The Birthmark
Hawthorne makes it clear to his readers that the birthmark is a symbol, mostly by telling us that it is a symbol. Check it out:The crimson hand expressed the ineludible gripe in which mortality clu...
The Laboratory and Boudoir
Never have two settings been more different than the laboratory and neighboring boudoir in "The Birthmark." Let's take a look at the text:she found herself breathing an atmosphere of penetrating fr...
Aylmer's Dream
Aylmer's dream is a classic case of literary foreshadowing. It's also Hawthorne's way of driving home his point about the futility of separating human imperfections from our very humanity (see "Wha...