Rappaccini's Daughter Symbolism Essay

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s story “Rappaccini’s Daughter” the character Giovanni Guasconti faces the conflict of sinful lust over the beautiful Beatrice Rappaccini in the city of Padua during 19th century Italy. In the story, the author says,” It was not love, although her rich beauty was a madness to him; not horror, even while he fancied her spirit to be imbued with the same baneful essence that seemed to pervade her physical frame…” Here the author shows how lustful Giovanni feels towards Beatrice. Also, the author uses symbolism, foreshadowing, and personification to show the demise of a certain someone. Hawthorne uses a couple of symbols within his short story, “Rappaccini’s Daughter,” including the statue of Vertumnus in Dr. Rappaccini’s garden. The story behind Vertumnus, where he seduces a nymph who confines herself in a garden, resembles Giovanni and Beatrice’s meeting (Cummings). Which, demonstrates how Giovanni entices Beatrice through her confinement. Another example of symbolism is the marble fountain, that shows the “physical corruption and purity of soul” (Cummings). The marble fountain’s destruction represents the …show more content…
On the first page, Hawthorne writes about Giovanni being in his new rental unit that bared family crest which looked like the previous occupants had gone through some kind of suffering like Dante did in Dante’s Inferno. This could provide evidence that someone else might suffer such as the tenant before Giovanni. The author describes how the plant’s ‘breath’ crepe up Giovanni’s place while dreaming of the flower and Beatrice. It feels as though something is happening to Giovanni that involves the flower and Beatrice, possibly becoming similar to them. Lastly, the author uses an example foreshadowing to show readers that something is not right with the beautiful Beatrice