Who is aylmer in the birthmark

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 ". He's not actually the shallow fellow he appears to be. Georgiana later reasons that his love is all the more noble for its desire to make her into something perfect. Aylmer is not satisfied with an earthly, ordinary love — he dreams of something greater.

Of course, it is just this something greater that really gets out Aylmer into trouble. We've got him off the hook for superficiality, but we still have to deal with his big character flaw: ambition. Actually, make that foolish ambition. Character List Aylmer Georgiana. Themes Motifs Symbols. Important Quotes Explained. Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Birthmark Background. Characters Character List.

Literary fiction; short story. In the Text Analysis section, Tier 2 vocabulary words are defined in pop-ups, and Tier 3 words are explained in brackets. Grades CCR complexity band. For more information on text complexity see these resources from achievethecore. Click here for standards and skills for this lesson. Undoubtedly, you and your students will identify several, but in this lesson we focus on two: his striving for a more spiritually refined life and his desire to reconcile his private sense of failure with his public image of success.

To help with reading, we have uploaded a version of the story annotated with vocabulary assistance and comprehension questions. It is a Word document, so you can easily tailor it to your needs through revisions and additions.

The first interactive exercise focuses on vocabulary development. The second, well-suited for individual or small group work, asks students to outline a brief paper on the following thesis:. The exercise gives students practice in structuring an argument, identifying textual evidence, and articulating connections between elements of an argument. This lesson is divided into two parts, both accessible below. And then there is perhaps the most intriguing question of all: why does Aylmer undertake to eradicate the birthmark?

Since we are going to focus on Aylmer, it might be useful to say a few words about him as a scientist. The narrator describes him as a natural philosopher, which was what people called scientists in the late s, when, it appears, the story is set.

Although Aylmer worked in a variety of fields — geology, physiology, and physics, to name a few — he seems to have been essentially a chemist, an alchemist, to be more precise. Alchemy, the forerunner of modern chemistry, dates from ancient times.

Alchemists tried to understand the composition of the material world by mixing and refining elements. According to scholars, this work led to the discovery of some useful products. However, there was also a spiritual, philosophical, speculative side to alchemy that led practitioners to search for compounds that would achieve physical impossibilities, like turning lead into gold, and even guarantee immortality.

By the late eighteenth century that strain of alchemy was no longer taken seriously, and it is that strain in which Aylmer seems to work. In this story Hawthorne marries an aging alchemist, whose best work may be behind him, to a nearly perfect young woman.

Nearly perfect. The opening lines of a work of fiction bear close study because often in them an author will reveal important elements like setting or theme. What does he include, and what does he leave out? Why might he make this omission? He includes the time of the story but omits the place. Thus the narrator erases the wider world from the story. This helps create the closed, isolated environment in which Aylmer and Georgiana live.

When is the story set? What opposition does the narrator establish in sentence 1? It is also ironic that Aylmer is a highly intelligent man, but has no wisdom. The hand-shaped mark also represents the grip of mortality, a reminder that Georgiana, a human created by nature, will one day die. Others fade away completely. Most birthmarks are harmless, but some indicate an underlying medical condition.

In some instances, birthmarks may be removed for cosmetic reasons. Although he has achieved many impressive scientific feats, he has also often failed to accomplish what he aimed to. A brilliant yet misguided scientist and the protagonist of the story. One or two on an individual is common; however, four or more may be an indicator of neurofibromatosis. In the event of weight gain, the birthmark can stretch with the skin and become larger. The black veil is a symbol of secret sin and how terrible human nature can be.

This could represent the secret sin that all people carry in their hearts, or it could be a representation of Mr. Hooper wears a black veil in order to hide his face [or its particular features] from the gaze of others and from himself when he looks in the mirror JUST AS [or: to symbolize the fact that] everyone else in the community puts on a fa ade of righteousness and innocence in order to hide his sinfulness from the ….

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