The Birth-Mark - Plot Summary

Plot Summary

Aylmer is a brilliant scientist and philosopher who has abandoned his career and experiments to marry the beautiful Georgiana, who is physically perfect except for a small red birthmark in the shape of a hand on her cheek.

As the story continues, Aylmer becomes obsessed with the birth mark on Georgiana's cheek. One night, he dreams of cutting the birth mark out of his wife's cheek and then continuing all the way to her heart. He does not remember this dream until Georgiana inquires about what his sleep-talking meant. When Aylmer remembers the details of his dream, Georgiana declares that she would risk her life having the birth mark removed from her cheek rather than continue to endure Aylmer's horror.

The next day, Aylmer takes Georgiana to the apartments he keeps as a laboratory. He glances at Georgiana and cannot help but shudder violently; the shock causes her to faint. When she awakens, he treats her very well and comforts her with his magical creations. Yet when he attempts to take a portrait of her, the image is blurred save for her birth mark. He then experiments some more and describes the successes to her. As he questions how she is feeling, Georgiana begins to suspect that Aylmer has been experimenting on her the entire time without her knowledge. She is caught spying on him in the laboratory, and they argue briefly. Georgiana then agrees to drink the potion Aylmer has concocted for her despite his warning that it will be dangerous to do so. Soon after, he brings her the potion and proves it effective by rejuvenating a nearby plant with but a few drops. She drinks it willingly and promptly falls asleep. Aylmer watches the birthmark fade little by little. Once it is nearly gone, Georgiana wakes and is pleased to see the results. Yet she soon tells her husband that she is dying; once the birth mark fades completely, Georgiana dies.