Resolution

The resolution to the story begins with Beatrice consuming the antidote. Beatrice had a premonition that the antidote would kill her and those like her who are the embodiment of poison and thus told Giovanni, “I will drink—but do thou await the result” (Hawthorne 15). Her decision to test out the antidote and thereby sacrificing herself shows that she still indeed loves Giovanni and further confirms her to be pure of soul. Death is the only way that Beatrice could ever achieve peace and happiness and is thus the proper resolution to this story. By going to Heaven, the “evil…will pass away like a dream” and Giovanni’s “words of hate…will fall away as [she] ascends” (Hawthorne 15). Concurrent with Romanticism’s portrayal of God as a benevolent, yet still just, being, God and Heaven will wipe away our past mortal sorrows.
Also in the resolution, the scientists are revealed to be dualistic in character. Throughout the story, Rappaccini is been portrayed as emotionally and ethically detatched, but in the resolution he is depicted as being sympathetic of his daughter’s loneliness. That is why he transformed Giovanni as well, to provide her a companion to fill the void. With Baglioni, who is depicted as jovial and a good friend in the story, is now revealed to be a manipulator, just like his rival Rappaccini, intending to sabotage Rappaccini’s experiment. Thus both men are neither good or bad but a mix of the two.