58 pages • 1 hour read
Anatomy: A Love Story
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Symbols & Motifs
Hazel’s Disguise
Hazel’s disguise serves as a motif for the theme of ambition and opportunity. Hazel’s desire to become a surgeon goes against her society’s gender roles. As a young noblewoman, she is expected to become a dutiful wife and mother, not pursue a career. Disguising herself as a young man enables her to receive opportunities that her male peers enjoy. George’s death fuels Hazel’s ambitions of becoming a doctor and curing the illness that killed him. She uses his name and the clothes he left behind to attend Dr. Beecham’s lectures and access the education that will allow her to achieve her aims. Dressed in “George’s muslin shirts, a waistcoat, a jacket, and a pair of trousers” (98), Hazel looks the part of a gentleman. The disguise gives her the sense of security she needs to attend Beecham’s lectures, and she quickly rises to the top of the class.
However, Hazel’s disguise cannot shield her forever. Although she demonstrates more knowledge and skill than her male peers, Dr. Straine believes her gender makes it impossible for her to practice medicine and decides to bar her from the lectures. With this valuable educational opportunity closed to her, Hazel temporarily loses hope. Her despair is evident in her treatment of her disguise: “It was only when she was finally in her bedchamber, when she cast George’s clothes off and threw them across the room, that her sobs finally escaped her chest. She keeled over then, naked but for her chemise, and wept” (124). George’s clothes shield her for a time, but she becomes vulnerable once the truth is laid bare.
Eventually, Hazel decides that she doesn’t need to disguise herself to achieve her ambitions. On the day of the Royal Physician’s Exam, Hazel chooses not to wear her brother’s clothes. Weeks in advance, she selected “one of George’s best jackets for the occasion” (282). However, on the morning of the test, she opts to wear a dress with a blood red bodice and a high neckline. The bold color and the proud cut reflect the confidence she gains by treating patients over the course of the novel: “She wasn’t taking the examination as George Hazleton; she was taking it as Hazel Sinnett” (283). The motif of Hazel’s disguise develops the theme of ambition and opportunity and illustrates the protagonist’s character development.
Electricity
Electricity symbolizes the thrill of discovery. Initially, the aspiring surgeon associates this excitement with science. In Chapter 1, Hazel conducts an experiment with a dead frog, metal implements, and the electrical charge in the atmosphere: “She would breach the world between life and death, using electricity to reanimate flesh” (13). The success of the experiment fills her with a combination of joy, curiosity, and triumph. Much to Hazel’s surprise, the career-minded young woman experiences a similar rush of excitement the first time that she holds Jack’s hand: “It was Galvanism, Galvani’s electric shocks—there was no other way to describe it—a current of lightning that flowed from his hand through hers and directly into her pounding heart” (155). Hazel’s budding relationship with Jack thrills her in an emotional way that differs from the mental elation of her experiments. Near the end of the novel, Hazel experiences another epiphany. After spending much of the story going along with her family’s expectations for her future, she suddenly gains a new perspective and sense of agency after Jack’s arrest: “The change was astonishing—a spark in her brain, a miracle of fluids or electricity, and now her life felt completely different. For the first time in her seventeen years, her life was her own” (324). This “miracle of [...] electricity” inspires her to break off her engagement with Bernard and overcome her fear (324). The symbol of electricity illuminates Hazel’s emotions and agency during key moments of discovery throughout the novel.
Dr. Beecham’s Hands
Dr. Beecham’s hands are a motif for the theme of The Brutality of Corruption. Throughout the novel, he wears black leather gloves. Initially, the other characters assume that he does so out of a distaste for dirtying his hands. Dr. Straine alludes to Beecham’s gloves when he mockingly observes to his students, “‘As you may have already learned, Beecham is not one to get his hands dirty.’ Straine waggled one hand in the air and pantomimed putting on a glove” (117). The acclaimed surgeon delegates many unpleasant and even criminal tasks necessary for the completion of his work: He relies on resurrection men to provide cadavers, has Dr. Straine dissect bodies to instruct Beecham’s students, and relies on Jones and his colleagues to abduct involuntary donors for his procedures.
Near the end of the story, Hazel learns why Dr. Beecham conceals his hands. At her request, he removes his gloves, revealing that his fingers are “mottled and dead, ten fingers from ten different hands” (319). Like Victor Frankenstein’s creature, Dr. Beecham’s body is a composite of parts taken from many corpses. However, unlike Frankenstein’s creature, Beecham is a monster of his own making. Hazel is the only person Beecham allows to see his hands. She is also the only person besides his late wife with whom he offers to share his tonic. Although the novel’s antagonist succeeds in escaping death, he cuts himself off from life as well. His gloves are a constant barrier between himself and the rest of the world, and he refuses to show humanity or foster emotional attachments. Literally and figuratively, he is unable to touch anyone. Dr. Beecham’s hands reflect his corruption and its isolating consequences.
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