ENG 112 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Birth-Mark, Birthmark
Document Summary
He had left his laboratory to the care of an assistant, cleared his fine countenance from the furnace smoke, washed the stain of acids from his fingers, and persuaded a beautiful woman to become his wife. We know not whether aylmer possessed this degree of faith in man"s ultimate control over nature. He had devoted himself, however, too unreservedly to scientific studies ever to be weaned from them by any second passion. 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. Such a union accordingly took place, and was attended with truly remarkable consequences and a deeply impressive moral. One day, very soon after their marriage, aylmer sat gazing at his wife with a trouble in his countenance that grew stronger until he spoke.
