Foreshadowing
- Aylmer's first passion is science
- "remarkable consequences and a deeply impressive moral"
- hand of nature
- blood/hand link
- spectral hand that wrote mortality
- redecorated laboratory as "a pavilion among the clouds"--like
heaven
- flower "burned" by her touch
- pale as death
- crystal goblet as "draught of immortality"
- her preference for death rather than keeping the hand
Allusions
- Pygmalion: Greek myth (from Ovid) of misogynist sculptor devoted to
his art but who fell in love with statue he had created of perfect woman.
Venus (Aphrodite) goddess of love, was so touched by his passion that
she granted his wish of bringing her to life so they could marry. She
was Galatea; they had a son.
- Magicians and alchemists were medieval scientists who tampered with
the substances of reality, seeking to convert base metals to gold not
only to tap the secrets of life and immortality but also to increase
their own wealth and power.
Symbols
- Flat, symbolic characters
- Aylmer, the man of intellect who sacrifices his heart to his obsession
for control
- Georgiana
- The exquisitely beautiful, gentle, and trusting woman whose
flaws are those of humans with feelings: she gives herself unreservedly
to the man she loves
- The representative of what is human and mortal: imperfect
(only God is perfect) and therefore mortal, doomed to die--a
reminder to Aylmer of his own immortality and weakness
- Aminadab
- Doppelganger for Aylmer: physical/man of clay (Aylmer considers
self spirit but is really mind, not spirit)
- Animal nature based on appearance
- Flower that dies at Georgiana's touch
- The birthmark itself, of course....
Oppositions and paradoxes
- Mortal-immortal
- Perfect-imperfect
- Human-divine (suprahuman)
- Hell-heaven
- Head-heart
- Real-ideal
Nathaniel Hawthorne Notes
for educational purposes only
developed and copyright ©2001 by D. Reiss
modified and copyright ©19 February 2005 by D. Reiss
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