The Birthmark

3 Pages 773 Words

THE BIRTHMARK

“The Birthmark” written in 1843 by Nathaniel Hawthorne tells the tale of husband’s insane obsession with his wife’s perfection, and wife’s willingness to forgo her own happiness in order to prove her undying love to her husband. “The Birthmark” though written in the 19th century can still be attributed to modern day life styles. Even now we are still trying to obtain “perfection” through plastic surgery, magical elixirs, and 24 hour fat burning diet pills.
Nathaniel Hawthorne was born July 4, 1804 in Salem Massachusetts, the descendent of a long line of puritan ancestors, including John Hawthorne, a presiding magistrate in the Salem witch trails. After his father was lost at sea when he was four, his mother became overly protective and pushed him toward more isolated pursuits. It is said that Hawthorne felt a responsibility for his ancestor’s role in the witch trials. His secluded childhood left him overly shy and he turned his attention to reading. As a child he is known to have studied Shakespeare, Milton, Pope and Thompson.
In 1821 Hawthorne entered Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine, where he graduated three years later. There he distinguished himself in the classics, and he wrote several creditable English poems. Also, while at college he became acquainted with the likes of Henry W. Longfellow and Franklin Pierce. Though often held as an excellent writer, Hawthorne could not support himself financially and accepted an appointment as a weigher in the Customs House. After two years of public service a change in the administration left him unemployed and he returned to Salem where he wrote a collection of children’s short stories called “Grandfather’s Chair”. A new period in his life commenced in 1842 when he married Miss Sofia Peabody, and moved to Concord, Massachusetts. In 1845, yet another rift in the national administration secured for him the appointment of surveyor of The Custom Ho...