Compare And Contrast Rappaccini's Daughter And The Birthmark

Short Story Essay The short stories “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment,” “Rappaccini’s Daughter.” and “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne all revolve around the idea of unusual or unnatural use of science. These three stories include a scientist who conducts an experiment or works towards a goal to change something that occurs naturally and is not in need of change. Based on the characters and plots of these short stories, Nathaniel Hawthorne shows that the use of science for unnatural purposes, or playing god, is immoral and dangerous. In “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment,” Dr. Heidegger misuses science by conducting an experiment where he gives four elderly subjects water from the fountain of youth and observes their reactions. These four subjects were all misfortunate in their lives and are warned by Dr. Heidegger not to make the same mistakes as they had in their previous youth. Despite this, the consequence of this experiment turned out to be that the four subjects go straight back into their old ways of thinking and acting …show more content…
Rappaccini are both victims of his experiment. Dr. Rappaccini misuses science by creating many unnatural flowers and plants, and also raises his daughter with a poisonous plant, rendering her a poisonous individual also. The consequences of this experiment are that his daughter is now unable to interact with any other living things except those that are poisonous, because if she touches anything else, she fatally poisons it; “For an instant, the reptile contorted itself violently, and then lay motionless in the sunshine.” (Hawthorne 9). Another consequence is that Giovanni becomes a poison individual similar to the daughter from solely her touch. Hawthorne’s idea of the use of science to achieve unnatural goals and play god is exemplified in this story by showing the consequences to be both dangerous physically and by ruining people’s entire