The Phantasm of Perfectness of Video-Sharing Applications as Portrayed in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Birthmark

Anicleta Yuliastuti¹, Rommel Utungga Pasopati²

anicleta.yuliastuti@unitomo.ac.id¹ rommelpasopati@yahoo.com²

Dr. Soetomo University Surabaya¹

Dr. Soetomo University Surabaya²

Abstract

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Birthmark is a short story in which a husband is anxious about his wife’s appearance due to her birthmark on cheek. He makes a liquid to get rid of it so that she could be prettier. She drinks it and the birthmark is gone, but she died, as disappearing birthmark means fading of her life. The emergence of video-sharing applications such as TikTok and Snack Video shows perfectness of scenes and bodies performed by content makers and supported by viewers. Performers must exemplify perfect appearances and if they are unconfident, many visual effects may be chosen to improve their looks. The story and the applications reflect phantasm of perfectness; perfect but unreal. Then, how is phantasm of perfectness of sharing video applications portrayed in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Birthmark? By using qualitative method, written data, concepts, and theories are asserted to answer that question. In Hawthorne’s story and video-sharing applications, both demand faultless beyond reality of imperfections. The wife and the videos must be flawless for the viewers although those are never real at all. It blurs borders between reality and fantasy by accentuating demands from viewers. Imperfections must be transformed into perfectness, yet appearance may change but its essences stay in reality.

Keywords: Nathaniel Hawthorne, phantasm of perfectness, The Birthmark, Video-Sharing Applications