The Birthmark is a gripping story of one man's obsession with his scientific ability to produce perfection. Aylmer, a scientist, is married to a Georgian who is a very beautiful woman. Not long after the wedding, Georgiana's birthmark, which is in the shape of a small handprint on her check, really begins to bother Aylmer. He sees it as a flaw in another wise and perfect woman. Georgiana knows that his birthmark disgusts him and, having grown up without caring about it at all, begins to hate it herself. He asks her if she has ever thought about removing it. This is not something she considered as other people in her life, especially men, always saw it as a “charm”. Being an extraordinary scientist, Aylmer considers himself almost a god and feels that he has the power to remove this imperfection. Georgiana, annoyed by her husband's reaction to her birthmark, agrees to let him try to get rid of her. She is taken to his laboratory and he immediately begins experimenting. After finding the book of Aylmer's experiments, all of which end in failure, she for the first time has some doubts about how it will work and faces it. He reassures her and begins trying a multitude of methods, with the help of his assistant Aminadab, which don't work. At one point, several experiments are underway and he even calls himself a “sorcerer” (Hawthorne 232). Eventually, he produces a potion, which she drinks, and the craving begins to disappear! Slowly though, even though the experiment is working, Georgiana is fading away. She discovers that in the end the birthmark was connected to her own soul and her attempt to act as if it actually killed her. In reality this short story only proves that science has its limits and no man should try to act like G...... middle of paper ...... in his attempt to act as if he were a god as if really killed her. The Birthmark is the story of how a man can think a little too highly of himself when he tries to change what shouldn't be changed. Works Cited 1) Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "The birthmark." Literature and the writing process. compiled. Elizabeth McMahan, Susan X Day, Rober Funk, Linda Coleman. Boston: Longman, 2011. Print.2) "NameMeanings". Name-Meanings.com. Np, 2004. Web. March 26, 2011. http://www.name-meanings.com/.3) Hall, Michael. "Spider Web Generation." Review of The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Np, 29-12-2011. Network. March 27, 2011. .4) "shmoop". The desire The synthesis of the desire. Np, 2011. Web. 27 March 2011. http://www.shmoop.com/birthmark/detailed-summary.html.5) "From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." The birth sign. Np, 03-06-2011. Network. March 27 2011.