Rappaccini's Daughter

Infobox short story |
name = Rappaccini's Daughter
title_orig =
translator =
author = Nathaniel Hawthorne
country = flagicon|USA United States
language = English
series =
genre = Short story
publication_type = Anthology
published_in = "Mosses from an Old Manse"
publisher =
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pub_date = 1844
english_pub_date =
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"Rappaccini's Daughter" is a short story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1844 and collected in "Mosses from an Old Manse" that concerns a medical researcher in medieval Padua.

Plot summary

Set in Padua "very long ago," this is the story of a "mad scientist" working in isolation on a completely unethical (at least by modern research standards) experiment involving poisonous plants. A young student of medicine, Giovanni, observes from his quarters the scientist's beautiful daughter who is confined to the lush and locked gardens in which the experiment is taking place.Having fallen in love with the lovely Beatrice, Giovanni ignores the warning of his mentor, Professor Baglioni, that Rappaccini is up to no good and he and his work should be shunned. Eventually, Giovanni sneaks into the forbidden garden to meet his lover, and begins to suffer the consequences of encounter with the plants--and with Beatrice, who dwells among them and has been rendered both immune to their effects and poisonous to others.

ources

According to Octavio Paz, the sources of Hawthorne's story lie in India. "Mudra Rakshasa", or "The Seal of Rakshasa's Ring", by the ninth-century poet Vishakadatta, is a political drama about the rivalry between two politicians. Among the strategies which one of them uses to beat his rival is the gift of a beautiful girl ("visha kanya") who is fed on poison. This theme of the lady 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, Christianized, it 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: Porus sends Alexander the Great a girl brimming with poison. Thomas Browne repeats the story: "An Indian King sent Alexander a beautiful girl who was fed on monkshood and other poisons, intending to destroy him, either through copulation or through some other physical contact." Browne was Hawthorne's source. (cf. Doggart, 1996, p.27)

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 a old story of a poisonous Indian girl presented to Alexander, a tale that appears to be based on the Burton/Browne story.

tyle

Hawthorne begins the story with a "fictional" introduction to the writings of monsieur "Aubépine," which in French is a plant. The English name of this plant is hawthorne. He both praises and criticizes the author's style and intent. Of course, the author is Nathaniel Hawthorne himself. One purpose of this introduction, aside from light humor, is to establish a tone of uncertainty and confusion in the reader. These introductory remarks tell of a fictional fiction-author writing an introduction to this new work of fiction, yet true bibliographical information and half-truths are scattered throughout. And though this is not going to "confuse" the reader, it is likely to throw off expectations and establish extra-textually the theme of the interrelationship of perception, reality and fantasy.

Paz described his play as a 'dramatic poem'. There are stylistic influences from William Butler Yeats, Japanese Noh theater and the Spanish auto sacramental.

Major themes

* The paradoxical/inverse that every time an experiment happens, it takes place in the Garden of Eden
* The malevolence/benevolence of Beatrice and Rappaccini
* The notion that fantasy and reality work together and against each other to create one's perceptions

"Throughout Giovanni's whole acquaintance with Beatrice, he had occasionally, as we have said, been haunted by dark surmises as to her character. Yet, so thoroughly had she made herself felt by him as a simple, natural, most affectionate and guileless creature, that the image now held up by Professor Baglioni, looked as strange and incredible, as if it were not in accordance with his own original conception. True, there were ugly recollections connected with his first glimpses of the beautiful girl; he could not quite forget the bouquet that withered in her grasp, and the insect that perished amid the sunny air, by no ostensible agency save the fragrance of her breath. These incidents, however, dissolving in the pure light of her character, "had no longer the efficacy of facts, but were acknowledged as mistaken fantasies, by whatever testimony of the senses they might appear to be substantiated."

Typical of Hawthorne's stories, "Rappaccini's Daughter" is an allegory to both the Divine Comedy and the Garden of Eden. The story juxtaposes the scientifical 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 can two people love each other despite physical barriers.

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

The plot of this story was used as the basis for a play by Octavio Paz, "La Hija de Rappaccini", first performed in Mexico in 1956, and first performed in an English translation by Sebastian Doggart in 1996. A similar story underpinned the libretto to an opera by Daniel Catan, "Rappaccini's Daughter", which premiered in 1991. 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.

External links

* [http://www.shsu.edu/~eng_wpf/authors/Hawthorne/Rappaccini.htm Text of story]
* [http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/eng372/rappcrit.htm Literary Criticism] at VCU
* [http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/archive/2005-10/2005-10-24-voa6.cfm Audio]
* [http://www.paperstarter.com/rappaccinis_daughter.htm Thematic Study Guide for Rappaccini's Daughter]

References

*"Stage Labyrinths: Latin American Plays", S. Doggart, Nick Hern Books, 1996