The feminist theory is based on exposing patriarchal premises and resulting prejudices, to promote discovery and reevaluation of literature by women, and to examine social, cultural, and psychosexual contexts of literature and criticism. A feminist critic attempts to show that writers of traditional literature have ignored women and transmitted misguided and prejudice views of them. (Feminist Literary Criticism,AP Handout, 270-271.) Also, the feminist analysis tries to stimulate the creation of a balanced view of the nature and value of women along with encouraging transformations of traditional literature to eliminate inequities and inequalities that have resulted from centuries of antifeminist sensitivity and traditional general roles (Critical Approaches Important in the Study of Literature, AP Handout, 1-2.)  In the short story, “The Birth-mark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the main character Aylmer believes that beauty in his wife, Georgiana, is the most important trait in a woman and risks her life to make her perfectly beautiful.
In “The Birth-mark,” the main message Hawthorne transmits to the reader is that love only runs skin deep. The first few lines of the story are the husband and aspiring scientist, Aylmer stating that he “persuaded a beautiful woman to become his wife.” This statement shows that Aylmer believes the only noteworthy characteristic of his wife is her beauty, not how good of a person she may be. However, throughout the story we find out that Georgiana, Aylmer's wife has a birthmark that he wanted to be removed, no matter if it meant risking his wife's life. Aylmer first expresses his distaste for the birthmark when he calls it a “defect” and it is a “visible mark of earthy imperfection.” Aylmer wanted Georgiana to perfect in her beauty and “he grew more and more intolerable with every moment of their united lives” if the birthmark existed on her cheek. Aylmer grew crazier and psychologically unstable by the day by looking at the birthmark and even believed that it looked like “a tiny of deeper crimson” which connotes a negative connotation that the birthmark is evil and out to ruin his life. Aylmer personified the birthmark in that it was a “frightful object” that was “causing him more trouble and horror than ever.” The birthmark haunted Aylmer every day and every night that he spent with his wife. It came to the point that Georgiana “learned to shudder at his gaze” when he looked at her with disgust. This proves that Aylmer believes that the only thing important in a relationship is beauty and that Georgiana needs to be perfectly beautiful to have Aylmer's love. However, what is interesting is the way that Aylmer’s looks are never divulged. Why is it that Aylmer is the only person within his relationship who has the right to have a beautiful partner? Hawthorne never divulges in the story what Aylmer looks like. He could be ugly. He could be fat, short, and have a big nose. This piece of information left out demonstrates that the looks of a man don't matter in a relationship but a woman's beauty does.
As Aylmer got more obsessed with Georgiana having the birthmark, Georgiana changed as a person and is “convinced of the perfect practicability of its [birthmark] removal” the more Aylmer changes towards her. Georgiana succumbs to her husband's wishes because all she wants to do is make Aylmer happy when he doesn't love her for who she is, as a person, not just because of the way she looks. Georgiana reasons with herself that the birthmark's “removal may cause cureless deformity” or it would make Aylmer and herself very happy.  By going through with the removal, Aylmer doesn't have to deal with looking at the birthmark and Georgiana doesn't have to be saddened by Aylmer's shuddering at the sight of the birthmark. Georgiana is willing to risk her life and obey her husband to make him happy. It comes to the point that Georgiana feels defeated about having the birthmark because she is an “object” of her husband's “disgust” and she would rather “remove this dreadful hand [birthmark]” or “take” her “wretched life.” At this point in the story, Georgiana would rather die than have to deal with her husband's unloving actions towards her about the birthmark, like her husband only kissing “her cheek- her right cheek- not that which bore the impress of the crimson hand.” Aylmer's actions towards Georgiana makes her feel unloved and unwanted but she obeys him not only because of the specific time period that this story was written but because she loves him and wants to make him happy, but Aylmer only wants to make himself happy, clearly, when he enlists his friend, Aminadab to attempt to do “an operation for the removal of the birthmark.”
As the story moves on, Georgiana becomes more obedient to her husband's needs and wants.  She lay there, in preparation for the birthmark removal, looking “cold and tremulous.” Aylmer was looking to reassure Georgiana that the removal was for the best but he was startled by “the intense glow” of the birthmark that he “could not restrain a strong convulsive shudder.” Georgiana fainted and when she woke up she was trying to remember where she was. When she did she faintly “placed her hand over her cheek to hide the terrible mark from her husband's eyes.” Georgiana was to the point that she hated herself that she had the birthmark and she would do anything to get rid of it. She even said to Aylmer, “give me the goblet I joyfully stake all upon your word.” Georgiana had no idea what she was drinking out of the goblet. It could have been poison or something very harmful but Georgiana trusted and didn’t question Aylmer’s word. Georgiana was a woman who grew up in times of when women do not question a man’s authority. It was very unacceptable in society. As a woman your job was to care for your children, the house, and your husband, and you never made an issue. Unfortunately, women today, in 2014, still sometimes do not question a man's authority; whether it be their father's, brothers, or husband's authority, many still do not question it. Much of the reason is because even though the world had advanced, women are still thought of as the caregivers for children, the house, and their husband. A responsibility in respect to family is not equal between a man and a woman, still. Why is that? Is it because men still believe that women are not valued and appreciated as people or is it women that do not?
Georgiana even says that Aylmer and the process of removing the birthmark “has made me worship you more than ever.” The only way Georgiana will receive love and appreciation is only if she obeys Alymer’s wishes and gets it removed. This shows that Georgiana, along with other women, are constantly craving love and attention from their husbands because they do not believe within themselves that they are worth all of the love and affection in the world. When Alymer approves of Georgiana, Georgiana feels validated as a human being. However, when Alymer does not approve of her birthmark, she wants to remove the birthmark quickly not only to make him happy, but to receive love and affection again. Georgiana does not love herself and she cannot if Aylmer doesn't. Many women today need a man to justify their self-worth a lot of the time. Hundreds of years have passed and we are still in the same place. The reason why many women do not have any self-worth is because of the psychological hold a man can get around a woman's head. Once he has control over a woman, it is a mind game; a mind game that very hard to play. His mind game that is between the heart, that loves a man and a mind that knows a man doesn't love her for who she is. Many women don't want to face the reality of a man not loving them for who they are because that invalidates their self-worth.
Aylmer also used the birthmark removal as an opportunity to use Georgiana to enhance his science career. In the opening sentence of the short story, “there lived a man of science, an eminent proficient in every branch of natural philosophy” who had “made experience of a spiritual affinity more attractive than any chemical one.” When he persuaded Georgiana to become his wife, “he had left his laboratory to the care of an assistant, cleared his fine countenance from the furnace smoke, and washed the stain of acids from his fingers.” Throughout the story, we know Aylmer's profession but we do not know Georgiana's. We do not know what Georgiana wished to be when she was a little girl but we do know about Aylmer. This proves that it doesn't matter what a woman can do intellectually. The things that a man can intellectually do matters while the only thing that matters in a woman is that she is beautiful and can take care of the family. A lot of the time, in society this is still true. A man at the end of the day when he gets home from a long day of work wants dinner on the table by the time he gets home. If a woman is professionally working, a man is not expected to have dinner on the table for her when she gets home. It is a double standard that still exists. Women bare all of the responsibility and do not get any credit for what they can do intellectually. Sadly, women still accept this ideology.
At the last few lines of the first paragraph in the short story, Aylmer “had devoted himself, however, too unreservedly to scientific studies ever to be weaned from them by any second passion.” This shows that Aylmer cared more about his profession than he did about his own wife, Georgiana. He even said that “his love for his young wife might prove the stronger of the two; but it could only be by intertwining itself with his love of science, and uniting the strength of the latter to his own.” This demonstrates that no matter what, Georgiana will never be first place in his eyes in regards to science because he wanted to strengthen his career as a scientist and try new things. If it came in between his wife and his love for science, he would choose science. Even on the beginning of page three, Aylmer “had fancied himself with his servant Aminadab, attempting an operation for the removal of the birthmark.” All throughout the short story, the obvious reason for the removal of the birthmark is to make Georgiana look beautiful again in Aylmer's mind and for Georgiana to feel loved. However, it is very possible that he is using Georgiana as a guinea pig in an experiment to strengthen his career as a scientist. Aylmer suggested that he would like to find a cure for aging, which he believed was a deformity in itself. This experiment on Georgiana could bring him one step closer to finding the “fountain of youth” and whatever medicine he made could remove scars, worry-lines that are a sign of aging, and many other things that could make a person look older or less beautiful. Aylmer would be famous if he found the “fountain of youth” that could make everyone look young and beautiful. He would be rich and very prominent in society. Alymer knew the risks of having Georgiana go through the removal process. He knew that “the deeper went the knife, the deeper sank the hand, until at length its tiny grasp appeared to have caught hold of Georgiana's heart”, that ended up killing Georgiana at the end of the story. However, Alymer wanted the birthmark gone regardless if it would risk her life because he wanted her to be beautiful again, and if possible, it could help his science career in the long run. He wasn't willing to accept Georgiana for who she was because he couldn't be happy just with the science career he had, he wanted more, and nothing, not even Georgiana was going to come in between that.
Many women in society today are used by their men and it happens without a fight. A lot of the time, women are stuck at home with the kids and don get any time for themselves, whether it is going out for dinner with friends or just time to read a book in peace without all of the commotion that comes with children. Some men usually come home from work on a Friday night, and decide to go out with their co-workers and friends to bars and leave their children and wife at home. Much of the time, men do not set aside time to give stay at home mom time to relax and have a break from the kids. A lot of women get in a groove that they do not socialize with any adults that they too, start acting like children themselves. Men use women to take care of their children and for sexual purposes, and many women do not put up a fight about it. This shows that women in society value themselves so little that think that they are only good for taking care of children and sex. Georgiana is only good for her beauty, sex, and her birthmark, which can be scientifically experimented with by Aylmer.
Aylmer, in “The Birthmark” shows the reader that sometimes love only runs skin deep and a person’s appearance can mean more than the kind of person they are. This is present in the gender roles that have been set in society for generations. In society, especially in the time when Hawthorne was alive and this piece was written, women were considered second class citizens and their only job was to stay home with the children, cook, clean, and look beautiful. Most men thought back then, and many today think that staying at home raising children is not a big task. Many men also believe that a woman’s place is at home, taking care of her family, not out working in the workforce as a professional. This short story demonstrates that idea that it matters what a man can do intellectually but it doesn’t mean anything if a woman can hold a professional intellectual job like he can. In the story, Aylmer’s profession is mentioned- his hopes and dreams of becoming a successful scientist. It was never told what Georgiana wanted to do with her life and her aspirations. It proves that women in the intellectual world are inferior. Also, Aylmer’s appearance is never mentioned in the story while Georgiana’s is. This shows that it doesn’t matter what a man looks like, it just matters what he can do intellectually and professionally, while being beautiful for a woman defines her self-worth.
As author Jodi Picoult once said, “you don't love someone because they're perfect, you love them in spite of the fact that they're not”("Jodi Picoult Quotes ",1)  Both men and women should be valued and loved for more than their beauty. Outside appearances are just one aspect of a human being and their self-worth. In “The Birth-mark”, by Nathanial Hawthorne, Hawthorne was showing throughout the short story the underlying strength of Georgiana’s character. She was willing to do anything for Aylmer because she loved him with all of her heart and soul. The short story exposes Georgiana’s loyalty towards her husband while it showed Aylmer’s selfishness, that he only cared about removing the birthmark while it risked Georgiana’s life, and eventually killed her. Many women, still today in society still accept the ideology that women are supposed to be effortlessly beautiful rather than amazingly intellectual. Many women accept the love from their husbands that they think that they deserve. These women believe that they should be loved for how beautiful they are and the homemaker role they play. This should not be the case. Women, as well as men, should be loved for who they are; the good, bad, and the ugly. Imperfections are beautiful because it shows the raw nature of a human being. Hundreds of  years have passed and we, as women as still in the same place; where women are only valued for their beauty, bearing children, and taking care of the home. Women believe that beauty defines their self-worth, still in 2014, rather than the person that they are along with imperfections. Something is still very wrong.