Exploring the Ruin of Man in Rappaccini's Daughter
Who will redeem man from his evil tendencies and his fallen state? Nathaniel Hawthorne in "Rappaccini's Daughter" delves into the nature of man and reveals that the evil imaginations and machinations of man may eventually lead to his ruin.
"Rappaccini's Daughter" is a story set in the mid-nineteenth century in Padua, Italy, a country well known for its romantic stories and history. This period in time was marked by various scientific discoveries, especially in medicine. This boom led to extensive debates on science and religion. There was the argument of whether or not to let things happen naturally or to interfere with the processes of nature. It begins with a student, Giovanni Guasconti, who comes to the University of Padua to "pursue his studies" (Hawthorne 45) but falls in love with Beatrice, the daughter of a very famous botanist Dr. Rappaccini who cultivates a poisonous garden. Despite the fact that Giovanni Guasconti had "but a scanty supply of gold ducats in his pocket, he took lodgings in a high and gloomy chamber... [fit] to have been the palace of a Paduan noble" (Hawthorne 45). This been "the first time he was out of his native sphere,... [Giovanni] was unused to Padua and missed Naples and the cheerful sunshine of Southern Italy" (Hawthorne 46). Giovanni portrays the generation in search of knowledge. "Beneath his window [was] a garden [consisting] of a variety of plants which seemed to have been cultivated with exceeding care" (Hawthorne 46).
Strategically located in the center of the garden was "the ruin of a marble fountain...[whose] water continued to gush and sparkle into the sunbeams as cheerful as ever" (Hawthorne 46) just as "[Beatrice's] sp...
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There are stunning parallels between Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Rappaccini's Daughter" and the film The Truman Show in terms of character, action, and structure.
Mothers tend to take care of their sons more than their daughters. It is especially shown in this novel, between the Awful Grandmother and Inocencio. The relationship they have is strong because the Awful Grandmother was abandoned by her parents and when she got pregnant before being married by the Little Gran...
“Rappaccini’s Daughter” is a gothic tale written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1844. It was included in his collection of short stories called Mosses from an Old Manse. At this time he was forty years old and had been married to Sophia Peabody for two years. “Rappaccini’s Daughter” is considered to be one of the most timeless tales ever written. The tale starts off with a young man, Giovanni, who comes to Padua to pursue his studies at the University of Padua. He rents a room in a “high and gloomy chamber” above a magical and poisonous garden. The garden is run by an old mad scientist, Dr. Rappaccini, and his gorgeous daughter, Beatrice. Giovanni falls in love with Beatrice but is warned by Professor Baglioni to stay away from her because of her poisonous nature. Professor Baglioni gives Giovanni an antidote for Beatrice to rid her of her poisons. The tale ends tragically when the innocent Beatrice takes the antidote and falls to her death. Many readers see the story as an allegorical tale. Rappaccini’s garden allegorical to the Garden of Eden. It is important to note the characters as they symbolize Adam and Eve and God and Satan. Rappaccini is a scientist who studies the medicinal properties of plants. He plays God with the life of his daughter and with his “natural” creations. Giovanni is a young medical student who symbolizes Adam. Beatrice is the pure and innocent but poisonous daughter of Rappaccini. She symbolizes Eve. Professor Baglioni is a friend of Giovanni and the academic rival of Dr. Rappaccini. We see him as good and evil, and he symbolizes the Devil in the Garden of Eden. Lisabetta is Giovanni’s housekeeper, a kind elderly woman. It is also important to notice the shrub; the central shrub is symbolic because it represents the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The story studies many major themes, three of which will be examined in this essay: the drug as a double, romance as a drug, and nature versus science as a double in a context where the “creators” produce the pharmakon, the drug which is both poison and remedy. Romantic love also proves to be toxic, because of the confusion of the image of the beloved with the real person.
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Leavis, Q.D. “Hawthorne as Poet.” In Hawthorne – A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by A.N. Kaul. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966.
Hawthorne’s stories young goodman and rappaccini's daughter both compare to the biblical tale of the garden of eden. in the next few paragraphs you will see how they are alike.
In Rappaccini 's Daughter, it is full of symbols and symbolic allusions. Its setting is a fantastic garden filled with vegetation and poisonous flowers and in the center is a broken fountain. Hawthorne's focus is on Beatrice as she is seen by Giovanni. Hawthorne presents a trapped and poisonous Beatrice who needs a special kind of redemption. She is a prisoner in the garden and her body is full of poison.
The first images of the garden are seen through the exaggerated imagination of a young child. “” are as “ as flowers on Mars,” and cockscombs “ the deep red fringe of theater curtains.” Fr...
Lathrop, G. P., ed. "Hawthorne, Nathaniel." The Reader's Encyclopedia of American Literature. Binghamton, New York: Vail-Ballou, 1962. 439-40. Print.
Karen Leon Professor Cox ENG 201-N01 26 September 2017 Symbols in “Rappaccini’s Daughter” Symbolism is a very powerful literary tool that helps add meaning and emotion to a story. In "Rappaccini’s Daughter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the continuous use of symbolism becomes essential throughout the story as it carries Hawthorne’s dark essence. In the story, Dr. Rappaccini, a doctor who cultivates poisonous plants, uses his daughter, Beatrice, to poison a young man named Giovanni, whose window foresees their poisonous garden. Although, there are a number of symbols in "Rappaccini’s Daughter," most of them carry an evil representation.
1)Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “The Birthmark.” Sixth Edition The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Michael Meyers Ed. Boston/New York: Bedford/St. Martin 1996 p.306-16
In the Nathaniel Hawthorne tale, “Rappaccini’s Daughter,” we see and feel the solitude/isolation of the scientific-minded surgeon, Dr. Rappaccini, likewise that of his daughter, Beatrice, and finally that of the main character, Giovanni. Is this solitude not a reflection of the very life of the author?
Delamotte, Eugenia C. reprinted in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism Vol. 37. Ed. Paula Kepos. Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1991.
Dr. Rappaccini is obsessed with science and what the manipulation of nature can do for people. He is overprotective of Beatrice and thinks that he can provide the solution to all of her problems. Knowing the evils of the world as a young man, Rappaccini decides to take control over Beatrice's life and make sure no one can ever hurt his beloved daughter. By filling Beatrice up with poison, Rappaccini succeeds in keeping Beatrice from any evil; but at what price? Beatrice is free from any evil touching her, but she is also isolated from any good that may come to her.
One of the most closely watched and widely debated conflict of our time is the one occurring In Northern Ireland. It has been a hot debate for over a century now, yet the root of the conflict is still unclear. There have been many theories over time, yet none have been able to adequately describe what is really happening on the matter. This conflict is divided by many lines; ethnically between the Irish and the British, and religiously by the Catholics and Protestant denominations.