Rappaccini's Daughter Symbolism Essay

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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. The purple plant in the garden, the fountain, and Beatrice herself become symbols of something so pure that has been taken over by evil. …show more content…

The color purple tends to represent something royal and powerful. However, as the color purple can symbolize such powerful traits, it can also represent nobility and wisdom. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the purple flower to the plant's advantage, because he uses its beauty to lie to Beatrice and to attract Giovanni into the garden. At the sight of the plant, Giovanni described it as a "bore of profusion of purple blossoms, each of which had the lustre and richness of a gem" (Hawthorne 2656). The purple color in the plant can also be seen as a representation of a mixture of chemicals in an experiment. The 'mixtures' in "Rappaccini’s Daughter" could be the combination of good and bad in a

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