Rappaccini’s Daughter

(1844)

After opening with a whimsical introduction, this story describes how a young Italian, Giovanni Guasconti, takes up residence in the city of Padua, where he has arrived to study at the university; looking down from his apartment window one day, he can see a garden owned by a famous doctor named Giacomo Rappaccini, and in the garden he eventually sees the doctor’s beautiful daughter, Beatrice, who helps her father cultivate many strange and intriguing plants. Despite warnings from Professor Pietro Baglioni (an old friend of Giovanni’s father and a great rival of Rappaccini), Giovanni becomes increasingly involved with Beatrice, whom he often meets, secretly, inside the garden’s walls. When Giovanni begins to suspect that Beatrice (thanks to her father’s experiments) is literally poisonous and that he himself is also slowly being transformed into a similarly poisonous creature under her influence, he angrily confronts her and gives her an antidote concocted by Baglioni, but the antidote quickly kills her, leaving all three men gazing at her beautiful corpse.

As Hawthorne himself implies in the humorous preface to this tale, this story is another example of his penchant for allegorical plots, symbolic settings, and emblematic characters, although (as is also typical of Hawthorne) the ultimate meaning of all the symbolism and allegory is less than wholly transparent. Each of the main characters has been interpreted in both positive and negative terms, and indeed some commentators see all of them as complicated mixtures of both good and evil. Even Beatrice, who is usually regarded as a pure-hearted, innocent victim of her father’s manipulative experiments, has been criticized for failing to appreciate the dangers she poses to Giovanni and for failing to warn him about her father, and Hawthorne himself was apparently unsure whether he would ultimately depict her as an angel or as a demon. Eventually he decided that she was angelic (and in fact he eventually makes this point quite explicit, in a move that some critics have regarded as clumsy and unsubtle). For most of the tale, however, readers are as puzzled by Beatrice as Giovanni is (and as Hawthorne himself was at first)—a fact that contributes to the suspense and mystery of the work. Equally mysterious, for most of the story, are the character and motives of the seldom-seen Rappaccini and more intrusive Baglioni: Does the doctor have the best interests of his daughter at heart, or is he simply a conniving, malevolent, and almost Satanic figure? Is Baglioni genuinely motivated by a desire to assist his young friend, or is he driven mainly by rivalry and envy? Are the two older men as talented as they think they are (and as they are widely considered to be), or is each, finally, a bungler in his own way? Should we sympathize with Giovanni, or is he (as some commentators think) a shallow, unfaithful, selfish meddler—a naï ve manipulator who is unworthy of the love of a selfless, thoughtful, and generous-hearted woman? As usual, Hawthorne raises many questions but provides few obvious answers, and it is precisely this ability to stimulate thought without offering neat or tidy resolutions that appeals to this author’s many admirers. However else one responds to Beatrice, she is clearly one of the many women in Hawthorne’s fiction who are either dominated, exploited, or (at the very least) insufficiently appreciated by the men in their lives. In this respect she resembles Faith in “Young Goodman Brown” and especially Georgianna in “The Birth-mark, ” a story that also features a “talented” scientist who is more than willing to conduct dangerous experiments on someone he fails to love with simple affection and acceptance. In “Rappaccini’s Daughter” as in so many of his other works, Hawthorne shows the tragedy that often results when people (usually males), driven by arrogant pride, fail to treat others (usually women) with full respect and dignity. Beatrice dies because her father presumes to act as a kind of false god in an artificial Eden of his own superficial devising, and it is far from clear that Baglioni is a genuinely selfless would-be savior. Hawthorne ends the story abruptly with Beatrice’s death, leaving readers to ponder the final significance of the events and characters he describes.

FOR DISCUSSION OR WRITING

1. Hester Prynne is one of the great characters in American literature. How are we to feel about Hester? Does Hawthorne seem to admire her or condemn her? Why does she choose to remain in Boston instead of escaping?

2. Read The Scarlet Letter alongside Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence, paying particular to the ways in which the lives of the central characters are shaped and restricted by the societies in which they live. What are the central value systems of those two different societies? How does each society attempt to impose control on its members? How does each central female character deal with those attempts at control? How are the chief male characters in each novel comparable and/or distinct? What is the implied attitude of the narrators toward the societies they describe?

3. In what way is Roger Chillingsworth a kind of Satanic character? How, and for what reasons, is he a source of pain and torment to others? Does he change as the novel progresses?

4. Compare and contrast The Scarlet Letter with Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. Discuss the personalities and experiences of the two heroines. How are the lives of both women shaped by their communities and by their relationships with older husbands who try to control them? What attracts each woman to a younger man? What options are open to each woman in her respective society? Discuss the ways both works present contrasts between distinct physical settings, particularly between life in towns and life outside towns.

5. Examine the nature and function of each “scaffold scene” in The Scarlet Letter. What elements do the scenes have in common; how are they distinct; what kinds of progression occur from one such scene to the next?

6. Choose three works by Hawthorne and discuss the ways in which women are depicted in those works. What similarities and/or contrasts exist from one work to another? How, why, and with what effectiveness does Hawthorne use women as symbolic characters? How do his depictions of women reflect the actual historical circumstances of women in his culture and in his era? Do his presentations of female characters reflect any changes that were taking place in the actual lives of women during his time?

7. Although Hawthorne was sometimes openly or implicitly critical of Puritanism, he often expresses a different attitude toward Christianity in general. In what ways can Hawthorne be called a “Christian writer”? How do his works illustrate common Christian values and precepts? Do his works ever confl ict with those precepts?

8. Choose two short stories by Hawthorne and then compare and contrast those stories with one of his novels. How are all three works similar and/or different in such matters as themes, characterization, imagery, symbolism, dialogue, and diction? Are there are any traits that all three works seem to share? In other words, are there any characteristics that seem relatively “typical” of Hawthorne?

9. Compare and contrast the relative effectiveness of two works by Hawthorne—preferably two works of the same genre (such as two stories or two novels). What specifi c factors, in your opinion, make one work more or less successful than the other as a work of literary art? Which of the two would you eagerly read again? Which of the two would you hesitate to recommend to a friend? Explain your responses in detail.

10. Discuss the theme of good and evil in several different works by Hawthorne. What motives, traits, or behavior, in Hawthorne’s view, seem to count as “evil”? What motives, traits, or conduct does he seem to consider “good”? Are distinctions between good and evil simple and clear-cut in Hawthorne’s fiction, or does he sometimes make it difficult for us to decide who is good and who is evil? Does he ever present characters who seem to embody both qualities at the same time? Support your arguments by providing detailed evidence.

11. Although humor is perhaps not as prominent a feature in the work of Hawthorne as it is (for instance) in the works of Herman Melville or Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens), humor does sometimes play a role in Hawthorne’s writings. Discuss, for instance, the role of humor in “The Birth-mark, ” or in “The Artist of the Beautiful, ” or in “Rappaccini’s Daughter, ” or in The House of the Seven Gables. What functions does humor serve in any one of these works? What similarities and/or differences exist in the kind of humor each work employs? Why do you think Hawthorne tends to use humor so sparingly?

12. Read the opening paragraph of “Rappaccini’s Daughter, ” in which Hawthorne mockingly describes his own style of writing, and then discuss the ways in which his description might be applied to one or more of his works. To what degree, and in what respects, is the description an accurate assessment of the traits of Hawthorne’s fiction? Give specifi c examples from the work you choose. To what degree, and in what respects, does Hawthorne fail to do justice to his own accomplishments as a writer?

13. Read a few essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson, and then discuss the ways in which Hawthorne and Emerson seem similar or different. Which author seems more “optimistic” and which seems more “pessimistic”? How do these differences manifest themselves, and how do you account for them? How do Hawthorne’s main themes and concerns differ from those of Emerson? How do their styles differ? Do the characteristic thoughts of one writer appeal to you more than those of the other? If so, explain why.

14. The Scarlet Letter has been filmed a number of times. Compare and contrast at least two of the films with each other and with the novel itself. Which film does more justice to the book? What are the strengths or weaknesses of each film considered in and of itself? How, if at all, does each film reflect the particular period in which it was made?

15. Read a reliable biography of Hawthorne, and then discuss the ways in which his fiction seems to reflect aspects of his own life and character. How does knowledge of the writer’s life enhance or complicate the reading of his fiction? Is knowledge of an author’s life necessary to a proper appreciation of his writing? How, if at all, did your reading about Hawthorne’s life alter your understanding of his creative writing?

16. What happens to Goodman Brown in the forest? Why does Hawthorne leave it up to the reader to decide whether the entire experience of Brown is a dream or real? To what extent does it matter that we decide one way or another?

17. What does “Young Goodman Brown” seem to be saying about the ethics of American Puritanism? Hawthorne struggled with his own ancestors’ roles in prosecuting the 1692 Salem witchcraft trials; what does the ironic revelation of “evil” hidden behind a faç ade of “good” suggest about Hawthorne’s judgment of the Puritan worldview?

18. Notice how the rational and objective pursuit of scientific truth blurs into the obsessive and personal pursuit of individual desire in “Rappaccini’s Daughter” (this is true in different ways for all three of the male characters, Giovanni, Rappaccini, and Baglioni). Why might Hawthorne deliberately challenge the distinction between science and passion in this story?

19. What are we to make of Rappaccini’s final justification to Beatrice of his perverse experiment: “‘Wouldst thou, then, have preferred the condition of a weak woman, exposed to all evil, and capable of none? ’” Why does it matter that Beatrice is a woman? How would the story be different if Rappaccini had endowed a male child with the venomous powers of the poison plant? How can you relate this story to the nineteenth-century “cult of true womanhood” discussed in the Core Context “The Spirit Is Willing: The Occult and Women in the Nineteenth Century”?

20. The Scarlet Letter has connections to both “Young Goodman Brown” and “Rappaccini’s Daughter.” Like the former, The Scarlet Letter deals with the wrenching implications of Puritan conceptions of sin; like the latter, it concerns the torments of gender inequality. Consider the representation of the human body in each of these texts to develop a theory that links these two themes. What, according to Hawthorne, is the relationship between the female body and sin?

21. Compare and contrast this tale with Hawthorne’s “The Minister’s Black Veil.” In particular, discuss the initial motives and ultimate fates of the two main characters. Discuss, as well, their relations with the women in their lives and their attitudes toward their communities. Is one character more sympathetic than the other? How do both stories effectively use mystery?

22. How does “Young Goodman Brown” resemble and/or differ from Hawthorne’s “The Birth-mark” in its focus on the tendency to find fault in others? How and why do both stories end in tragedy both for the male protagonists and for their wives? Which story is more tragic? Which husband is a more sympathetic character? What do both stories suggest about Hawthorne’s ideals of marriage?

23. One could read “Young Goodman Brown” as an allegory of faith. In the midst of his forest experience, young Goodman Brown declares, “With Heaven above, and Faith below, I will yet stand firm against the devil! ” Does young Goodman Brown lose his faith? If so, why? What, according to Hawthorne, are the consequences of losing faith?

24. Read some definitions and discussions of gothic literature, and then discuss the ways in which this story displays the traits of a gothic tale. In particular, discuss such matters as setting, characterization, imagery, symbolism, mood, tone, and conclusion. How is Rappaccini himself a gothic character? How does Beatrice fit the standard gothic pattern? Choose a particular passage from the story and discuss the ways all its elements contribute to a gothic atmosphere or effect.

25. The narrator refers to Doctor Rappaccini as a “man of science, ” and “Rappaccini’s Daughter” clearly seems a cautionary tale about science. What elements of scientific practice does Hawthorne seem to criticize in the story? Why?

26. Hawthorne clearly uses poison as a metaphor in “Rappaccini’s Daughter.” Analyze the language of poison and poisoning in the story. How does Hawthorne use the idea of poison in the text?