Rappaccini's Daughter Essay

In the nineteenth century, growing industrialization led people to impersonal, greedy, and selfish lives. As a reaction against this situation, romanticism emerged; this artistic movement offered people the place away from the corrupted society. During this era, people favored untamed nature instead of unscrupulous society. Upon a people’s encounter with Romanticism, they enjoyed an enthusiastic burst of feelings. This era is characterized by not only an outpouring of emotions but also themes of imagination, fantasy, emotion, nature, superstition, individuality, mystery and the supernatural. Among them, nature, imagination, and superstition theme were the most beloved theme during this period, particularly demonstrated by give stories of The Most Sublime Spectacle on Earth, Nature, The Fall of the House of Usher, and The Devil and Tom Walker.

The Romantic era began in 1770, with its peak being from 1800 to 1850. With emphasis on the imagination and emotion, Romanticism emerged as a result of the Enlightenment period, which heavily placed values upon reason and order. Thus, Romanticism depends heavily on “the practical accomplishments of the prior un-Romantic era— a relationship between material wealth and scientific knowledge on one hand, and personal, spiritual, or emotional transcendence on the other, that twenty-first century Americans continue to manage.” The simplest explanation for what is Romantic is “‘anything but the here and now’ or whatever is not realistic” (“Romanticism”). The

Romanticism is an intellectual, spiritual, and literary movement that begins at the start of the nineteenth century and concludes at the beginning of the twentieth century. Of the many characteristics that are associated with Romanticism, the characteristics that are most evident in literature from this period are the characteristics of individuality and imagination. The author Edgar Allen Poe exhibits these characteristics in his works “The Black Cat”, and the “The Raven”.

The authors of American Romanticism held a particular disdain for science, which they made visible through the aggressor characters in their short stories. Both aggressors wanted to do away with any imperfections in their environments, as they felt personally threatened by them. The younger man in The Tell-Tale Heart behaves in cold, calculated movements and dismembers the body of the old man like a butcher. In The Birth-Mark Aylmer, “a man of science,” uses science in order to create a concoction that will remove his wife’s birthmark. Of the potion Aylmer declares, “Unless all science have deceived me, it cannot fail,” (Hawthorne 428). The aggressors are severely flawed characters, who act on deranged impulses, but attempt to justify their actions rationally and

Some of Hawthorne’s works are parallel in many aspects as in “The Birthmark” and “Rappaccinis Daughter” with a common obsession of scientific beauty and manipulation, the death. Both men have the obsession of science where Aylmer wants to help mankind unlike Rappacini’s work to destroys mankind “Rappaccini “cares infinitely more for science than for mankind”” (Roy R. Male, 1954). Georgiana’s is manipulated with her self-esteem easily convince her of the birthmark’s discouragement to her beauty “Life is but a sad possession to those who have attained precisely the degree of moral advancement at which I stand. Were I weaker and blinder, it might be happiness” (Bunge, 1993 ) Rappacini merely manipulates Beatrice with lies. Georgiana is clear to see that for Aylmer to achieve perfection, it will cost her life “She attributes this self-destructive attitude to the inspiring influence of Aylmer’s high standards and urges him to continue his noble work, at any cost” (Bunge, 1993 ) Rappaccini’s payment was the loss of a child when Beatrice took her life; diminishing the

As singer-songwriter, Eric Burdon says, “Inside each of us, there is the seed of both good and evil. It's a constant struggle as to which one will win. And one cannot exist without the other.¨ Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Rappaccini's Daughter” is a short story about a young student called Giovanni who falls in love with a girl called Beatrice. Will Weaver’s “WWJD?” is about suzy who is a very religious sixteen year old girl. She is a transfer student to Riverfolk high school, she is often bullied by Eddie and his gang. Both pieces of literature share a lot of similarities and differences. One main theme that stands out between the two pieces is corruption.

Each man only saw what he wanted to see regarding Beatrice, and for Giovanni, it was most complex. Her father probably had good intentions when he caused his daughter to be poisonous. He did it as a means of protection, but this backfired, because the tendency of others to misunderstand Beatrice's complex makeup led them to unintentionally kill her. Each of the three men in Rappaccinni's Daughter wanted to mold Beatrice into something and each had his own idea of her identity, yet none of them looked at her subjectively. This is pointed out by Luedtke on page 188. "When he (Giovanni) was unable to bring Beatrice 'rigidly and systematically' within the realm of his own experience, and unwilling to risk a closer knowledge, Giovanni left the poison-damsel to die in her own pleasure-place." It is interesting to note Luedtke's use of the words "pleasure-place". This suggests that the poisonous garden was not the real problem or prison for Beatrice. An interesting point is revealed by Luedtke as he states, "The author makes a late attempt to intertwine her poison and her purity, but the demonic and the angelic continue to occupy their separate spheres, the former of the body, the latter of the soul. As Baglioni's antidote takes effect, eradicating the poison from Beatrice's system, her physical life is consumed. The soul might be innocent but it has no resting place."(181) If Beatrice's soul had no

As humans we all have obsessions to some extent, whether it is with a person or maybe a hobby. When does that obsession become too much? In the short story “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, it introduces Aylmer, a renowned scientist who is obsessed with removing a birthmark from his wife, Georgiana’s, left cheek. Aylmer is so steadfast on getting rid of Georgiana’s birthmark that he becomes evil and neglects his love for his wife. Although Georgiana’s birthmark is her one and only imperfection, Aylmer does not realize that the birthmark is the one thing that is keeping Georgiana alive until it is too late. Hawthorne implies in the text that Aylmer’s obsession with science becomes harmful when it becomes more important than his love for Georgiana. In this paper I

Fluids from one of the artificial blossoms dripped onto a colored reptile’s head, causing it to contort violently and pass away agonizingly. This imparts how science is able to devise potent materials capable of stripping organisms of their lives. A delicate winged insect was attracted by the heavy perfumes of the artificial flowers and was killed, suggesting that detrimental scientific discoveries can destroy innocence by luring unsuspecting individuals into its pitfall and annihilate them. The psychotic scientist, Giacomo Rappaccini, is described as a sickly, elderly man lacking warmth of hearth and wearing black clothing. This indicates that the process of making scientific improvements itself can be damaging to the scientist and can eliminate them of their morals, as black symbolizes evil which suits Rappaccini due to him seeking human test subjects. Once Beatrice realizes the enormity of the mischief imposed by Rappaccini, she promptly consumed the phial with the antidote and begins to fade away while having a desperate dialogue with Rappaccini and the main protagonist, Giovanni Guasconti. This implies that the disastrous effects of scientific advancement can have such a profound impact on an individual that he considers death or the potential of death as an alternative to escape the horrors of science. The startling descriptions of the negative aspects of

Hawthorne frequently uses words like "imagine", "seemed", or "appeared to " to cast a doubt upon the validity of what Giovanni thinks he sees. Even Giovanni himself rationalizes the situation and convinces himself that what he thought he saw did not happen. This is because in Giovanni's mind, it is impossible to separate the physical from the spiritual. For him, if Beatrice's body is poisonous, then so is her spirit. Giovanni is unable to see the possibilities for good and bad to be simultaneously within someone. This problem is at the heart of this story and is what ultimately causes Beatrice's death. Since Giovanni allows himself to disbelieve what he had seen earlier in the garden, he is able to fall for Beatrice. Giovanni is drawn to Beatrice not because of the "glamor" of science, but an interest in the unknown. He knows that all is not right in Rappaccini's garden and he is fascinated with the mystery. As Giovanni and Beatrice get to know each other, they develop a strong bond. However, for Giovanni this is not true love. Hawthorne provides the reader with clues that question the integrity of Giovanni. For example, Hawthorne writes, "Guasconti had not a deep heart or at all events, its depths are not sounded now-but he had a quick fancy, and an ardent southern temperament, which rose every instant to higher fever-pitch" (Hawthorne 614). Not only is Giovanni passionate in his lust for Beatrice, but he also

Nathaniel Hawthorne symbolizes the character ,Beatrice, as temptation in his novel, “Rappaccini's daughter”, through the viewpoint of Giovanni. This symbolism is evident from the start when he uses Giovanni’s view of ,“how much her beauty exceeded his recollection of it; so brilliant, so vivid in its character” to uncover the emotion of lust (Hawthorne 5). Giovanni is preemptively tempted by the beauty of Beatrice prior to their introduction to each other. By bringing forth the idea of Giovanni's lust for Beatrice early ,he introduces this ideology of temptation ,and allows himself to expand on it throughout the remainder. This temptation grows beyond belief in the text and eventually surmounts, “ to the pure and lovely daughter of Rappaccini

In calling love “a serious mental disease,” Plato inspired centuries of authors, doctors, and philosophers. Unlike romantic comedy movies and the Top 40 pop songs chart, which idolize love, literature frequently portrays it as a sickness. Both love and mental illness affect brain chemistry, mood, and behavior. In pieces such as Euripides’ Medea, symptoms of love range from mental illness-like ailments to physical manifestations such as a vanishing appetite, concentration, and apparent sanity. In Longus’ work, love is described as having similar traits. Throughout the story of Daphnis and Chloe’s pastoral romance, love drives both of them mad with longing. Love amplifies their innocent feelings for each other, resulting in a disorienting combination of depression and mania. The affliction goes deeper; their total devotion to each other and pastoral

“Metzengerstein” is a romantic short story written by Edgar Allen Poe. Romantic literature is characterized by romanticizing or idealizing the past, a respect for nature, or an emphasis on the supernatural. “Metzengerstein” exhibits characteristics of Romantic literature such as romanticization of the relationship between man and nature, both after death and during life, and an emphasis on the supernatural.

Nathaniel Hawthorne, an American novelist, whose works show a deep consciousness of the ethical problems of sin and punishment. In “Rappaccini’s Daughter," Hawthorne uses science and symbols to narrate the story of a student called Giovanni Guasconti, who falls in love with Beatrice. Beatrice is a beautiful and mysterious young woman whose touch and breath becomes poisonous by the experiments of her father, the scientist Giacomo Rappaccini, and is unable to be a normal young woman. Through a series of experiments, Hawthorne uses science to drive the entire story and show the boundaries of ethics and morals in science by the use of literary devices of mood and symbolism to create an association with the tale of Adam and Eve in the Garden of

“Rappaccini’s Daughter,” written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a short story about how beauty is within and not just physical. When Hawthorne was four years old his father was in an accident and died on the scene, leaving his mother to raise him and his siblings alone. Thus, leading him to have respect for all women, and it is reflected in the story. For instance, the main character Beatrice is this aesthetic, sweet, and a naïve woman and Giovanni is just focused more on her beauty rather than anything else. Moreover, when Giovanni first sees Beatrice in the garden, he describes her as the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen and is just blinded by her beauty. What he doesn’t know is that her father, Doctor Rappaccini, is a scientist who cares more about science more than anything else. The place where Beatrice and Giovanni spend all their time together is in the garden, which represents loneliness’, and unfortunately one of the main characters will learn that the hard way. When Giovanni meets Professor Baglioni, a professor of medicine—who is Rappaccini’s rival— he helps him get Beatrice, or at least that’s what Giovanni thinks. However, what Giovanni does not know is that “the love of his life” isn’t who he thinks she is.