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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Genesis " The Bible"
Hawthorne, Nathaniel "The House of Seven Gables" (1851)
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Hawthorne, Nathaniel "The Marble Faun" (1859-60)
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Hawthorne, Nathaniel "Rappaccini's Daughter" "American Short Stories" (1820 to the present).
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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.
Lathrop, G. P., ed. "Hawthorne, Nathaniel." The Reader's Encyclopedia of American Literature. Binghamton, New York: Vail-Ballou, 1962. 439-40. Print.
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...
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 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.
Walker, Alice. (1974). “In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens.” Ways of Reading. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, pp. 694-701.
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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.
Nathaniel Hawthorne's Rappaccini's Daughter is perhaps the most complex and difficult of all Hawthornes short stories, but also the greatest. Nathaniel Hawthorne as a poet, has been characterized as a man of low emotional pressure who adopted throughout his entire life the role of an observer. He was always able to record what he felt with remarkable words but he lacked force and energy. Hawthorne's personal problem was his sense of isolation. He thought of isolation as the root of all evil. Therefore, he made evil the theme of many of his stories. Hawthorne's sense of the true human included intellectual freedom, passion and tenderness (Kaul 26).
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...
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story is a work of Romanticism. Giovanni exhibits the lure of the exotic especially in the descriptions and behaviors of the flowers. Also a theme of the story is solitary life rather than life in society. The descriptions of the flowers show an appreciation of nature. Gothic elements are present in the story; Beatrice is a mysterious character, but she provokes passionate feelings in Giovanni which is a Romantic trait. Beatrice and the flowers luring Giovanni is the same as the new girl sparking interest in the two boys, showing that Romanticism is a part of human nature.
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.