Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Rappaccini’s Daughter is a short story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne that was first published in 1844 in a magazine and later on, was republished in 1846 in the collection of short stories by Harthorne titled Mosses from an Old Manse.
The story is an allusion to the Biblical story of the Book of Genesis with the role reversal of Adam and Eve. Hawthorne applied a literary jocular device before beginning the story and suggests that he is merely translating a French story written by a little-known French writer named Monsieur Aubépine However, Aubepine is the French word for the shrub of Hawthorne.
Characters of Rappaccini’s Daughter:
Giovanni Guasconti is a student at the University of Padua in Italy. He is a young attractive man who falls in love with Beatrice, the young, beautiful daughter of Doctor Giacomo Rappaccini. Giovanni lives near the poisonous garden of Rappaccini and sees Beatrice tending the plants of the garden from the window of his room. Dr. Rappaccini is a brilliant scientist with a flaw in that he considers science above humanity. He cultivates an extraordinarily beautiful but poisonous garden and he also has a beautiful daughter who gradually becomes poisonous too as her whole life is spent near the poisonous trees of his garden. Professor Pietro Baglioni is a medical professor at Padua University. He is a friend of Giovanni’s father and he is mentoring Giovanni at the University. Baglioni is jealous of Rappacini’s success at his work and wishes to defeat him anyhow. Dame Lisabetta is an old woman who takes care of Giovanni’s room.
Summary of Rappaccini’s Daughter:
The story begins as Giovanni Guasconti visits Padua to pursue his education at University. He rents a “desolate and ill-furnished apartment” on the top floor of an old house. The old house once belonged to the now-extinct Scrovegni family. The house is now owned by Dame Lisabetta who suggests he look out to the beautiful garden visible from the window of the room. Lisabetta promises to take good care of the room and Giovanni agrees to take the room at rent.
Giovanni finds the garden very beautiful flooded with beautiful plants and flowers. Lisabetta informs that the garden belongs to Giacomo Rappaccini. Giovanni learns that Rappaccini is a famous skilled doctor who distills the plants of the garden to produce various medicines. Giovanni observes that while all the plants of the garden are exotic and beautiful, the large shrub at the center of the garden, with purple flowers set in a marble vase appears magnificent.
Giovanni makes it a routine to observe the garden every day while spying on Doctor Rappaccini, trying to learn how he works with the garden. He observes that Rappaccini is a tall, lean, and careful person who examines each plant with scientific intent while avoiding touching or smelling any plant or flower. One day, when Rappaccini is trying to tend the plants in his garden, he finds it difficult to manage the large shrub with purple blossoms. Giovanni realizes that the plant must be poisonous. Rappaccini considers it too dangerous to go too near to the large shrub and decides to call his daughter Beatrice, to take care of the plant. Giovanni sees Beatrice for the first time who is a young beautiful girl, as exotic as those beautiful purple flowers. Giovanni sees that Beatrice easily mends the poisonous plant and even plucks out a purple flower from the plant and smells it while cherishing its odor. Giovanni falls in love with Beatrice and decides to meet her somehow.
The next day, he meets Professor Peitro Boglioni and asks him about Rappaccini and his daughter Beatrice. Boglioni says that Doctor Rappaccini is a brilliant scientist with an objectionable character, as he cares more for science than for mankind and would gladly sacrifice the lives of others for intellectual gain. When Giovanni tells him that he is impressed by his daughter, Boglioni warns him to keep away from Rappaccini’s daughter and his garden. However, he appreciates Beatrice too and tells him that Beatrice is very intelligent like his father. Giovanni ignores Boglioni’s warning and buys a bouquet of beautiful flowers to meet Beatrice and gift her the flowers.
When Giovanni reaches home, he sees Beatrice again plucking out a purple flower from the large shrug. As she takes out the flower, Giovanni sees a few drops of moisture from the flower falls on a passing lizard and the lizard dies instantly. Beatrice ignores the lizard and fastens the purple flower on her bosom. Suddenly, she stops to see a colorful insect and as she bows down to admire it, the insect dies seemingly from the effect of her breath. Giovanni sees all this and he gets a bit frightened but his love for Beatrice pushes him to throw the bouquet of flowers that he bought for Beatrice towards her. Beatrice notices the bouquet of flowers and Giovanni. She picks up the bouquet and thanks, Giovanni. Giovanni sees that the flowers started withering away as soon as Beatrice picked them up.
Giovanni is filled with love and horror. For some days, he avoids looking toward the garden through the window. One day, he meets Boglioni at the University and at the same time, Rappaccini also passes by through the same alley. Boglioni notices curious eyes of Rappaccini towards Giovanni and warns Giovanni that he has become the subject of one of the Doctor’s experiments. Giovanni doesn’t believe Boglioni and goes back to his room. On his way, he meets Dame Lisabetta and talks about Rappacini’s daughter to her. Lisabetta tells him that she can arrange his meeting with Beatrice and takes him to the garden’s secret entryway. Giovanni decides to go and meet Beatrice.
Beatrice greets him well and they start talking about their life. Giovanni asks about the scientific experiments of her father but Beatrice says that she knows nothing about her father’s experiments and while she has heard rumors, she believes only in what she sees with her own eyes. Giovanni notices the same purple flower fixed on her bosom of Beatrice and tries to take it away. Beatrice stops Giovanni by grasping his hand and telling him it can be harmful. Beatrice then runs away to her house and Giovanni sees that Doctor Rappaccini was observing them through a window.
The next day, when Giovanni wakes up, he feels an intense pain in his hand right where Beatrice grasped his hand. He sees the purple outline of her fingers on his hand.
Giovanni continues meeting Beatrice and they develop romantic feelings between them. One day, Boglioni visits Giovanni in his room and he notices a strange sweet smell in his room. Boglioni again warns Giovanni that he has been treated as an experiment by Rappaccini. He tells him about how an Indian king sent a poisonous maiden to Alexander the Great who became the reason for his untimely death. Giovanni still doesn’t believe Boglioni. Boglioni tells him that like the Indian poisonous maiden, Beatrice too has been treated with the most poisonous elements of nature to such an extent that she has become poisonous, and even her embrace will kill a man. Giovanni remembers how even the smell of Beatrice was enough to kill the insect but he is yet not ready to accept Boglioni’s advice. Thus, Boglioni gives him a vial full of an antidote to the poison of the large shrub with purple flowers. He tells Giovanni that this antidote will cure Beatrice's poison and she will be normal again. As Boglioni goes away, Giovanni observes that the flowers brought by Boglioni for him are wilted away by his touch. He further notices that a spider instantly dies because of his breath. He realizes that he too has been made poisonous by Beatrice.
He goes to the garden and confronts Beatrice and accuses her of using him for her father’s experiments. He accuses her of being a poisonous girl and curses her for severing him from the world and knowingly entrancing him into the same horrible state. Beatrice gets shocked by hearing all this and denies all accusations. She asserts her ignorance and Giovanni realizes that she is innocent yet, his words have already broken her heart. Giovanni offers her the antidote to the poison and tells her that the antidote will make her normal. Beatrice doesn’t think for a second and drinks all the antidote. Rappaccini appears at the same time and tries to stop her but he has been late. He informs her that the poison is not a curse but a boon for her. She is too beautiful and he didn’t want her to be harmed by any ill-intentioned man and hence, he gave her that boon. He informs that since Giovanni appeared to be a good guy, he let him be near her and gradually, Giovanni too became as poisonous as her and now they can marry and have their children like them. Beatrice is further shocked by these revelations. She retorts that she would rather have been loved than feared and she doesn’t wish to give birth to monsters.
The antidote starts acting on her and she gets too weak and falls on the ground. She then reminds Giovanni of his cursive words and how he accused her without confirming her innocence. She asks him, “Was there not, from the first, more poison in thy nature than in mine?” Giovanni is ashamed, he realizes his mistake. Beatrice was not poisoned, the poison had become her nature, just like his. The antidote was meant to kill the poison and hence, it kills Beatrice.
Boglioni was seeing all this through the window of Giovanni’s room. As he sees Beatrice fall down and die, he cries in triumph for finally defeating Rappaccini and rejoices in Rappaccini’s misfortune.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of American English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
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