Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The study of Gothic literature
The study of Gothic literature
Rappaccini's daughter analysis
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The study of Gothic literature
“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.
Literary devices are used by Sandra Cisneros throughout the vignette “The Monkey Garden”, to highlight the mood of the piece. For instance, Cisneros uses symbolism to encompass feelings of mysticality when she describes the Monkey Garden as a place the kids can go too “far from where our mothers could find us.”(95). The garden is symbolized as a haven, that can seemingly alleviate the characters problems. Cisneros also uses juxtaposition to further develop mystical emotions the in the audience. When the author compares two objects like “a dollar and a dead mouse.” (95), she is juxtaposing two inherently disconnected objects to emphasise the range of feelings in the garden. By using literary devices to establish the mood, Sandra Cisneros can
The Psychology Dictionary defines loneliness as “a sometimes long lasting feeling having no alternative to turn to in times of distress and depression. Generally classes as a period of heightened cognitive discomfort and uneasiness from being oneself“ (Psychology Dictionary1). Nathaniel Hawthorne’s works such as “Rappaccini's Daughter,”“Ethan Brand,” and “Young Goodman Brown” have characters, that embody the definition of loneliness. It is clear these short stories have lonely characters that have hit rock bottom. Not only are the characters in these stories lonely, but they are insane as well. In each of short stories, Hawthorne shows that the state of being lonely causes the characters to become insane.
Humanity is defined as the quality of being humane. This is something that people struggle with on a day to day basis. Hawthorne shows these struggles through his characters. Giovanni, the main character in “Rappaccini's Daughter”, shows this through being shallow in his love for Beatrice. Throughout their relationship, Giovanni faces the reality that there is something wrong with Beatrice. He begins to have suspicions that she is poisonous like the flowers in the garden, and this begins to taint the love he has for her: “At such times, he was startled at the horrible suspicions that rose, monster-like, out of the caverns of his heart, and stared him in the face; his love grew thin and faint as the morning-mist; his doubts alone had substance” (1346). Ultimately, Giovanni is left to grieve the death of Beatrice because he did not trust Beatrice, and allows doubt to overcome him. Other literary critics have found this to be truth as well, such as the literary critique on “Rappaccini's Daughter”. Katherine Snipes, the author of Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition, writes, “Giovanni falls from grace not entirely through the machinations of a satanic scientist. ...He falls not because of Beatrice's evil nature, but because of his own shallow capac...
Stallman, Laura. Survey of Criticism of 'Rappaccini's Daughter' by Nathaniel Hawthorne {with class response and discussion}. 29 Many 2000 <http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/eng372/rappcrit.htm>.
In many sit coms, movies, tv shows characters go down a downwards and upwards spiral in the garden motif. The garden motif is the concept that your mind is the gardener, and your soul is the garden, everyone has the choice to either water or tend to themselves, and therefore grow or neglect themselves. In the play Othello, we see this motif develop and originate from the villain Iago. After losing his dream job, he starts to use the garden motif to his advantage. He uses the garden motif to manipulate others to reach his own selfish desires. The garden motif helps develop characters into who they are and who they will be. Iago is the only character who seems to be educated about the motif. This is how he uses it to his advantage, thinking that he must take charge of his own life and tend to his garden. Without this, the characters may choose a different route with different opinions, changing the story.
Lorenzo de Ponte’s libretto provides the main character traits of Don Giovanni , Leporello , and The Commendatore. It gives an easy way of distinguishing between the characters. Don Giovanni is portrayed as being smart , charming , and brave , yet selfish , arrogant , womanizing , and pompous. We see all of these traits in the final dinner scene. These opposing traits set up a love hate relationship of Don Giovanni.
Rappaccini's Daughter was first published in December 1844 in the United States Magazine and Democratic Review under Hawthorne's own name. Before the story was even published Julian Hawthorne read the unfinished manuscript to his wife and she asked how it was going to end. Hawthorne was not quite sure how he was going to let the story end. It has been said that Beatrice's dilemma may have been a reflection of Sophia's (Hawthorne's wife) sheltered years when she was younger at home with her mother. While Giovanni's failure to save Beatrice or himself is a tragic reversal of Nathaniel's and Sophia's happiness together (Newman 258).
In Nathaniel Hawthorne's “Young Goodman Brown”, he recreates a time most recalled of the Puritans: the Salem witch trials. He includes multiple historical names associated with the trial, some of them even of his own ancestry. These historical facts are important to his story because it builds a sense of apprehension, doubt and superstition in the reader, while containing tangible connections to reality. It also allows contemporary readers to examine the issues and see the repercussions of such a belief system and the impact it can and did have.
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the guilt bestowed upon two passionate lovers committing adultery reveals the corrupt and over-radical beliefs of a strict Puritanical society. Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale face life-changing consequences after submitting to their emotions and committing sin. The narrator’s forgiving tone presents the society as being very strict in living by their social and religious codes. The administrative, or authoritarian, imagery conjured up by various scenarios with the scaffold, magistrates, and the mayor in hid castle supports the tense mood as Hester and Dimmesdale try to mysteriously elude the laws of their community. Hawthorne employs allegory to the names of many characters in the novel to suggest their vulnerable personalities as they, in many cases, become shaped by the Puritanical views. Most importantly, the abundance of symbolism, such as the scarlet letter “A” itself, hammers home the effects of the Puritanical moral values on the characters in the novel.
Two boys stare at an unfamiliar girl sitting by herself and whisper, “She must be new,” to each other. They walk over to her, wanting to know about her, and ask her where she is from. The human tendency of wanting to know about the unknown is an idea writers such as Nathaniel Hawthorne use in their works. Hawthorne uses the style of Romanticism, which was most prominent during the early nineteenth century and includes specific traits such as devotion to nature, feelings of passion, and the lure of the exotic. It also emphasizes traits including the idea of solitary life rather than life in society, the reliance on the imagination, and the appreciation of spontaneity. “Rappaccini’s Daughter” by Hawthorne is about Doctor Rappaccini's garden and daughter Beatrice who live in Italy. A man named Giovanni living near the garden falls in love with Beatrice, but Beatrice is infused with poison and unintentionally kills living things that touch or go near her. “Rappaccini’s Daughter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a work of Romanticism because it includes Giovanni’s lure to the exotic, solitary life as a theme, and appreciation of nature in descriptions.
attempting to make Giovanni immune to the poison of the plant, so they could be
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?
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.
When women are kept in their classical role of mother and caretaker, all is well and their lives are simple. Children relate positively to their mothers in this typical setting; while Dantés was in prison, during a time of distress, he remembered something his mother had done for him. For example, Dumas writes, “He remembered the prayers his mother had taught him and found meanings in them which he had formerly been unaware.” (41). Mothers teach their children to the best of their ability, evidenced in Dantés, as well as when Caderousse says Mercédès is instructing her son, Albert. It is in these moments that a mother’s love, compassion, and necessity are revealed. Lives are calm and enriched as long as women are in their niche. This includes non-maternal nurturing roles, for example, Mercédès attentiveness to Dantés father and Valentine’s special ability to care for Nortier. This loyalty is valued and shown as essential for the stability of life. Though The Count of Monte Cristo depicted women as best suited to the home, they intermittently stepped further out of that r...
The Scarlet Letter is a blend of realism, symbolism, and allegory. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses historical settings for this fictional novel and even gives historical background information for the inspiration of the story of Hester Prynne in the introduction of The Scarlet Letter, ‘The Custom-House’. The psychological exploration of the characters and the author’s use of realistic dialogue only add to the realism of the novel. The most obvious symbol of the novel is the actual scarlet letter ‘A’ that Hester wears on her chest every day, but Hawthorne also uses Hester’s daughter Pearl and their surroundings as symbols as well. Allegory is present as well in The Scarlet Letter and is created through the character types of several characters in the novel.