The State as a Scientist: A Individuals Aversion to Truth, or Attraction to Poison
In Hawthorne’s “Rappaccini’s Daughter” and “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” Nathaniel Hawthorne is well known for his religious overtones in his stories, such as The Scarlet Letter, “Young Goodman Brown,” and “Rappaccini’s Daughter.” The historical allegory—like his use of the Garden of Eden—often overpowers the rest of the story, and because the audience is well aware of Hawthorne’s tendency to use religious themes they often overlook what is different. “Rappaccini’s Daughter,” in particular, was the one that started everything; at first, Hawthorne’s theme of the garden of Eden was prevalent and overpowering: There is a garden—Eden, a scientist—the snake, a young woman—Eve, and a young man—Adam.
The story is similar to the Eden myth because the events culminate to where the young woman is the catalyst to the “fall” –or in Giovanni’s case, his poisoning. Interestingly, I noted that Giovanni had multiple clues as to what was happening, yet he ignored them. Why? If he had desired, he would have recognized the changes early on and prevented himself from becoming poisonous. The father, or the serpent, is another compelling character. While he is not physically present for a majority of the story, his influence is present throughout. He plays a much larger part than is normally assigned to the role of the snake in Eden. For one, it is his daughter, not a …show more content…
Rosenberry illustrates the discrepancies in the allegorical patterns in the short story. The eventual theme that Rosenberry interprets is about social estrangement and, “studies of the scientist as an ethical being and of the ambiguous warfare of guilt and innocence in the human soul” (46). To prove this, he goes through and first defines each of the main characters role: Beatrice as the child, ignorant/innocent; Giovanni as the student; and Rappaccini as the
In Hawthorne’s “Rappaccini’s Daughter” and “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” Nathaniel Hawthorne is well known for his religious overtones in his stories, such as The Scarlet Letter, “Young Goodman Brown,” and “Rappaccini’s Daughter.” The historical allegory—like his use of the Garden of Eden—often overpowers the rest of the story, and because the audience is well aware of Hawthorne’s tendency to use religious themes they often overlook what is different. “Rappaccini’s Daughter,” in particular, was the one that started everything; at first, Hawthorne’s theme of the garden of Eden was prevalent and overpowering: There is a garden—Eden, a scientist—the snake, a young woman—Eve, and a young man—Adam.
The story is similar to the Eden myth because the events culminate to where the young woman is the catalyst to the “fall” –or in Giovanni’s case, his poisoning. Interestingly, I noted that Giovanni had multiple clues as to what was happening, yet he ignored them. Why? If he had desired, he would have recognized the changes early on and prevented himself from becoming poisonous. The father, or the serpent, is another compelling character. While he is not physically present for a majority of the story, his influence is present throughout. He plays a much larger part than is normally assigned to the role of the snake in Eden. For one, it is his daughter, not a …show more content…
Rosenberry illustrates the discrepancies in the allegorical patterns in the short story. The eventual theme that Rosenberry interprets is about social estrangement and, “studies of the scientist as an ethical being and of the ambiguous warfare of guilt and innocence in the human soul” (46). To prove this, he goes through and first defines each of the main characters role: Beatrice as the child, ignorant/innocent; Giovanni as the student; and Rappaccini as the