![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
“The Birthmark” is a tale of alchemy, and the colours in the story have alchemical importance which imbue the story with deeper meaning. Alchemy is the framework for the story, and the alchemical symbolism of colour is used both allegorically and as foreshadowing.
The seminal work Turba Philosophorum says, “Know, all ye seekers after this Art, that unless ye whiten, ye cannot make red, because the two natures are nothing other than red and white. Whiten, therefore, the red, and redden the white” (1)! This reddening process is called rubedo. Each time Georgiana's birthmark grows crimson, she experiences rubedo. The whitening process is called albedo, and Aylmer utilizes it to remove the birthmark. It also marks his attempt at a Magnum Opus.
Red and white are critical colours with several connotations. Red is associated with maleness, and white with femaleness (2). Aylmer perceives female purity marred by male attributes. However, red is the ultimate colour in the creation of the Philosopher's Stone, alchemy's Magnum Opus (3). This is the elixir of life. Red symbolizes “the total fusion of spirit and matter” (1), and herein lies the irony in Aylmer's experiment. Through albedo, he destroys the elusive Philosopher's Stone. He thinks he creates the Magnum Opus, but instead, he separates Georgiana's spirit from her matter, and renders inert the elixir of life.
Classical writings warn of this. Red also means gold and the Sun. Its removal is fatal. The Hermetic Arcanum says, “For it is impossible that Sol's Tincture can at all be severed from his natural body, since there can be no elementary body made up by nature more perfect than gold” (4).
From these examples, colour, married with alchemy, demonstrate the rich elements of “The Birthmark.” The colourful imagery endows the story with a framework, allegory, and foreshadowing.
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubedo
2. http://www.levity.com/alchemy/humburg.html
3. http://www.alchemywebsite.com/paracel2.html
4. http://www.alchemywebsite.com/harcanum.html
The seminal work Turba Philosophorum says, “Know, all ye seekers after this Art, that unless ye whiten, ye cannot make red, because the two natures are nothing other than red and white. Whiten, therefore, the red, and redden the white” (1)! This reddening process is called rubedo. Each time Georgiana's birthmark grows crimson, she experiences rubedo. The whitening process is called albedo, and Aylmer utilizes it to remove the birthmark. It also marks his attempt at a Magnum Opus.
Red and white are critical colours with several connotations. Red is associated with maleness, and white with femaleness (2). Aylmer perceives female purity marred by male attributes. However, red is the ultimate colour in the creation of the Philosopher's Stone, alchemy's Magnum Opus (3). This is the elixir of life. Red symbolizes “the total fusion of spirit and matter” (1), and herein lies the irony in Aylmer's experiment. Through albedo, he destroys the elusive Philosopher's Stone. He thinks he creates the Magnum Opus, but instead, he separates Georgiana's spirit from her matter, and renders inert the elixir of life.
Classical writings warn of this. Red also means gold and the Sun. Its removal is fatal. The Hermetic Arcanum says, “For it is impossible that Sol's Tincture can at all be severed from his natural body, since there can be no elementary body made up by nature more perfect than gold” (4).
From these examples, colour, married with alchemy, demonstrate the rich elements of “The Birthmark.” The colourful imagery endows the story with a framework, allegory, and foreshadowing.
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubedo
2. http://www.levity.com/alchemy/humburg.html
3. http://www.alchemywebsite.com/paracel2.html
4. http://www.alchemywebsite.com/harcanum.html
