Examples Of Romanticism In The Birthmark

Dark Romanticism No matter where you look in the media, it seems there is always news about celebrities with their latest updates about their beauty and appearance. By publishing this media, companies are conveying to society what the “ideal image” is, and that changing your body by the means of plastic surgery and cosmetology will be the solution to sadness and self consciousness, making you live a better and happier life. A notorious example of this “ideal” image being portrayed in modern society is Heidi Montag, who arguably ruined herself by getting too much plastic surgery. In stark contrast, The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne presents a much different example of cosmetic change during the 1700s, and shows that the “ideal” image is not something from the modern world, but rather has been around for a long time. Dark romanticism, otherwise stated as the dark side of human nature that is caused by self obsession and vanity, plagues the world we live in by convincing people
Heidi Montag, who was a reality TV star, was naturally beautiful during the main part of her career. However, she wanted to change her body to fit in better in Hollywood, so she underwent ten plastic surgeries in a single day to transform her brows, ears, chin, nose, forehead, cheeks, legs, butt, stomach, and breasts. While recovering from her procedure, she almost died because of a dramatically decreased heart rate due to an overdose of Demerol. In the words of Heidi Montag, “We all want to feel attractive” (People Magazine). But just how far should people go to feel attractive? In my opinion, people should not change their appearance for the sake of looking more attractive, and “play God”. Also, the negative message Montag is showing people that they can be their own “creator” or “God,” and change themselves to fit the ideal image that is shown to them by the