Rappuccini's Daughter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

In “Rappaccini’s Daughter,” a tale written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1844, many conflicts, both thematically and characteristically, take place and help to illustrate Hawthorne’s gothic and epic themes. Conflicts between modern science and morality, good and evil, and inherent human faulty are all made evident. Four main characters are presented as vessels for Hawthorne’s grand scheme: Giacomo Rappaccini, Professor Baglioni, Giovanni Guasconti, and Beatrice.

Doctor Giacomo Rappaccini is a brilliant scientist, focusing mostly in the botanical sciences. Upon his first introduction into the story, no evidence of an antagonistic role is made palpable. However, this is all but far from the case. Rappaccini has made what appears to be “the garden of Eden.” A botanical garden at his estate, it houses dozens of glorious flower breeds and varieties. He spends most all of his time either in the garden or doing other scientific experiments. As the deception of appearances is made clearer, we start to realize the true nature and role of this character in the story. As Hawthorne states regarding Rappaccini in his garden:

“. . .in spite of the deep intelligence on his part, there was no approach to intimacy between himself and these vegetable existences. On the contrary, he avoided their actual touch, or the direct inhaling of their odors, with a caution that impressed Giovanni most disagreeably; for the man's demeanor was that of one walking among malignant influences, such as savage beasts, or deadly snakes, or evil spirits, which, should he allow them one moment of license, would wreak upon him some terrible fatality. It was strangely frightful to the young man's imagination, to see this air of insecurity in a person cultivating a garden, that most simple and innocent of human toils, and which had been alike the joy and labor of the unfallen parents of the race. Was this garden, then, the Eden of the present world?--and this man, with such a perception of harm in what his own hands caused to grow, was he the Adam?” (p. 649-650)

Upon this statement, the conflict of his attempt at playing the role of God and of science versus nature is presented. Rappaccini is a man completely diluted by his own intellect.