's experiments?
Georgiana realizes that Aylmer has been doctoring her food or making her inhale something in the air. Her body feels strange. She reads the books in his scientific library, as well as his accounts of his own experiments. She realizes that his achievements always fall short of the goals he originally sets.
What is Aylmer's true motive for removing the birthmark?
Aylmer reasons that the birthmark is Nature's way of showing Georgiana's mortality and necessary humanity. He wants to remove the mark, then, not because he doesn't like the way she looks, but because of what the symbol represents to him (see "Symbols, Imagery, Allegory").
What does the birthmark represent for Georgiana?
Georgiana's birthmark symbolizes mortality. According to the narrator, every living thing is flawed in some way, nature's way of reminding us that every living thing eventually dies. The hand-shaped mark on Georgiana's cheek is the one blemish on an otherwise perfect being, a blemish that marks her as mortal.
How does Georgiana feel about her birthmark in the beginning?
Although every other man she has encountered has swooned over her beauty and many would risk death for the privilege of touching her birthmark, Georgiana cares only about Aylmer's opinion of her. Because he is horrified by her appearance, she discards years of praise and becomes disgusted with herself.
Why does Georgiana agree to have her husband remove the mark?
For what reason does Georgiana agree to have her husband remove the mark? She hates it. Her husband hates it so much, she sees him turning from her. It is beginning to be a painful mark.
What is ironic about the elixir of life that Aylmer creates for Georgiana?
The elixir of life also brings up the issue of mortality. Ironically, Aylmer thinks the elixir would be harmful to the drinker, yet he can't accept the mortality of his wife and in effect attempts to make her immortal by removing her one mark of mortality, the birthmark.
What would Aylmer do if Georgiana weren't perfect?
If Georgiana weren’t so perfect in every other way, Aylmer wouldn’t be so bothered by the birthmark.... (full context) ...or sitting around the fire at night, Aylmer always sees the birthmark and remembers that Georgiana is human rather than divine.
What does Aylmer tell Georgiana about?
In between his hours working on the treatment, Aylmer tells Georgiana about alchemy, the early branch of science that sought to turn various materials into gold.... (full context) Georgiana hears Aylmer talking to Aminadab in the inner room of the laboratory.
What is Aylmer's wife's birthmark?
Georgiana is Aylmer ’s wife and the subject of his experimentation. Although she is very beautiful and much admired by men, she has a small, reddish, hand-shaped birthmark on her left cheek. Its visual prominence depends on the paleness or blush of the surrounding cheek at any given moment.
Why does Georgiana say she didn't need Aylmer?
Georgiana says she didn’t need Aylmer to prove the liquid’s effect, because she trusts him completely. ... (full context) Aylmer pulls back a curtain, and sunlight falls on Georgiana ’s cheek. He hears Aminadab laughing and congratulates him on their mutual success, saying that earth... (full context)
What does Georgiana awakened by?
Georgiana is awakened by the powerful fragrance in the beautiful room that her husband has prepared... (full context) Georgiana pleads with Aylmer not to look at the birthmark. To cheer her up, he gives... (full context) Next, Aylmer presents Georgiana with a pot of dirt. As she watches, a plant sprouts and flowers.
Where is the birthmark on Georgiana's left cheek?
One day soon after Aylmer and Georgiana are married, Aylmer asks his wife if she has ever considered trying to remove the... (full context) The narrator describes the birthmark, which is small, pink, hand-shaped, and located on Georgiana ’s left cheek.
What does Aylmer do to Georgiana?
The next day, Aylmer tells Georgiana his plan to bring her to his laboratory, where he can closely monitor her while he treats the birthmark. Over the course of his life, Aylmer has used his laboratory to successfully investigate numerous aspects of nature, including the sky, mines, volcanoes, and springs.
How does Aylmer make up for Georgiana's death?
To make up for the plant’s death, Aylmer creates a portrait of Georgiana by a scientific process similar to early photography. However, the image comes out blurry except for the shape of the birthmark, which dominates her cheek. Aylmer hastily destroys the image. He’s embarrassed by these failures.
What does Aylmer tell Georgiana about poison?
Georgiana is horrified, but Aylmer tells her that applied carefully, the poison can also work to remove skin blemishes.
What does Georgiana feel about Aylmer?
The fact that Georgiana feels she might be in the sky adds to the sense of Aylmer acting as God, with this as his heavenly lair. Additionally, Aylmer’s sudden supposed love of the birthmark demonstrates that uniting his love of science and his love of his wife is already strengthening his love of both. Active Themes.
What does Georgiana ask Aylmer about the birthmark?
One night, Georgiana brings up the birthmark herself for the first time, asking Aylmer if he recalls having a dream about it the night before. At first he doesn’t remember, although he admits that he was thinking about it when he went to sleep.
Why does Georgiana shrink from her husband's gaze?
Georgiana learns to shrink from her husband’s gaze, because he’s always looking at the birthmark with dislike.
Why did Aylmer give up on the birthmark?
However, he gave up on this attempt because nature makes it easy to mess things up, only rarely makes it possible to fix things, and definitely does not allow the creation of life from nothing. Still, to figure out how to remove the birthmark, Aylmer returns to his old pursuits concerning the chemical origins of life.