Exposition

The exposition of Rappaccini’s Daughter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, serves as an introduction of each critical character, as well as a description of the unique garden that comes to embody the rest of the story. Through the introduction, which gives way to the rising action during Giovanni’s initial conversation with Baglioni, the reader can find many incorporated Romantic themes.

To begin the story, the main character – Giovanni Guasconti – leaves the southern region of Italy in order to attend the University of Padua, immediately drawing connections to the Romantic Era and its belief in Independence. Italy is an ideal setting for a Romantic story, being the birthplace of the Renaissance. Romanticism stresses the emotions just like art. Shortly thereafter, Giovanni comes upon a palace with a garden, which captivates him. “Giovanni still found no better occupation than to look down into the garden beneath his window” (Hawthorne 1); despite clues and warnings from other characters that this garden is not something to be messed with, Giovanni’s wonder and curiosity of the place can’t be deterred. This relates to the Romantic theme of stressing imagination ahead of reason; there is little reason Giovanni should look into this garden, rather his imagination of what might be inside pushes him onward. This is proven further when Baglioni’s advice to Giovanni (based on reason) is shunned in favor of a more adventuresome choice of action.

One of the first things that Giovanni notices upon finding the garden is its “profusion of purple blossoms” (Hawthorne 1). The color purple can often be an indicator of lust (like in A Midsummer’s Dream by William Shakespeare). This provides another perspective on the story that Giovanni was attracted to Beatrice as a result of lust and not true love.

As Giovanni is examining Rappaccini's garden he notices "a ruin of a marble fountain in the centre...so wofully shattered...The water, however, continued to gush and sparkle into the sunbeams as cheerfully as ever" (Hawthorne 1). Although the environment has eroded the ancient fountain, its water remains pure. Later on this when Beatrice is described, the reader will find an interesting similitude between Beatrice and the symbol of the fountain.

Eventually Doctor Rappaccini enters the garden and is described as being "tall, emaciated, sallow, and sickly looking" and possessing "a face singularly marked with intellect and cultivation, but which could never...have possessed much warmth of heart" (Hawthorne 2). A theme of Romanticism is the denouncement of the sciences and the rational. The doctor's outer appearance is reflective of his inner nature, that of logic and sin. His overemphasis on the rational has suppressed his emotional side.

Shortly thereafter, Giovanni finds himself alone to contemplate in the garden; “he had the privilege of overlooking this spot of lovely and luxurious vegetation” (Hawthorne 3). Giovanni, after a busy day, looks to nature as a source of nourishment for his soul, which was a very common practice during the Romantic Era. Furthermore, Giovanni wants “to keep him [self] in communion with Nature” (Hawthorne 3). The capitalization of the word “Nature” shows that it possesses supernatural powers, which coincides with the Romantic belief that God speaks through nature.

Another common theme during the Romantic Era was the increased role of women. In the exposition, Giovanni meets Beatrice, who he finds very attractive; “Soon there emerged from under a sculptured portal the figure of a young girl, arrayed with as much richness of taste as the most splendid of the flowers, beautiful as day, and with a bloom so deep and vivid that one shade more would have been too much” (Hawthorne 2). Not only does Beatrice’s encounter with Giovanni signal an increase in her independence – a common Romantic theme – but it also portrays her as a blooming flower, symbolizing the increasing relevance of women in society. By saying “one shade more would have been too much”, it can be inferred that women were given more rights during this time period, but were still not yet equal to their male counterparts. By meeting Beatrice, Giovanni gives her more independence, but she is still left with the dirty work of caring for a poisonous plant.