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The plot of Nathaniel Hawthorns Rappaccini's Daughter revolves around the rivalry of two scientists, and how their acts lead to the destruction of an innocent young woman. When the story is examined on a symbolic level, the reader sees that Rappaccini's Daughter is an allegorical reenactment of the original fall from innocence and purity in the Garden of Eden. Rappaccini's garden sets the stage of this allegory, while the characters of the story each represent the important figures from the Genesis account. Through the literary devices of poetic and descriptive diction, Nathaniel Hawthorne conveys the symbolism of these characters, as well as the setting. The story takes place in mid-nineteenth century in Padua, in two main settings: the mansion of an old Paduan family, and Rappaccini's lush garden.
The mansion is described as, "high and gloomy the palace of a Paduan noble desolate and ill-furnished" This description establishes a dark mood throughout the story. Hawthorne writes, "One of the ancestors of this family had been pictured by Dante as a partaker of the immortal agonies of his Inferno" The allusion of Dante refers to The Divine Comedy and the Inferno describes the souls in Hell. Furthermore, Baglioni converses with Giovanni in this mansion chamber and tries to manipulate him in his attempt to destroy Rappaccini. In a sense, the dark and gloomy mansion symbolizes the domain of evil. The second major setting is the garden. The author uses poetic diction to describe Rappaccini's garden.
Hawthorne writes, "There was one shrub in particular that bore a profusion of purple blossoms, each of which had the luster and richness of a gem seemed enough to illuminate the garden, even had there been no sunshine some crept serpent like along the ground or climbed on high" In this passage, the author depicts the liveliness and beauty of the garden in an almost fantasy-like way, a fantasy too good to be true and destined to end tragically. Hawthorne directly compares this beautiful garden to Eden when he writes, "Was this garden, then the Eden of the present world?" Thus, Rappaccini's garden symbolizes the setting of the initial fall of man. In Rappaccini's Daughter, the original sinners, Adam and Eve, are represented by Giovanni Guasconti and Beatrice Rappaccini. Giovanni symbolizes Adam in the sense that he is shallow and insincere. When Giovanni first sees Beatrice, he is love struck. Hawthorne uses poetic diction when he writes, "the impression which the fair stranger made upon him was as if here were another flowers beautiful as they, more beautiful than the richest of them. " This passage describes Giovanni's feelings towards the beautiful Beatrice.
However, later we see that Giovanni's love was actually lust when the student discovers that he has been infected by Beatrice. The author writes, "Giovanni's rage broke forth from his sullen gloom like a lightning flash out of a dark cloud. Accursed one! cried he, with venomous scorn and anger" Giovanni becomes enraged and blames Beatrice of this accidental infection. Similarly, Adam blames Eve of their disobedience when he is confronted by God. Adam does not show compassion towards his wife but instead, like Giovanni, lashes out with anger against Eve.
The major conflict, described in the book, is between the famous doctor of Italy, Giacomo Rappaccini, and his rival, the professor of the university, Pietro Baglioni. This conflict correlates to the conflict between the Grand Creator, God, and Satan the Devil in the Garden of Eden. Rappaccini symbolizes God in the sense that he had created the beautiful garden and is the father to Beatrice, the caretaker. Hawthorne's tones towards Rappaccini are somber yet reverent. The author describes Rappaccini as a dark and gloomy figure but he recognizes his intellect and shows reverence towards it. Similarly, Hawthorne is reverent towards Baglioni but is unsympathetic to the jealous scientist.
Pietro Baglioni symbolizes Satan the Devil. Baglioni continually conveys an evil image of Rappaccini to Giovanni. Baglioni states, He would sacrifice human life, his own among the rest, or whatever else was dearest to him, for the sake of adding so much as a grain of mustard seed to the great heap of his accumulated knowledge. Similarly, Satan the Devil attempts to lure Adams companion into disobedience by stating, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
In both accounts, they try to create the illusion that Rappaccini/God is acting on his own interests. When Beatrice drinks the so called antidote and perishes, Baglioni looks from the mansion window and calls out, Rappaccini! Rappaccini! And is this the upshot of your experiment!
Baglioni, like the Devil, taunts Rappaccini/God when his Eden has been destroyed. Thus, Rappaccini symbolizes God, while the Devil is depicted by Baglioni. Rappaccini's Daughter conveys the theme of loss of innocence and purity. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve lost their purity and innocence when they disobeyed God and ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This disobedience was the result of their pride and the desire to become like gods.
In the story, the loss of innocence and purity resulted when the perverse scientific rivalry between Rappaccini and Baglioni took the life of the passionate and innocent Beatrice. There is a clear sign in the book that tells the reader what people can do if they are treating the science and nature improperly. Our world is very delicate, and if science is used with evil intents, the world can be easily destroyed.
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Research essay sample on Garden Of Eden Adam And Eve
