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Nathaniel Hawthorne --. Leslie Lin Eva Hsu Yulix Chen Melanie Chen. Rappaccini’s Daughter. Nathaniel Hawthorne. Birth Date: July 14th, 1804 Birth Place: Salem, Massachusetts Family Background: A descendant of Puritan immigrants; one ancestor a judge in the Salem witchcraft trials.
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Nathaniel Hawthorne -- Leslie LinEva HsuYulix ChenMelanie Chen Rappaccini’s Daughter
Nathaniel Hawthorne • Birth Date: July 14th, 1804 • Birth Place: Salem, Massachusetts • Family Background: A descendant of Puritan immigrants; one ancestor a judge in the Salem witchcraft trials.
Nathaniel Hawthorne • The classmates of Nathaniel Hawthorne at Baldwin College later on became important literary and political figures of the time, including: • Writer Horatio Bridge, • Future Senator Jonathan Ciley and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow • Future President Franklin Pierce.
The Most Important Work of Hawthorne • The Scarlet Letter represents the height of Hawthorne's literary genius; dense with terse descriptions. It remains relevant for its philosophical and psychological depth, and continues to be read as a classic tale on a universal theme.
Summary of Rappaccini’s Daughter • Giovanni, the main character of the story, had noticed the odd deportment of Dr. Rappaccini and his beautiful daughter, Beatrice. • He then discovered Beatrice’s “secret,” particularly her sweet fragrant breath, and visited her often after he had gained access to the garden. • After some time, Giovanni had turned poisonous himself. • He got some antidote from Prof. Baglioni to Beatrice, in order to save her, but that soon soon became the cause of her death.
Theme • Faith • Breaking of chain of humanity • Presence of morality • Solitude and isolation
The Death of Beatrice by D.G. Rosetti Rappaccini’s Daughter
Symbolism • Water in the fountain spirit • Purple shrub (Garden) Beatrice's potential spiritual perfection & paradoxical state • Reference to the Bible, particularly the Genesis • Different colors (purple, sunlight, black)
Reference to the Bible • Dr. Rappaccini garden = Garden of Eden • Mansion = the domain of evil • Giovanni = Adam • Beatrice = Eve • Rappaccini = God or trying to be • Baglioni = Devil (snake)
Characters • Rappaccini– evil and dominant, yet loving and protective • Beatrice– combination of good and evil, purity and corruption • Giovanni– the most ambivalent, sometimes obsessively love, sometimes selfishly hate • Baglioni– ambitious in triumphing his counterpart
Works Cited • “Survey of Criticism of Rappaccini's Daughter”,1995. http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/eng372/rappcrit.htm. • “Rappaccini's Daughter Fall From Grace”, 2003. http://www.freeessays.cc/db/37/pms80.shtml. • “Rappaccini’s Daughter and Its Relationship to the Bible”, http://www.belmont.edu/Humanities/literature/rappaccini.htm.