Innocence The role of innocence in Rappaccini’s Daughter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne and Bartleby the Scrivener written by Herman Melville is not simply as a characteristic or state of being, rather, it is a factor that influences and concludes the tragic events that occur in both stories. While this factor does not apply to all characters from each novel, it does apply to the narrator of Bartleby the Scrivener and to Giovanni and Rappaccini respectively from Rappaccini’s Daughter. In context, innocence is defined as freedom from legal guilt of a particular crime or offense but it can also mean freedom from guilt or sin through being unacquainted with evil (Merriam-Webster). Each character serves as a contradiction for these various definitions
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The man who only wanted to protect his daughter by poisoning her so that nothing could harm her. As Rappaccini holds Beatrice in his arms, it is hard to believe that Rappaccini, although not directly responsible for the death of his daughter, is completely innocent. Poisoning his daughter was the exact reason that brought on her death. Had she been loved and not feared (Hawthorne 494) as Beatrice wished, Giovanni would not have tried to “cure her” or let Baglioni’s word have any influence over his decisions with her. This situation with Rappaccini and his daughter is exactly why parents shouldn’t shelter there kids so much. Exposing your children to the real world and what life has to offer can be safer at times than sheltering them and cutting them off from humanity. Maybe Beatrice would have just had a few bad boyfriends but she’d be walking, she’d be living, and still enjoying her life and the beauties that nature holds, just not the poisonous kind her father experiments with. Just as Giovanni and the narrator of Bartleby the Scrivener had done, Rappaccini’s “innocent” actions built up to the death of his daughter and can only feel at peace as if he was only poisoning her to protect her from mankind as she perished at the feet of her father
The man who only wanted to protect his daughter by poisoning her so that nothing could harm her. As Rappaccini holds Beatrice in his arms, it is hard to believe that Rappaccini, although not directly responsible for the death of his daughter, is completely innocent. Poisoning his daughter was the exact reason that brought on her death. Had she been loved and not feared (Hawthorne 494) as Beatrice wished, Giovanni would not have tried to “cure her” or let Baglioni’s word have any influence over his decisions with her. This situation with Rappaccini and his daughter is exactly why parents shouldn’t shelter there kids so much. Exposing your children to the real world and what life has to offer can be safer at times than sheltering them and cutting them off from humanity. Maybe Beatrice would have just had a few bad boyfriends but she’d be walking, she’d be living, and still enjoying her life and the beauties that nature holds, just not the poisonous kind her father experiments with. Just as Giovanni and the narrator of Bartleby the Scrivener had done, Rappaccini’s “innocent” actions built up to the death of his daughter and can only feel at peace as if he was only poisoning her to protect her from mankind as she perished at the feet of her father