The Birthmark: Nathaniel Hawthorne ||Malayalam Explanation and Short Summary ||

The content in this video is made for only educational purpose especially for the students of 2nd semester undergraduation MG University, Kerala, India.

Copyright disclaimer under section 107 of the copyright Act 1976,allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, commenting, news reporting, teaching, scholarship and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non profit, educational or personal use tips the balence in favour of fair use.


Aylmer was a brilliant scientist who has abandoned his experiments for a while to marry the beautiful Georgiana. One day, Aylmer asks his wife whether she has ever thought about removing the birthmark on her cheek. She cheerfully says no but grows serious when she sees that he asked the question seriously. Many people, she says, have told her the mark is a charm, and she has always thought maybe they were right. Aylmer says that because her face is almost perfect, and this mark is shocking. Georgiana is angry at first, and then she weeps, asking how he can love her if she is shocking to him.
The narrator explains that the birthmark in question is a pink mark in the shape of a tiny hand on Georgiana’s left cheek. The mark disappears when she blushes. Georgiana’s male admirers love the birthmark. Some women think the mark ruins her beauty, but the narrator says this is nonsense.
Aylmer obsessed about the birthmark. For him, it symbolizes mortality and sin and comes to tower over Georgiana’s beauty in his mind. He can think of nothing else. One night she reminds him of a dream he had. He spoke in his sleep, saying they must take out her heart. Aylmer remembers dreaming that he had removed the birthmark with a knife, plunging down until he had reached his wife’s heart, which he decided to cut out. Georgiana says that she will risk her life to have the birthmark erased. Thrilled, Aylmer agrees to try. He professes complete confidence in his own abilities, likening himself to Pygmalion.
They decide to move to the apartments where Aylmer has his laboratory. He has already made stunning discoveries about volcanoes, fountains, mines, and other natural wonders. Now he will resume his studies of the creation of life. As the couple enters the laboratory, Aminadab, Aylmer’s assistant, comes out to help. He says he would not remove the birthmark. Aylmer comforts her with some of his more magical creations. Between experiments, Aylmer tells Georgiana about alchemy. He believes that he could turn base metal into gold and create a potion that would grant eternal life if he wanted to, even though he says he knows that doing so would be wrong. He disappears for hours and then shows her his cabinet of wonders. One such wonder is a vial that holds a powerful perfume.
Aylmer comes to her with a liquid and asked her to drink it. She drank the liquid and sleeps. Aylmer watches her with tenderness but also as if he is watching a scientific experiment unfold. Gradually the birthmark fades. Aminadab laughs. Georgiana wakes, sees herself in the mirror, and tells Aylmer not to feel bad about rejecting “the best the earth could offer.” Then she dies.

Видео The Birthmark: Nathaniel Hawthorne ||Malayalam Explanation and Short Summary || канала Litera Huddles