Rappaccini's Daughter
Encyclopedia
"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
.
, the sources of Hawthorne's story lie in India. In the play Mudrarakshasa
one of two political rivals employs the gift of a visha kanya, 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 a 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.
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.
"Rappaccini's Daughter" contains references to Dante's Divine Comedy, the Garden of Eden
, and Milton's Paradise Lost
as it juxtaposes the scientific aspects of research (Professor Rappaccini and Professor Baglioni) with spirituality (Giovanni and Beatrice) and explores original sin
. Hawthorne's story is often compared to a later work by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
, a novel called Elsie Venner
.
, 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.
Medicine Melancholy of Touhou Project
seems to be inspired by this story as she's a doll which became alive and poisonous after being left on a hill full of poisonous flowers.
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
written by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist and short story writer.Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in the city of Salem, Massachusetts to Nathaniel Hathorne and the former Elizabeth Clarke Manning. His ancestors include John Hathorne, a judge during the Salem Witch Trials...
in 1844 concerning a medical researcher in medieval Padua. It was published in the collection Mosses from an Old Manse
Mosses from an Old Manse
Mosses from an Old Manse was a short story collection by Nathaniel Hawthorne, first published in 1846.-Background and publication history:...
.
Plot summary
The story is set in Padua, Italy, in a distant but unspecified past. From his quarters, Giovanni, a young student of letters, looks at 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, is poisonous herself. 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 PazOctavio Paz
Octavio Paz Lozano was a Mexican writer, poet, and diplomat, and the winner of the 1990 Nobel Prize for Literature.-Early life and writings:...
, the sources of Hawthorne's story lie in India. In the play Mudrarakshasa
Mudrarakshasa
The Mudrarakshasa , a historical play in Sanskrit by Vishakhadatta in late 4th or early 5th century narrates the ascent of the king Chandragupta Maurya to power in Northern India.-Origin:...
one of two political rivals employs the gift of a visha kanya, 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
Puranas
The Puranas are a genre of important Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.Puranas...
. From India, the story passed to the West and features in the Gesta Romanorum
Gesta Romanorum
Gesta Romanorum, a Latin collection of anecdotes and tales, was probably compiled about the end of the 13th century or the beginning of the 14th...
and other texts. In the 17th century, Robert Burton
Robert Burton (scholar)
Robert Burton was an English scholar at Oxford University, best known for the classic The Anatomy of Melancholy. He was also the incumbent of St Thomas the Martyr, Oxford, and of Segrave in Leicestershire.-Life:...
picked up the tale in The Anatomy of Melancholy
The Anatomy of Melancholy
The Anatomy of Melancholy The Anatomy of Melancholy The Anatomy of Melancholy (Full title: The Anatomy of Melancholy, What it is: With all the Kinds, Causes, Symptomes, Prognostickes, and Several Cures of it. In Three Maine Partitions with their several Sections, Members, and Subsections...
and gave it a 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 HawthornCrataegus
Crataegus , commonly called hawthorn or thornapple, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the rose family, Rosaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere in Europe, Asia and North America. The name hawthorn was originally applied to the species native to northern Europe,...
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 productive and destructive powers of scientific discovery
- Voyeurism and adoration
- The ways in which fantasy and reality work together and against each other to shape one's perceptions
"Rappaccini's Daughter" contains references to Dante's Divine Comedy, the Garden of Eden
Garden of Eden
The Garden of Eden is in the Bible's Book of Genesis as being the place where the first man, Adam, and his wife, Eve, lived after they were created by God. Literally, the Bible speaks about a garden in Eden...
, and Milton's Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. It was originally published in 1667 in ten books, with a total of over ten thousand individual lines of verse...
as it juxtaposes the scientific aspects of research (Professor Rappaccini and Professor Baglioni) with spirituality (Giovanni and Beatrice) and explores original sin
Original sin
Original sin is, according to a Christian theological doctrine, humanity's state of sin resulting from the Fall of Man. This condition has been characterized in many ways, ranging from something as insignificant as a slight deficiency, or a tendency toward sin yet without collective guilt, referred...
. Hawthorne's story is often compared to a later work by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. was an American physician, professor, lecturer, and author. Regarded by his peers as one of the best writers of the 19th century, he is considered a member of the Fireside Poets. His most famous prose works are the "Breakfast-Table" series, which began with The Autocrat...
, a novel called Elsie Venner
Elsie Venner
Elsie Venner: A Romance of Destiny is an 1861 novel by American author and physician Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. Later dubbed the first of his "medicated novels", it tells the story of a neurotic young woman whose mother was bitten by a rattlesnake while pregnant, essentially making her daughter...
.
Operas
- Rappaccini's Daughter by Charles Wakefield CadmanCharles Wakefield CadmanCharles Wakefield Cadman was an American composer.Cadman’s musical education, unlike that of most of his American contemporaries, was completely American. Born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, he began piano lessons at 13...
premiered at Carnegie HallCarnegie HallCarnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
on March 20, 1925 - Rappaccini's Daughter by Margaret Garwood (1983)
- La hija de Rappaccini by Daniel CatánDaniel CatánDaniel Catán was a Mexican composer of Russian Sephardic Jewish descent known particularly for his operas and his creative friendship with the tenor Plácido Domingo.-Career:...
(1991)
Plays
- Spanish-language play: La Hija de Rappaccini by Octavio PazOctavio PazOctavio Paz Lozano was a Mexican writer, poet, and diplomat, and the winner of the 1990 Nobel Prize for Literature.-Early life and writings:...
(1956) - English-language play: Rappaccini's Daughter by Sebastian DoggartSebastian DoggartSebastian Doggart is an English and American producer, director, writer, translator, cinematographer and human rights activist.-Education:...
(1996)
Television
- PBS's American Short Story, starring Kristoffer TaboriKristoffer TaboriKristoffer Tabori is an American actor and television director.-Early life:Tabori was born in Malibu, California, the son of director Don Siegel and Swedish-American actress Viveca Lindfors. He appeared in one of his mother's films, Weddings and Babies, as a young boy...
, Kathleen BellerKathleen BellerKathleen Beller is an actress. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actress in a Supporting Role for her role in Promises in the Dark...
, and Leonardo CiminoLeonardo CiminoLeonardo Cimino born 1918, is an Italian film and television and stage actor who in 1937 appeared in the original stage production of Marc Blitzstein's The Cradle Will Rock...
(1980)
In popular culture
Monica RappacciniMonica Rappaccini
Monica Rappaccini is a fictional character, a supervillain in the Marvel Comics universe. She first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #7 , created by Fred Van Lente and Leonard Kirk...
, 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
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
' Poison Ivy is partially inspired by Hawthorne's story.
Medicine Melancholy of Touhou Project
Touhou Project
The , also known as Toho Project or Project Shrine Maiden, is a Japanese dōjin game series focused on bullet hell shooters made by the one-man developer Team Shanghai Alice, whose sole member, known as ZUN, is responsible for all the graphics, music, and programming for the most part...
seems to be inspired by this story as she's a doll which became alive and poisonous after being left on a hill full of poisonous flowers.
External links
- Text of story
- Literary Criticism at VCU
- Audio