“The Birthmark” – study guide
Nathaniel Hawthorne
English 11 honors
Answer each question based upon your reading of the story:
1. Why does Aylmer object to the birthmark?
Aylmer objects to the birthmark because he thinks that her face is almost perfect, and it would be even
more perfect if the birthmark wasn’t there.
2. What is Georgiana’s view of the birthmark and the beginning of the story? How does her view
change?
Georgiana’s view first is that she doesn’t really mind it which is demonstrated when Aylmer asks her if
she would remove it, and she replies no. In fact, she likes it.
3. Why does Aylmer need Aminadab to help him perform his scientific work?
Aylmer needs Aminadab to help him remove the birthmark from his wife’s cheek as he can carry out all
the material details perfectly even if he doesn’t understand the scientific complexity of Aylmer’s
experiments.
4. What does Georgiana learn about her husband by reading the folio in which he has recorded his
experiments?
Georgiana learns that even his great successes are failures based on what he hoped to accomplish in the
experiment.
5. What is her response to her husband’s work? How is her response to imperfection different
from his response to hers?
Her response is that she holds her husband in higher regards than she did before as she saw how hard-
working he was, but he thinks that his greatest success is yet to come if he can successfully remove the
birthmark.
6. What does the scientific method entail? How does Aylmer’s personality contradict the
requirements of the scientific method?
The scientific method entails making observations to form a hypothesis, and then conducting an
experiment with controlled variables to test your hypothesis. Aylmer’s personality contradicts the
requirements of the scientific method in that he wants to play God and has a blinding faith that distorts
his view of science. Science should be separated from religion because facts need to be held in higher
regard that beliefs in the field of science.
7. Describe the set-up of Aylmer’s lab. How is it different from the rest of his room? How does
Georgiana react? How does he respond?
There’s a large, hot furnace that covered in soot, a complicated distilling apparatus, and the smell of
gaseous odors against naked walls and brick pavement. It is different from the rest of his room because
it’s more industrial and definitely less pretty. Georgiana is unsettled by the appearance of the
laboratory. Aylmer gets made at her when he sees her because he feels that she came in because she
doesn’t trust him to inspect the work himself.
8. Explain the moment of anger and mistrust that passes between the two:
Aylmer becomes angry at Georgiana when she enters the laboratory because he thinks that she came in
because she didn’t rust his ability in inspecting the work himself. Georgiana responds by that that he is
the one who mistrusted her, and that he should be comfortable to talk to her about his anxiety and not
pretend to be calm and collected.
9. Why does Hawthorne imbue Aylmer’s science with the language of magic (i.e., alchemy,
sorcery)?
Because Aylmer has a sort of religious science with a distorted view because of the faith that he beholds
in his mind. Alchemy and sorcery aren’t branches of science.
10. What does the birthmark symbolize?
The birthmark ultimately symbolizes the angelic spirits that was tied to her mortal body.
11. What are the other important symbols in the text?
The laboratory and boudoir are largely different, and the mood/atmosphere of the two rooms is
completely the opposite of one another. The boudoir is the realm of spiritual freedom from the earth
and from imperfections, but the lab is the opposite as it reeks the earthly smells and is covered in soot.
Aylmer’s dream is clear foreshadowing of the future in this situation.
