"Alas, it was too true! The fatal hand had grappled with the mystery of life, and was the bond by which an angelic spirit kept itself in union with a mortal frame. As the last crimson tint of the birthmark--that sole token of human imperfection-faded from her cheek, the parting breath of the now perfect woman passed into the atmosphere, and her soul, lingering a moment near her husband, took its heavenly flight (Hawthorne, Nathaniel pg 125)."
             In the era that Nathaniel Hawthorne lived, he saw a society engulfed in the fascination of science. He wasn't fascinated with the thought of playing a mad scientist who could solve all of the world's problems through chemistry and biology. Instead, he took a more philosophical approach to understanding humanity, and was very much opposed to this idea of "playing God" that came about when he wrote "The Birthmark." In many of Hawthorne's stories, a main theme can be seen; the idea that society has a profound influence upon those who make up that society. In other words, society creates a firm grapple upon individuals which in turn can lead to alienation and a sense of brain-washing. Nathaniel Hawthorne created the character Aylmer to show just what happens when someone falls into the pressures of society and yearns for something which is not attainable through human intervention, PERFECTION! It is through this character Aylmer, that Hawthorne shows the disillusion that science is the ultimate control of nature. Through Aylmer, he shows the consequences of the human strive for perfection, and the willingness to play God to reach it. Finally, through the birthmark on Georgiana, Hawthorne is able to portray that nature didn't intend for everything in this world to be perfect, and Aylmer is not fully human for being so blind to such an idea.
             Throughout the short story, "The Birthmark", Aylmer is obse
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