| "Rappaccini's Daughter" | |
|---|---|
| Author | Nathaniel Hawthorne |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Short story |
| Published in | Mosses from an Old Manse |
| Publication type | Anthology |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Publication date | 1844 |
"Rappaccini's Daughter" is a short story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1844 concerning a medical researcher in medieval Padua. It was published in the collection Mosses from an Old Manse.
Contents |
Plot summary
The story is set in Padua in a distant, but unspecified past. From his quarters, Giovanni, a young student of letters, observes Beatrice, the beautiful daughter of Dr. Rappaccini, a scientist working in isolation. Beatrice is confined to the lush and locked gardens filled with poisonous plants by her father. Giovanni notices Beatrice's strangely intimate relationship with the plants as well as the withering of fresh flowers and the death of an insect when exposed to her skin or breath . Having fallen in love, Giovanni enters the garden and meets with Beatrice a number of times regardless of the warning of his mentor, Professor Baglioni, that Rappaccini is up to no good and he and his work should be avoided. Giovanni discovers that Beatrice, having been raised in the presence of poison, was poisonous herself, and Beatrice urges Giovanni to look past her poisonous exterior and see her pure and innocent essence, creating great feelings of doubt in Giovanni. He begins to suffer the consequences of his encounters with the plants - and with Beatrice when he discovers that he himself has become poisonous; and after another meeting with Baglioni, Giovanni brings a powerful antidote to Beatrice so that they can be together, but the antidote kills Beatrice rather than destroy her poisonous nature.
Sources
According to Octavio Paz, the sources of Hawthorne's story lie in India. In the play Mudrarakshasa one of two political rivals employs the gift of a beautiful girl who is fed on poison. This theme of a woman transformed into a phial of venom is popular in Indian literature and appears in the Puranas. From India, the story passed to the West and features in the Gesta Romanorum and other texts. In the 17th century, Robert Burton picked up the tale in The Anatomy of Melancholy and gave it an historical character: Indian king Porus sends Alexander the Great a girl brimming with poison.
There is no direct evidence that Hawthorne was aware of any of these earlier stories; however, in the story itself Pietro Baglioni draws a parallel between Beatrice's fate and an old story of a poisonous Indian girl presented to Alexander, a tale that appears to be based on the Burton/Browne story.
Style
Hawthorne begins the story with reference to the writings of the fictional writer "Monsieur Aubépine", named after the French name of the Hawthorn plant. He both praises and criticizes the author's style and intent. This introduction aims to establish a tone of uncertainty and confusion, throw off expectations and establish the theme of the interrelationship of perception, reality and fantasy.
Major themes
- The paradoxical/inverse that every time an experiment happens, it takes place in the Garden of Eden
- The malevolence/benevolence of Rappaccini and Beatrice
- The notion that fantasy and reality work together and against each other to create one's perceptions
Typical of Hawthorne's stories,[citation needed] "Rappaccini's Daughter" contains references to Dante's Divine Comedy and the Garden of Eden. The story juxtaposes the scientific aspects of research (Professor Rappaccini and Professor Baglioni) with spirituality (Giovanni and Beatrice). This story provides an interesting approach to the voyeurism presented by the scientists and how far two people can love each other despite physical barriers.
The tale explores original sin and is often compared to a later work by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., a novel called Elsie Venner.[1]
The end of the story leaves many readers baffled as Baglioni goes into an awkward euphoria after realizing that his experiment was a success. The purpose of the experiment is unknown to readers and should be left in question. The story ends with Professor Baglioni mocking Rappaccini: "Rappaccini! Rappaccini! and is this the upshot of your experiment?"
Adaptations
- In 1949 the story was adapted on the syndicated radio program The Weird Circle.
- Octavio Paz's play La Hija de Rappaccini, first performed in Mexico in 1956 and first performed in an English translation by Sebastian Doggart in 1996
- Daniel Catan's libretto to the opera Rappaccini's Daughter, which premiered in 1991.
- In 2008 the German gothic-metal band Aeternitas made a musical in german language by Hawthorne's short story, called "Rappacinis Tochter"
In 1891, the poet John Todhunter (1839-1916) privately published a verse-play titled The Poison-Flower, A Phantasy, in Three Scenes, which was suggested by "Rappaccini's Daughter." The play was re-published posthumously in 1927.
A version of the story was included in the 1963 film, Twice-Told Tales which starred Vincent Price as Rappaccini.
Another film version was made in 1980 by Dezsö Magyar starring Kathleen Beller as the title character.
In popular culture
Monica Rappaccini, a fictional villain and biochemical genius in the Marvel Comics Universe, is named after the Rappaccini of Hawthorne's story. Her daughter, Carmilla Black, is, like Beatrice, both immune to poisons and able to deliver poisonous infection to another individual.
DC Comics' Poison Ivy is partially inspired by Hawthorne's story.
References
- ^ Fryer, Judith. The Faces of Eve: Women in the Nineteenth-Century American Novel. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1976: 41. ISBN 0195024311
- Stage Labyrinths: Latin American Plays, S. Doggart, Nick Hern Books, 1996
External links
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