About Me

The central theme of Hawthorne’s “Rappaccini’s Daughter” has long been debated. For one, the story can be viewed as a criticism of the sciences and the rational, which Romantics denounce in favor of the emotional and irrational. An example throughout the story is the sinful portrayal of Doctor Rappaccini and Baglioni as manipulators and how Giovanni’s passions, love at first then rage, override his rational thinking. Another possibility for the central theme of this story is that every human is dualistic, which is consistent with Romanticism and its focus on the nature of human existence. Beatrice is pure on the inside but poisonous on the outside. Giovanni is portrayed as loving yet doubtful at the same time. Rappaccini is a man that possesses little caring for anything other than his scientific experiments and perverted ethics, that is if he has any, but is portrayed in the end as being somewhat sympathetic towards his daughter’s loneliness. To provide for his daughter a companion Rappaccini lured the unsuspecting Giovanni into the garden and rendered him poisonous, just like Beatrice. Baglioni is presented as a jovial man and one who is willing to help a friend in danger. However, he is scientist himself and it can be argued that he also manipulated unknowing Giovanni into giving the antidote to Beatrice and thus ruining his rival’s experiment. Also one can interpret the story as a love story and with the main theme being that true love is based upon wholehearted faith. Since Giovanni was always plagued with doubt concerning his relationship with Beatrice, their love could never have flourished and was bound to fall apart eventually. Sincerity and spontaneity are valued in Romanticism while conversely doubt is denounced. The ambiguity and the multiple perspectives at which it can be approached from is itself tied to the Romantic value of individualism. With this story every person can interpret it in their own unique way.

A common Romantic literary device is allegory. Underneath the surface plot of “Rappaccini’s Daughter” the objects within the story and the characters’ actions have a certain significance that relates to the overall theme of the story like the physical portrayal of Rappaccini, certain objects like the fountain and the bush, Giovanni’s actions, and so on. For a full analysis refer to the other posts.

The plot diagram structure of the story works to engage the reader so as to best convey the thematic message and it is itself a medium to convey Romantic ideals. “Rappaccini’s Daughter” starts out with a lengthy exposition that consists of a highly detailed description of the garden working to establish the setting of the plot. The setting is an important factor that contributes to the overall tone of the story and the emotional response from the reader, which is important in Romanticism where the emotions are strongly stressed. Also an in depth exposition helps to draw the attention of the reader, which is a definite requirement if the author wishes to convey anything at all, and put them mentally in the scene. Following the exposition we have the protracted rising action where Giovanni is conflicted over his love of Beatrice. A slow buildup towards the climax works to draw the reader further into the story with a growing sense of suspense. Then suddenly the climax flashes into the reader’s mind as “Giovanni’s rage broke forth…like a lightning-flash” (Hawthorne 13). The sudden transition from rising action to the climax reflects the value that Romanticism places on spontaneity and works to almost wake up the reader so that he or she is more alert to take in whatever comes next. Next is the falling action which is characteristically uneventful and works mainly as a transition from the climax to the resolution. Lastly there is the resolution where the author purposely leaves out details concerning what happens to the characters after the death of Beatrice. The purpose behind such an ambiguous ending is to let the reader’s imagination, which is a central theme of Romanticism, wander.

Giovanni Guasconti

Sex: Male

Birthday: Very long ago

Hometown: Naples, Italy

Relationship Statues: Recently single

Interested in: Women-especially those that are pretty, use perfumes that are scented like flowers, and whose favorite color is puple.

Occupation: a student at the University of Padua

Characteristics:
I am curious and like to snoop around places that I am not supposed to be. I am quite a romantic and am easily infatuated. I tend to let my emotions get the best of me and tend not to take advise very well. I have anger issues but I do my best to supress them; therapy has been helping me.

Interests and Hobbies:
Botany (Cultivating and examining flowers), spending time in nature and under the sun, drinking Tuscan wine, hanging out with friends and family, snooping around.

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.

Rising Action

In “Rappaccini’s Daughter,” the rising action begins when Professor Baglioni warns Giovanni of Rappaccini and ends when Giovanni and Beatrice are strolling through Rappaccini’s gardens, right before Giovanni explodes in anger at Beatrice. At the beginning, Giovanni is having dinner with Baglioni, a close friend of his father’s, and asks about Rappaccini out of curiosity. Baglioni, a scientific rival of Rappaccini’s, denounces the doctor as caring “infinitely more for the sciences than for mankind” (Hawthorne 3). Although the reader will have had a premonition of the darkness surrounding Rappaccini, his garden, and Beatrice based upon their initial physical characterizations in the exposition, it is here, with Baglioni’s warning, that this dark tale picks up with a certain degree of suspense having been instilled in the reader through his warning. It is also here that one of the central themes of the story is first addressed, which is the condemnation of the sciences and the rational, for Romanticism emphasizes emotions, spontaneity, and irrationality.

After the dinner, Giovanni returns to his place and looks over the garden wherein which he finds Beatrice pruning the purple bush, which is revealed to be fatally poisonous when a drop of its sap lands on a lizard’s head and subsequently kills it. Giovanni is further shocked when he notices the rose that he threw down for Beatrice instantaneously started to “wither in her grasp” (Hawthorne 5). Here we see in this description a touch of the horror and the supernatural, both characteristics of Gothicism and Romanticism, which are employed throughout the story.

One day Giovanni is greeted by Lisabetta, looking like “a grotesque carving of wood,” who leads him through a secret passage into Rappaccini’s garden where he examines the flowers and describes them as an “adultery of various vegetables…glowing with only an evil mockery of beauty” (Hawthorne 7+8). It is here where the Romanticist’s criticism of the sciences is made most clear. Scientists tamper with and manipulate nature in order to seek certain truths that should not be sought, similar to how God forbid Adam and Eve from picking form the Tree of Knowledge, a comparison that was already established in the exposition of the story. Rappaccini has manipulated Lisabetta like a whittler whittles his wood but note the use of the adjective “grotesque,” implying that his manipulation is ugly and sinful. Similarly, the hybrid plants of the garden are described as being the creation of “adultery,” a comparison that further describes the sinful nature of the sciences as seen through a Romantic spectrum. Later in the story, it is revealed that Rappaccini had offered “up his child…as the victim of his insane zeal for science,” transforming Beatrice into a physically poisonous being (Hawthorne 11). Science has warped Rappaccini’s ethical sense, for logic drains the emotions and makes us less human. It is here in the story that Giovanni becomes acquainted with Beatrice.

Throughout the rest of the rising action, Giovanni is conflicted. His logical side, propelled forth by Baglioni’s warning and his first hand experience of Beatrice’s poisonous touch, is fostering a sense of doubt towards Beatrice and the love the two share. However “these incidents…dissolving in the pure light of her character…were acknowledged as mistaken fantasies” (Hawthorne 12). Thus we see here another one of Romanticism’s main themes, the idea that the emotions, in this case love, surmount logic.

Unexpectedly, Baglioni one day comes to Giovanni’s room to warn him to stay away from Beatrice because he believes that the relationship between the two is another one of Rappaccini’s twisted experiments. For Giovanni, this “gave instantaneous distinction to a thousand dim suspicions, which now grinned at him like so many demons,” which then “he strove hard to quell them” (Hawthorne 11). Giovanni has always had suspicions and doubts concerning Beatrice but he has managed to subdue them in his infatuation. However they are steadily growing as the evidence piles up, foreshadowing an inevitable eruption. Here “suspicions” is compared to “demons,” indicating the sin of doubt, which undermines the faith needed for true love. This is in lines with Romantic thought, where the spontaneity and sincerity are valued.

When Giovanni figures out that he himself has turned poisonous of touch, just like Beatrice, he becomes filled with “wrath and despair,” yet when he gets together with Beatrice “his rage was quelled into an aspect of sullen insensibility” (Hawthorne 13). At this point, Giovanni has began to realize the truth but still remains blinded by love, as noted by his “insensibility.” However when they walk through the gardens, Beatrice finally reveals to Giovanni his worst horrors, the now indisputable truth that she is “sister” to the poisonous purple bush and Giovanni can no longer contain his inner rage. Throughout the rising action, Giovanni is in conflict with himself but it is at this point where his doubts are finally realized. His ensuing reaction will be the climax of the story, the cracking point that his internal conflict has been edging towards.

Climax

The climax is the point that the story up until then has been working towards and the point at which there is no turning back. In “Rappaccini’s Daughter,” the climax is when “Giovanni’s rage broke forth from his sullen gloom like a lightning-flash out of a dark cloud.” The dark cloud is representative of the doubt has been slowly gathering on the horizon throughout the rising action. In the climax the doubt is released in the form of a powerful, passionate discharge of rage and from then on the relationship between the two lovers is irreparably scarred. Giovanni vilifies Beatrice with a “venomous scorn,” a pun (Hawthorne 13). Beatrice finally understands that Giovanni has contracted the very same poison that plagues her and pleas to him to believe that she had no idea, that she meant no harm, and that “though [her] body be nourished with poison, [her] spirit is God’s creature, and craves love as its daily food” (Hawthorne 14). Rappaccini has outwardly perverted his daughter but, as described before, she remains pure of heart and mind and still has normal human spiritual needs, such as for love. Those attributes remain untouched and out of Rappiccini’s reach. Although one can manipulate the outside, the inner soul remains pure and untouched. This idea is consistent with the fountain portrayed in the exposition, it is cracked but the water flowing from it remains pure. Also this notion relates to the Romantic belief in the natural and inner goodness of man.

Falling Action

Accordingly, when “Giovanni’s passion had exhausted itself in its outburst from his lips” that is when the falling action begins. It was then that Giovanni understood the gravity of what he had done and attempted to rectify the hurt he had caused. He still hoped to return “within the limits of ordinary nature…leading Beatrice…by the hand” (Hawthorne 14). As a solution, and leading into the resolution of the story, Giovanni turns to the antidote in order to counter their poison. However “Giovanni did not know” that all hope had already been lost for Beatrice in this life and that “she must pass heavily, with that broken heart, across the borders of Time—she must bathe her hurts in some fount of Paradise, and forget her grief in the light of immortality—and there be well” (Hawthorne 14). This is a dark foreshadowing of the events that will follow this scene. The “Paradise” that is mentioned is that of heaven and it is only there that she will be rid of all of the pains of mortal life. There is nothing else that could heal her broken heart now that Giovanni has shattered it for now she understands that Giovanni, in all of his doubt, could never love her the way she loves him. The idea that God is benevolent and will heal our hurts is that of Romanticism. Giovanni’s attempt to fix the damage that he has wrought shows his continued vanity, fostered by the blinding resurgence of love, for, as aforementioned, the damage is irreparable. Again his passions suppress his rational side.

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.

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