The use of Symbolism in Rappaccini’s Daughter
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s work is unique. His writings are full of subtle imagination, analysis, and poetic wording. His short stories are known for their originality and for their ability to provoke the reader’s thoughts. Although a large portion of his stories are allegories, Hawthorne’s preference is to draw more heavily on symbolism (Pennell 13). His use of symbols adds depth to his stories and helps to reveal different aspects of his characters. In Rappaccini’s Daughter, Hawthorne uses symbolism to create a modern day tale of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
There are two settings for this story. The first and main setting is an eye appealing garden next to Giovanni Guasconti’s room which is located in Padua, Italy. This garden is used in this story as a symbol for the Garden of Eden. The garden is described by Hawthorne in such a way that the reader can almost picture a garden that is alive with vibrant colors and an array of flowering plants and shrubs. There are a variety of types of plants and herbs growing in the garden. Some of the plants are vines, some are growing in decorative urns, and some have grown wild until they were wrapped around statues (2217). The entire garden was “veiled and shrouded in a drapery of hanging foliage” (2217). The plants in the garden “seemed fierce, passionate, and even unnatural” to Giovanni (2225). Some of the plants in the garden “crept serpent-like along
the ground” (2217). In the middle of the garden is a marble fountain. While it is in ruins, it is “sculptured with rare art” (2217). The fountain continues to flow and provide water for the plants of the garden. This fountain is comparable to the tree of life and the river that waters the Garden of Eden (Norford). Giovanni associates this fountain as an “immortal spirit” (2217). The shrub with the purple flowers that is growing at the base of the fountain can be equated to the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden (Norford 179). Within both gardens, the fall of man takes place. In Eden, it is the fall of...
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...od created Eve as a mate for Adam so that he would not have to be alone. Rappaccini feels he has given Beatrice and Giovanni a marvelous gift. He is proud of the fact that he has given Beatrice and Giovanni the power to keep the outside world away (Kloeckner 335). Similarly, God gave Adam and Eve the wonderful gift of everlasting
life. Throughout the story, Hawthorne shows a pronounced respect for Rappaccini’s intelligence.
In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve lost their innocence and their purity when they did not listen to God. When they ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil they disobeyed God. This was a direct result of pride. In Rappaccini’s Daughter, innocence and purity are taken from Beatrice by the conflict between Dr. Rappaccini and his adversary Professor Baglioni. Innocence is lost for Giovanni through his involvement in Beatrice’s death (Pennell 61).
On the surface, a beautiful, poisonous girl and a preacher shadowed by a black veil share no similar characteristics. However, in the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne, these characters share two remarkably comparable stories. The Minister’s Black Veil and Rappaccini's Daughter both share the symbolic use of colors, yet the characters’ relation to the outside world deviates. Hawthorne expertly contrasts colors to illustrate the battle of good against evil. In The Minister’s Black Veil, Mr. Hooper’s black veil contrasts sharply against the pale-faced congregation, just as Beatrice’s likeness to the purple flowers, described as being able to, “...illuminate the garden,” contrasts the darkness of Dr Rappaccini’s black clothing. These clashes of colors
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.
Question 1: In what way is the novel an allegory of The Garden of Eden?
The valley is described as a “desolate” place where “ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills into grotesque gardens”. (21) Ashes that dominate the area take the shape of natural greenery. The term “grotesque gardens” uses alliteration, with juxtaposition; to highlight the odd pairing of ashes and greenery. Ashes are associated with death while ridges and “gardens” represent the potential to flourish and grow in the promise and ideal of equality as in “the trees that had made way for Gatsby’s house, had once pandered in whispers to the last and greatest of all human dreams.” (143) The trees that once stood here were able to speak to man’s dreams, which allude to America, the land able to speak to man’s dreams and capacity for wonder. All this is replaced by grey ash that suffocates the inhabitants, restricting them to their social class. This presents a bleak image of hopelessness that surrounds the valley.
“The Tell-Tale Heart is one of Edgar Allan Poe’s greatest fictional short stories. It is known for its repulsive and insane homicide; a very wild and thrilling tale. Likewise, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s well-known novel, The Scarlet Letter, is famous for its directness on sexual conflict. Both writings possess similarities with regards to modified characters, connected symbolism, and significant midpoints. Due to these comparisons, it is quite certain that Hawthorne found inspiration in writing The Scarlet Letter after reading “The Tell Tale-Heart”.
Golding illustrates mankind’s essential illness when the boy’s pillage the once beautiful Garden of Eden and render it a perverted Eden. When the boy’s first crash on the island, Golding describes it as enchanting, full of beautiful waters and tress that cover the skyline. Golding illustrates the enchanting beauty of the island when he depicts, “ This was filled with a blue flower, a rock plant of some sort, and the overflow hung down the vent and spilled lavishly among the canopy of the forest. The air was thick with butterflies, lifting, fluttering, settling” (Golding 28). Clearly, before the evils of mankind disturb the island, it is quite beautiful. However, this charming landscape does not last forever, as the boys light half the island on fire when they try to make a signal fire. Golding conveys the children are destroying the once beautiful island and turning it int...
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.
Throughout his novel, The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne reveals character through the use of imagery and metaphor.
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.
In Paradise Lost, one of the differences God is aware of the betrayal his creations unlike Frankenstein. There is a point where Adam desires a companion to share the world with, thus God creates Eve from one of Adam’s ribs. He is in a predicament now, due to there are now two beings to love now, but who deserves the more affection. He “can neither love himself adequately nor love Eve as himself unless have love God adequately – and so make his love for Eve, the unity of their shared self, an expression of that higher love” (Gross 95). This scene displays one of Adam’s limitations of his free will. Thus creating her in being the submissive which eventually became her downfall, Adam’s and the rest of humanity. Eve is flawed, she has the inclination of self-love, a quality she should not be capable of possessing or acting upon. The only love that she should be expressing is her love for Adam in a way also loving God. This becomes their weakness. Satan learns about this weakness and exploits it as his advantage to enact his scheme. He influences a susceptible Eve, by coercing her into eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge. He claims to Eve about the fruit “By the fruit? It gives you life To knowledge by the threat’ner? Look on me, Me, who have touched and tasted; yet both live” (Book 9 l. 686-688). Satan is able to persuade them to consume the fruit that provides them
In order to grasp the allegory Hawthorne communicated so skillfully, the story needs to be considered in a way that recognizes the blending of its historical background and its relationship to religious symbolism within that perspective.
The lure of the exotic, an aspect of Romanticism, is present in Giovanni’s character. The author describes the flowers oddly by saying they were not indigenous to Italy, comparing them to other things such as snakes, and stating that they looked colorful and beautiful (Hawthorne). The flowers, based on this description, clearly attract attention because they are different. Next, Hawthorne writes, “He paused--hesitated--turned half about--but again went on.” During this part of the story, someone tells Giovanni about a secret entrance to Rappaccini’s abundant garden. Giovanni, wanting to run in...
He said the garden was untamed flowers, happiness, rightness, and the people were beautiful and kind. This also leads to the promise of the garden of Eden. The garden of Eden from the Bible is a beautiful garden home to every tree, flowers, animals, and freshwater. “I put my little hands fearlessly on their soft fur and caressed their round ears and the sensitive corners under their ears and played with
In the Garden of Love Blake talks about how the green, the place of childhood play has been corrupted by a repressive religious morality. Blake describes the Garden as being ‘filled with graves and tombstones’, this confirms his criticism of restrictive conventional morality. Contrary to the view that pleasure leads to corruption, Blake believed that it was the suppression of desire, not the enactment of it that produced negative effects. Blake hated organised religion, and the Garden of Love explores some of the restrictions he saw and det...