纳撒尼尔·霍索恩（Nathaniel Hawthorne）创作的短篇小说《胎记》（The Birthmark）讲述了一对已婚夫妇，艾尔默（Aylmer）和他美丽的妻子乔治亚娜（Georgiana）。结婚后不久，艺术科学家艾尔默（Aylmer）迷恋妻子乔治亚娜（Georgiana）左脸颊上的胎记，并认为这是她唯一需要消除的缺陷。艾尔默（Aylmer）运用他所有的科学知识来改变自然，佐治亚州（Georgiana）致力于消除一个“不完美的象征”，尽管她成功地删除了商标，但这都导致了她的性命。霍桑在许多方面预示了这一可悲的结果。这部小说揭示了自然与科学之间的矛盾，以及恋爱中的强迫症。
根据西格蒙德·弗雷德（Sigmund Fred）的心理分析理论，每个人都受到他或她的欲望，恐惧，需求和内在的潜意识冲突的激励（Tyson 75）。毫无疑问，艾尔默爱他的妻子。故事开始时，霍桑写道：“对于科学的热爱，可以与女性的热爱相媲美，并吸收能量”（385）。然后，霍桑详细描述了他的性格如此缺陷，他患有严重的心理机能障碍，这是阿里默尔压倒一切的自恋型人格障碍。当他告诉乔治亚娜时，有很多佐证，‘啊，等待这一成功。然后如果愿意的话拜我。我认为自己几乎不值得”（霍桑393）。但是，当时没有任何成功和事实支持他值得这种信任和敬拜，而只有很多失败。
在这本小说中，Alymer扮演一个固执而令人不快的角色。考虑到弗洛伊德关于自恋和超我的理论，有人认为阿莱默发展超我的明显迹象是基于他在“自我客体分化”中的经验（Tyson 75）。艾尔默（Aylmer）生病的去除胎记的愿望实际上代表了他追求完美的愿望，这是由他的强迫症引起的。也许他正试图找到一些对妻子不完美的东西来使他感觉好些，因为胎记根本不会在婚前困扰他。
The short novel ‘The Birthmark’ written by Nathaniel Hawthorne is about a married couple, Aylmer and his beautiful wife Georgiana. Shortly after marriage, Aylmer, the art scientist, got obsessed with the birthmark on wife Georgiana’s left cheek and considered it her only flaw that needed to be removed. Aylmer’s application all his scientific knowledge in changing nature and Georgiana’s submission to the operation of remove the one ‘symbol of imperfection’ all led to the death of her life, even though the remove of the mark succeeded. Hawthorne foreshadowed this sad result in many ways. This novel reveals the confliction between nature and science, as well as the obsessive-compulsive disorder in love.
According to Sigmund Fred’s psychoanalytical theories, every human being is motivated by his or her desire, fear, needs, and the subconscious conflicts within (Tyson 75). There is no doubt that Aylmer loves his wife. At the beginning of the story, Hawthorne wrote ‘not unusual for the love of science to rival the love of woman in its depth and absorbing energy’ (385). Then later, Hawthorne detailed described his character so flawed who had deep psychological dysfunctional problem, which is Alymer’s overriding narcissistic personal disorder. There is a lot of supporting evidence when he tells Georgiana, ‘Ah, wait for this one success . . . then worship me if you will. I shall deem myself hardly unworthy of it’ (Hawthorne 393). However, at that time, there was no success and facts that supported that he was worthy of this kind of trust and worship, but only abundant failures.
In this novel, Alymer servers as a stubborn and unpleasant character. Taking Freud's theory on narcissism and the superego into consideration, it is suggested that the clear sign of Alymer’s developing superego is based on his experience in ‘self-object differentiation’ (Tyson 75). Aylmer’s sick desire for removing the birthmark actually represents his desire to seek perfection for himself, which is caused by his obsessive-compulsive disorder. Maybe he is trying to find something unperfect on his wife to make him feel better, because the birthmark does not bother him at all before the marriage.
And later, his so-said belief in science to be able to cure the flaw on Georgiana’s face is the vivid evidence that Aylmer tends to use emotional displacement. Aylmer said to Georgiana that when the birthmark does not arise the men’s interest and admiration, it belongs to the category of flaws and needs to be gone as the ‘masculine observers’ want so that the women receive their ideal loveliness (Hawthorne 387). However, no other men have ever campaigned about Georgiana’s mark. On the contrary, they found it so attractive. Aylmer’s fear of lacking masculine dominance in the marriage leads to his deep obsession of the removal of one flaw on Georgiana’s face. Pursuing ultimate control over his wife becomes Aylmer’s sole conscious desire. It is clear that the birthmark is actually not the problem, but an excuse for his control.
Based on the Freudian concept of displacement, the transfer of desire proves that Aylmer is not perfect himself. Maybe it is because of his failure in science, or his lack of masculinity. For example, when describing Georgiana’s observation on her husband’s work, Hawthorne wrote that comparing to what Alymer has accomplished in terms of his thoughts and ideas, Georgiana ‘could not but observe that his most splendid successes were almost invariably failures’ (393).
Even though Georgiana is a rational and wise woman, her defense and concerns cannot change Aylmer’s mind. In fact, Georgiana’s refuse only activated Alymer’s psychological defense, screaming at Georgiana, ‘have you no trust in your husband?’ (Hawthorne 394). The gender bias is severe. Georgiana tries to hint Alymer that this mark is connected to her life, but Alymer is stubborn and keeps complaining about how awful the birthmark is without telling her the danger and risk of removing it. Finally, Georgiana’s love for Alymer and fear of an unhappy marriage make her submissive to the husband’s continuous tests and performances to remove the mark. Even the cost is her own death, Georgiana also shows relief and happiness because the birthmark is removed and her husband’s desire is pleased (Hawthorne 395). The tragedy of Georgiana happens also because Aylmer didn’t feel a little bit guilty when he failed and his ego and obsession overpowered his feeling of guilt and rational mind. Unavoidably, Aylmer’s inability to get rid of the sick obsession with Georgiana’s birthmark led to the death of his near perfect life.
后来，他所谓的科学信念能够治愈佐治亚州脸上的瑕疵，这是艾尔默（Aylmer）倾向于使用情感替代的生动证据。艾尔默尔（Aylmer）向乔治亚娜（Georgiana）说，当胎记没有引起男人的兴趣和钦佩时，胎记属于缺陷类别，需要像“男性观察者”所希望的那样消除，以便使妇女获得理想的美感（霍桑387）。但是，没有其他人曾竞选过佐治亚州的商标。相反，他们发现它是如此吸引人。艾尔默（Aylmer）担心婚姻中缺乏男性主导地位，这导致他对格鲁吉亚脸上的一个瑕疵的消除产生了深深的痴迷。追求对妻子的最终控制成为艾尔默（Aylmer）唯一的自觉愿望。显然，胎记实际上不是问题，而是控制他的借口。
根据弗洛伊德式的位移概念，欲望的转移证明了艾尔默尔并不是完美的自己。也许是因为他的科学失败或缺乏男性气概。例如，霍桑在描述佐治亚娜对丈夫的工作的观察时写道，与阿里默的思想观念相比，佐治亚娜“不能不说他最辉煌的成就几乎总是失败”（393）。
尽管佐治亚娜是一个理性而睿智的女人，但她的辩护和担忧无法改变艾尔默的想法。实际上，佐治亚州的垃圾只会激发Alymer的心理防御力，对佐治亚州大喊：“你不相信你的丈夫吗？”（霍桑394）。性别偏见严重。佐治亚娜（Georgiana）试图暗示Alymer该商标与她的生活息息相关，但Alymer固执己见，并一直在抱怨胎记有多可怕，却没有告诉她删除该胎记的危险和风险。最后，佐治亚娜（Georgiana）对爱丽丝（Alymer）的热爱和对不幸福婚姻的恐惧使她服从丈夫为消除商标而进行的持续考验和表演。即使付出的代价是她自己的死亡，佐治亚娜也表现出宽慰和幸福，因为消除了胎记并且丈夫的愿望得到满足（霍桑395）。乔治亚娜（Georgiana）的悲剧之所以发生，还因为艾尔默（Aylmer）失败时没有一点内感，而他的自负和执着精神压倒了他的内mind感和理性思维。艾尔默（Aylmer）不可避免地无法摆脱对佐治亚州（Georgiana）胎记的病态痴迷，导致他近乎完美的生活死亡。
And later, his so-said belief in science to be able to cure the flaw on Georgiana’s face is the vivid evidence that Aylmer tends to use emotional displacement. Aylmer said to Georgiana that when the birthmark does not arise the men’s interest and admiration, it belongs to the category of flaws and needs to be gone as the ‘masculine observers’ want so that the women receive their ideal loveliness (Hawthorne 387). However, no other men have ever campaigned about Georgiana’s mark. On the contrary, they found it so attractive. Aylmer’s fear of lacking masculine dominance in the marriage leads to his deep obsession of the removal of one flaw on Georgiana’s face. Pursuing ultimate control over his wife becomes Aylmer’s sole conscious desire. It is clear that the birthmark is actually not the problem, but an excuse for his control.
Based on the Freudian concept of displacement, the transfer of desire proves that Aylmer is not perfect himself. Maybe it is because of his failure in science, or his lack of masculinity. For example, when describing Georgiana’s observation on her husband’s work, Hawthorne wrote that comparing to what Alymer has accomplished in terms of his thoughts and ideas, Georgiana ‘could not but observe that his most splendid successes were almost invariably failures’ (393).
Even though Georgiana is a rational and wise woman, her defense and concerns cannot change Aylmer’s mind. In fact, Georgiana’s refuse only activated Alymer’s psychological defense, screaming at Georgiana, ‘have you no trust in your husband?’ (Hawthorne 394). The gender bias is severe. Georgiana tries to hint Alymer that this mark is connected to her life, but Alymer is stubborn and keeps complaining about how awful the birthmark is without telling her the danger and risk of removing it. Finally, Georgiana’s love for Alymer and fear of an unhappy marriage make her submissive to the husband’s continuous tests and performances to remove the mark. Even the cost is her own death, Georgiana also shows relief and happiness because the birthmark is removed and her husband’s desire is pleased (Hawthorne 395). The tragedy of Georgiana happens also because Aylmer didn’t feel a little bit guilty when he failed and his ego and obsession overpowered his feeling of guilt and rational mind. Unavoidably, Aylmer’s inability to get rid of the sick obsession with Georgiana’s birthmark led to the death of his near perfect life.
性别偏见在现代社会中甚至很普遍。有多少人想扮演“上帝”并完善自然的事物？有多少女性接受了整容手术，使自己看起来更漂亮？仍然有大量的女性渴望顺从并取悦男性。从这本小说《胎记》中学到的知识，女性有必要理性地以自己的思想行事，而不是试图取悦男性，因为女性不需要回应男性的可笑欲望。另外，当爱或所谓的欲望变得沉迷时，这是危险的。艾尔默（Aylmer）对科学，宗教和乔治亚娜（Georgiana）胎记的完美痴迷使他对妻子的爱无法抗拒。很难区分他与妻子共度时光的目的是为了爱，还是为了观察和实验，最终杀死了她。
我们看不到霍桑故事的真正结局。艾尔默对妻子的去世有何反应？他最终是否会从错误中学习？但是，霍桑的小说不仅是在给我们讲故事，而且还通过描述自恋和痴迷的邪恶心脏以及人类试图用科学方法控制自然的可怕后果来教给我们一个教训。
Gender bias is even common in modern society. How many people want to act as “God” and perfect things that nature? How many women go through cosmetic surgery to make themselves seem more beautiful to man? There are still a large number of women having the desires to be submissive and please men. Learning from this novel ‘The Birthmark,’ it is necessary for women to act rationally with their own thoughts and not try to please man as it is not required for woman to respond to men’s ludicrous desire. In addition, when love or so-called desire becomes an obsession, it is dangerous. Aylmer’s sick obsession with science, religion, and perfection of Georgiana’s birthmark overpower the love to his wife. It is hard to distinguish that the purpose of him spending time with his wife is for love or just for his observation and experiment, which in the end kills her.
We don’t see the actual end of Hawthorne’s story. How does Aylmer react to his wife's death? Does he finally learn from his mistake? However, Hawthorne’s novel is not only to tell us a story, but also teach us a lesson by describing an evil heart of narcissism and obsession, as well as the awful consequences when man tries to control nature using the methods of science.
Works Cited
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “The Birthmark.” The Norton Introduction to Literature (Shorter 13th Edition). Ed. Mays, Kelly J. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. 2016. Print.
Tyson, P., and R. L. Tyson. "Narcissism and Superego Development." Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association 32.1(1984):75-98.
