Although "The Birthmark" was written in the 19th century (1843), it can be considered an early version of our 21st century obsession with physical perfection. What similarities and/or differences do you find?
"The Birthmark's" tragic tale is a sad testament to the pressure both in the 19th century's and today's culture for women to be entirely flawless. Both today and in the story, people are/were not content with even near perfection. In both situations women were/are forced to conform to someone else's view of beauty. However, one of the main differences between the two cultures was the cruelty of the husband and Georgiana's response to his obsession with her birthmark. In that time, the woman was expected to obey whatever her husband deemed necessary even when it was something as trivial as a birthmark. Now, if someone were to tell me something about my appearance was lacking (and I was healthy and taking care of my body) I would tell them to hit the proverbial road! I would never risk my life for someone else's opinion but in the 19th century, such behavior was expected.
There are so many similarities to our 21st century obsession with beauty! Today, women stress over a single flaw and do anything they can to fix it. As a result, thousands of women go under the knife for needless plastic surgeries. Georgiana is a lot like these women because she allowed her husband to experiment on her in order to become flawless. It is very sad that Georgiana and women of today are willing to put themselves through dangerous procedures simply for looks. A difference between today and the story is that Georgiana was completely submissive to her husband. Today if a man became irrationally repulsed by his wife, she could get out of the relationship. However, Georiana was stuck. In order for her husband to be happy, she had to let him try to remove the mark. Unfortunately, her birthmark and her life were taken from her. The cost of submitting to her husband was her life, and thankfully this rarely happens today.
The Birthmark was a tragic way to end a lovely woman's life. A man's obsession with perfection leads to his wife's death. There are many similarities between the acts towards obtaining physical perfection today like in the Birthmark. Today, there is plastic surgery and other surgeries that help men and women become "perfect". Although, there is a lot less chance of people dying like Georgiana did. Men and women will always strive for perfection but perfection is something that costs a deadly price.
Many people today try to change their appearance to look more appealing. This is very similar to the tragic story written in "The Birthmark." For example, many women and men in Beverly Hills and Hollywood want to "perfect" their look by having unnecessary plastic surgery, just like Georgiana. Also, women try to enhance their beauty by wearing makeup, lipstick, eyeliner, etc. While all of this may make a person look better, it is not essential. Similarly, Georgiana's "experiment" was not essential at all. Both Georgiana and many people today feel pressured into looking as flawless as possible.
The 21st century person today has become so obsessed with one's outside appearances. In the story "The Birthmark", it gives the glimpse of today's problems. Because it was written in the 19th century, it is not as intense and does not happen as much compared to now. However, the difference to the 19th century to the 21st century is how men treat their wives. Women are looked at as independent now and are given rights compared to back in the 19th century.
Although the times have changed, people and the obsession with perfection and beauty has not. In the current times, the stereotype of beauty has widened but there are still some similarities between the eras. The era in which "The Birthmark" was written, the pedestal of beauty was much smaller and higher than these days and even the most slight imperfection could throw you off. Some people still judge and base everything on outter beauty as in the 19th century but the majority now seem to appreciate beauty but also personality and inner beauty as well.
Honestly, the only difference between this 19th century's standpoint and today's standpoint is that women are now allowed to leave her husband if he no longer excepts her. However, perfection is still a major issue today. From nips to tucks and super wieght loss diets, our culture soley focuses on trying to reach perfection. Georgiana's husband wanted her to be perfect and the only thing in his way was her birthmark. It's sad that he could not see through this mark but nowadays that is all people see, a mark. Even if it's one flaw, it will be enitrely focused on until it is removed. Some lose their life, just like Georgiana, to reach perfection, so the question is, is perfection really worth it?
Women in the 21st century are obsessed with looking perfect. One little flaw, even if it is just a small pimple, is a problem, and they will do anything they can to fix it so they can look better. Georgiana wanted to fix the birthmark on her face, just like women today want to fix any minor or major flaw that they have. Today in the 21st century, women undergo plastic surgery like it is nothing. Some women end up having way too much plastic surgery and they end up looking worse. But Georgiana undergiong her surgery killed her. I agree with annamac in that Georgiana was completely submissive to her husband, and that a major difference between the 21st and 19th centuries is that now a woman could eaily get out of a relationship with a man who constantly told her negative things, such as her having a defect. In the 19th century, it was not normal for a woman to leave her husband. Georgiana felt trapped. She underwent the surgery to please her husband, which cost her her life in the end.
"The Birthmark's" description of Georgiana's pursuit of absolute beauty is so parallel to the 21st century obsession with physical perfection, it almost could be considered foreshadowing. Just like Georgiana, women (and some men) in the 21st century are obsessed with being perfect and almost god-like. Any imperfection these days is frowned upon and is corrected in almost every case. Unlike Georgina, most women these days do not get physical altering surgeries to please their spouse. Most of them aren't even married yet. They do it to please themselves and stand out above others in society. Georgiana was expected to change, but these days, it is done for personal reasons.
The issue to notice here is that human beings are simply not perfect. This fact is revealed in all aspects of our lives, despite how much we try to change it. In this story, it is primarily noticed physically and mentally. Everyone has physical flaws, but, for some reason, Aylmer became obsessed with one minute blemish upon his wife's cheek. This reveals our mental corruptness. He and Georgiana nearly went insane due to this one insignificant imperfection. We see situations similar to this in the 21st century as people obsess over their physical appearances, complaining over the tiniest, most unnoticeable flaws.
Even back in the late times of the 19th century people were concerned about their appearance. Geogianna, who had a birthmark the size of an ant she was still worried that it made her ugly. Mainly, she perceived herself as disgusting and vile because of this tiny mark, of which most people actually believed it added beauty to her face. Of course, the true reason for her hatred towards this mark was her husbands rejection of it. Her husband saw it as something that made her worse. Of course, out of a million there will always be one person to criticize. Anyhow this ties into the 21st century because even now, people are obsessed with any flaws in ther bodies. We have doctors who specialize in plastic surgery which include, and are not limited to, facial lifts, chest enhancement, busom enhancement, two I'd rather not say, and gender swaps. Just as Taylor said, "humans are simply not perfect." so why do we try to attain perfection when it is out of our grasp, or rather when will we know we have attained perfection?
Both then and now,it seems, the ultimate goal of humanity is to obtain perfection physically. Like Bwood stated, many people are now turning to surgical procedures like plastic surgery and botox as easy fixes to try to make themselves appear more socially acceptable. The main difference is that peoples methods in todays time are safer compared to the old ways which could easily end ones life as seen is the story of "The Birthmark"
Vanity has not changed throughout our history, even the smallest imperfection can cause a woman to consider herself ugly in todays society. "The Birthmark" is an early example of this in history. The experiments Georgiana allowed her husband to do on her in order to obtain "perfection" cost her her life. Today these experiments can be compared to plastic surgery, which is not deadly, however it completely defies nature and changes the way a person was from birth. In "The Birthmark," Georgiana had no intention to change and have her birthmark removed. Georgiana is willing, however, to undergo this experimental surgery to fulfill her husbands desire for her to be perfect.
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"The Birthmark's" tragic tale is a sad testament to the pressure both in the 19th century's and today's culture for women to be entirely flawless. Both today and in the story, people are/were not content with even near perfection. In both situations women were/are forced to conform to someone else's view of beauty. However, one of the main differences between the two cultures was the cruelty of the husband and Georgiana's response to his obsession with her birthmark. In that time, the woman was expected to obey whatever her husband deemed necessary even when it was something as trivial as a birthmark. Now, if someone were to tell me something about my appearance was lacking (and I was healthy and taking care of my body) I would tell them to hit the proverbial road! I would never risk my life for someone else's opinion but in the 19th century, such behavior was expected.
There are so many similarities to our 21st century obsession with beauty! Today, women stress over a single flaw and do anything they can to fix it. As a result, thousands of women go under the knife for needless plastic surgeries. Georgiana is a lot like these women because she allowed her husband to experiment on her in order to become flawless. It is very sad that Georgiana and women of today are willing to put themselves through dangerous procedures simply for looks. A difference between today and the story is that Georgiana was completely submissive to her husband. Today if a man became irrationally repulsed by his wife, she could get out of the relationship. However, Georiana was stuck. In order for her husband to be happy, she had to let him try to remove the mark. Unfortunately, her birthmark and her life were taken from her. The cost of submitting to her husband was her life, and thankfully this rarely happens today.
The Birthmark was a tragic way to end a lovely woman's life. A man's obsession with perfection leads to his wife's death. There are many similarities between the acts towards obtaining physical perfection today like in the Birthmark. Today, there is plastic surgery and other surgeries that help men and women become "perfect". Although, there is a lot less chance of people dying like Georgiana did. Men and women will always strive for perfection but perfection is something that costs a deadly price.
Many people today try to change their appearance to look more appealing. This is very similar to the tragic story written in "The Birthmark." For example, many women and men in Beverly Hills and Hollywood want to "perfect" their look by having unnecessary plastic surgery, just like Georgiana. Also, women try to enhance their beauty by wearing makeup, lipstick, eyeliner, etc. While all of this may make a person look better, it is not essential. Similarly, Georgiana's "experiment" was not essential at all. Both Georgiana and many people today feel pressured into looking as flawless as possible.
The 21st century person today has become so obsessed with one's outside appearances. In the story "The Birthmark", it gives the glimpse of today's problems. Because it was written in the 19th century, it is not as intense and does not happen as much compared to now. However, the difference to the 19th century to the 21st century is how men treat their wives. Women are looked at as independent now and are given rights compared to back in the 19th century.
Although the times have changed, people and the obsession with perfection and beauty has not. In the current times, the stereotype of beauty has widened but there are still some similarities between the eras. The era in which "The Birthmark" was written, the pedestal of beauty was much smaller and higher than these days and even the most slight imperfection could throw you off. Some people still judge and base everything on outter beauty as in the 19th century but the majority now seem to appreciate beauty but also personality and inner beauty as well.
Honestly, the only difference between this 19th century's standpoint and today's standpoint is that women are now allowed to leave her husband if he no longer excepts her. However, perfection is still a major issue today. From nips to tucks and super wieght loss diets, our culture soley focuses on trying to reach perfection. Georgiana's husband wanted her to be perfect and the only thing in his way was her birthmark. It's sad that he could not see through this mark but nowadays that is all people see, a mark. Even if it's one flaw, it will be enitrely focused on until it is removed. Some lose their life, just like Georgiana, to reach perfection, so the question is, is perfection really worth it?
Women in the 21st century are obsessed with looking perfect. One little flaw, even if it is just a small pimple, is a problem, and they will do anything they can to fix it so they can look better. Georgiana wanted to fix the birthmark on her face, just like women today want to fix any minor or major flaw that they have. Today in the 21st century, women undergo plastic surgery like it is nothing. Some women end up having way too much plastic surgery and they end up looking worse. But Georgiana undergiong her surgery killed her. I agree with annamac in that Georgiana was completely submissive to her husband, and that a major difference between the 21st and 19th centuries is that now a woman could eaily get out of a relationship with a man who constantly told her negative things, such as her having a defect. In the 19th century, it was not normal for a woman to leave her husband. Georgiana felt trapped. She underwent the surgery to please her husband, which cost her her life in the end.
"The Birthmark's" description of Georgiana's pursuit of absolute beauty is so parallel to the 21st century obsession with physical perfection, it almost could be considered foreshadowing. Just like Georgiana, women (and some men) in the 21st century are obsessed with being perfect and almost god-like. Any imperfection these days is frowned upon and is corrected in almost every case. Unlike Georgina, most women these days do not get physical altering surgeries to please their spouse. Most of them aren't even married yet. They do it to please themselves and stand out above others in society. Georgiana was expected to change, but these days, it is done for personal reasons.
The issue to notice here is that human beings are simply not perfect. This fact is revealed in all aspects of our lives, despite how much we try to change it. In this story, it is primarily noticed physically and mentally. Everyone has physical flaws, but, for some reason, Aylmer became obsessed with one minute blemish upon his wife's cheek. This reveals our mental corruptness. He and Georgiana nearly went insane due to this one insignificant imperfection. We see situations similar to this in the 21st century as people obsess over their physical appearances, complaining over the tiniest, most unnoticeable flaws.
Even back in the late times of the 19th century people were concerned about their appearance. Geogianna, who had a birthmark the size of an ant she was still worried that it made her ugly. Mainly, she perceived herself as disgusting and vile because of this tiny mark, of which most people actually believed it added beauty to her face. Of course, the true reason for her hatred towards this mark was her husbands rejection of it. Her husband saw it as something that made her worse. Of course, out of a million there will always be one person to criticize. Anyhow this ties into the 21st century because even now, people are obsessed with any flaws in ther bodies. We have doctors who specialize in plastic surgery which include, and are not limited to, facial lifts, chest enhancement, busom enhancement, two I'd rather not say, and gender swaps. Just as Taylor said, "humans are simply not perfect." so why do we try to attain perfection when it is out of our grasp, or rather when will we know we have attained perfection?
Both then and now,it seems, the ultimate goal of humanity is to obtain perfection physically. Like Bwood stated, many people are now turning to surgical procedures like plastic surgery and botox as easy fixes to try to make themselves appear more socially acceptable. The main difference is that peoples methods in todays time are safer compared to the old ways which could easily end ones life as seen is the story of "The Birthmark"
Vanity has not changed throughout our history, even the smallest imperfection can cause a woman to consider herself ugly in todays society. "The Birthmark" is an early example of this in history. The experiments Georgiana allowed her husband to do on her in order to obtain "perfection" cost her her life. Today these experiments can be compared to plastic surgery, which is not deadly, however it completely defies nature and changes the way a person was from birth. In "The Birthmark," Georgiana had no intention to change and have her birthmark removed. Georgiana is willing, however, to undergo this experimental surgery to fulfill her husbands desire for her to be perfect.
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