Rappaccini's Daughter

“Rappaccini’s Daughter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays the story of a youthful man named Giovanni, who falls in love with a poisonous girl. Giovanni knows there is something dangerous about Beatrice, as she is living in a strange garden with her science obsessed father. However, he is overtaken by Beatrice’s beauty and he ignores any danger letting his passion control him. According to Hawthorne, man’s greatest flaw is the difficulty one has controlling the strong emotions and desires that come with being human. Whether it be Giovanni and Beatrice who let their emotions control their relationship, or the two scientists Baglioni and Rappaccini that let their own personal feud get in the way of rational thinking, they all struggle to keep their …show more content…
For example, Giovanni becomes lured to the beautiful garden outside his window because of how unique and unnatural the plants look. He notices that the owner of the garden, Rappaccini, never touches the plants. Giovanni is a medical student so the mystery of what the flowers do entices him. Then he sees Beatrice. She is “beautiful as the day” (2) and she can touch the flowers. There is an aura of innocence to her, and Giovanni becomes infatuated. She is like a mystery to him, something to discover. Eventually Lizabetta, the housekeeper, tells him of a way to get into the garden. Giovanni pays her to show him, and despite his skepticism “The instant he was aware of the possibility of approaching Beatrice, it seemed an absolute necessity of his existence to do so.” (8). Giovanni is young and he is not mature enough to see the repercussions of his actions. He knows that Beatrice may be dangerous, but he is narrow minded. He can only see the beautiful girl in front of him. The possibility of talking to Beatrice is most important for Giovanni, his emotions and desires do not show him what might happen if he becomes a part of her …show more content…
Professor Baglioni also deals with a lack of control over his emotions. Professor Baglioni has been in a feud with Rappaccini over who is the greatest scientist for a long time. He tells Giovanni at the beginning of the story that Rappaccini “cares infinitely more for science than mankind,” (4). Although this may be true, Baglioni is showing his bias towards Rappaccini, which affects his later actions. Baglioni gives Giovanni the antidote for the poison, telling him that it will rid Giovanni and Beatrice of their curse. In reality however, the antidote kills Beatrice. Baglioni lets Beatrice have this end to her life, because he wants to show that Rappaccini’s experiment to make Giovanni and Beatrice poisoned failed. He declares to Rappaccini “Is this the upshot of your experiment?” (17) He says this to show that he won. His childish desires to be the best, to come out on top, lead him to use Giovanni and Beatrice as pieces in his larger game for