Rappaccini's Daughter Research Paper

As someone who is appreciative of science and technology as well as the arts, I find myself conflicted regarding the changes throughout history. Although the literary aspect may have taken a hit while the science and technology aspect grew and changed, it was very necessary to be where we are today. If you take a step back and separate the two, I believe there is room for all to thrive. Understanding and growing is never a bad thing. Over time, humans began to understand science and technology, and it began to affect the arts, literature, and the air that we breathe. Writers began using their pieces to express how that was so, and their feelings on such. Throughout history, the world of art and literature was affected negatively due to creativity

nature. Rappacini has created a garden containing poisonous and un-naturally occurring plants as well as his poisonous daughter; through these experiments he has tampered with nature with no compassion or respect for it using science, and the story goes on to reveal the consequences of the two worlds colliding. He would hurt those closest to him, even if it meant ending a life to obtain knowledge on the matter (Hawthorne 410). Rappaccini was playing God, and using science to do so. This can be seen in the modern world; for example, using animals as test subjects for new cosmetic products or medical treatments. Hawthorne was very passionate about the arts and was using this work to convey the message of how damaging science can be to nature and the beauty that comes from the wilderness, also a symbol for creativity. Rappacini using his daughter as a science experiment, later leading to her death by the antidote because his poison consumed her, symbolizes Hawthorne’s fear and skepticism of the advancement of science and technology in his time period. Beatrice is the human embodiment of the direct consequences of the sick

This is one of many Americans’ views on scientific and technological advancements achieved, at times with no regard to the environment. Although it is dramatized in this short story, Hawthorne conveys an important message that should be taken to heart by its readers. As a member of the American Romantic movement, Edgar Allen Poe very much opposed the advancements of his time. In his piece, “Sonnet – To Science” Poe is not discrete in his views and criticism of the Industrial Revolution and the scientific advancements that came along with it. Within the first stanza, Poe directly addresses ‘science’, asking why it oppresses poets (Poe, Line 3). Without their imagination and creativity, what would poets do? Poe is emphasizing the idea that science enforces reality and the truth; neither of those things have any place in poetry. Simply put, poetry comes from the heart, mind, and soul. The entire concept of literature is based on being able to write what you please with no limits on expression and the method of doing so; this goes hand in hand with nature in that it is limitless and