The Birthmark And Rappacinni's Daughter Analysis

Although paternal twins may not look alike, most of the time they have similar characteristics. That is the case in the short stories The Birthmark and Rappacinni’s Daughter. In each story, Hawthorne uses a woman in each science experiment. Although not twins, Georgiana in The Birthmark and Beatrice in Rappacinni’s Daughter show comparable characteristics while also displaying differences within the each story. Georgiana is described by Hawthorne as the most beautiful and pure lady of that day. However, she has one flaw according to her husband- she has a noticeable birthmark on her left cheek. Her husband states in the story, “- shocks me, as being the visible mark of earthly imperfection” (Hawthorne 419). Like Georgiana, Beatrice was also described as a very beautiful and pure person. Nevertheless, Beatrice also had a flaw given to her by her father- she was poisonous from the inside. The Professor tells Giovanni in the story, “Yes, …show more content…
Georgiana is happy to die so she can, in a way, get back at her husband. She states, “…you have rejected the best that earth could offer” (Hawthorne 429). Georgiana is saying that her husband had the best but tried to make it better and since his pride got in the way he is losing the “best that the earth could offer” in Georgiana. In Rappacinni’s Daughter, Beatrice has a sense of sadness when it comes to her death. She is unhappy because she knows that her condition will kill Giovanni, so instead of killing him by her poison she ultimately kills herself to save Giovanni’s life. In conclusion, Hawthorne chooses a female character to be the center of a science experiment in both stories. Both women are represented as being beautiful and pure. However, by the end of the story they are both destroyed by the experiment. Georgiana and Beatrice show aspects of twins with their similarities, but just as twins have differences, so did Georgiana and