For Lovers of Nathaniel Hawthorne: Conceptions of “Rappaccini’s Daughter”

Personal Yummy #85

As a student of literature at Chatham College in Pittsburgh, PA, during the early nineties, I read and studied many of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s works, including his tales, sketches, and novels. His writing style, and the themes present throughout his writing, appealed to me.

“Rappaccini’s Daughter,” Hawthorne’s intriguing tale of an Italian scientist who uses his beautiful daughter, Beatrice, as the focus and instrument of a cruel experiment, especially affected me. It is a story of complex and multiple themes, and, therefore, one that lends itself to various interpretations.

Given my interest in this particular tale—and given that Hawthorne was, and still is, one of my favorite writers—I decided to use “Rappaccini’s Daughter” as the subject of my college thesis.

If you are a lover of Nathaniel Hawthorne (and even if you are not), perhaps you will enjoy my college-age perspectives on this powerful story.

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Twentieth-Century Conceptions of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Rappaccini’s Daughter”

As Part of a Tutorial in English
Chatham College
April 21, 1995

INTRODUCTION
(Part 1)

The conception of Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) and of his writing has changed from the century in which he wrote to the present century.

His writing was perceived in the nineteenth century as being simple, graceful, and light, with a natural humor and beauty. Rufus W. Griswold writes of Hawthorne in the International Magazine, May 1, 1851: “His style is studded with the most poetical imagery, and marked in every part with the happiest graces of expression, while it is calm, chaste, and flowing, and transparent as water” (Crowley 209).

In contrast, late twentieth-century readers see Hawthorne and his work as being predominantly psychological, dark, and tragic, possessing such themes as secret sin, guilt, and deception.

Thus, both nineteenth- and twentieth-century readers read the same stories oppositely and constructed a different Hawthorne according to the particular environments, backgrounds, culture, history, and learning to which they each were exposed.

“Rappaccini’s Daughter” (1844), Hawthorne’s intriguing tale of an Italian scientist who uses his beautiful daughter, Beatrice, as the focus and instrument of a cruel experiment, is a story of complex and multiple themes that lends itself to various interpretations. Richard Harter Fogle comments:

I have found ‘Rappaccini’s Daughter’ the most difficult of Hawthorne’s stories. Upon consideration, the difficulty seems to have two causes: the symbolism of Beatrice Rappaccini is puzzling, and the theme of the tale is double rather than single. ‘Rappaccini’s Daughter’ has, on the other hand, very great virtues; it is perhaps their very redundancy which makes the story hard to interpret (91).

He later adds: “‘Rappaccini’s Daughter,’ in fact, suffers from its excess of virtues; there are too many things to look at at once, and accurate definition of its elements is next to impossible” (92).

Because Hawthorne’s “Rappaccini’s Daughter” is a tale full of complexity that has incited, and continues to incite, controversy among readers, scholars, and critics, I decided to use it as the focus of my tutorial.

In the initial crude stages, in which I began working on my proposal, I intended to examine the interpretations and criticisms of “Rappaccini’s Daughter” according to the viewpoints of both the nineteenth century—the time in which it was written—and the present century. I then planned to investigate the influence and effect of American history, religion, and culture on these interpretations, and I wanted to compare those of the nineteenth century to those of the twentieth.

But as I started to do research and began to think more seriously about what I was planning to accomplish, I realized that the project was too large-scale to be completed in one year. Therefore, I decided to narrow my focus to a more manageable size and made a choice to concentrate solely on the interpretations present during the twentieth century, in order to conduct a balanced and thorough study.

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Thank you for reading Part 1 of the Introduction. I hope that it stimulated your curiosity.

Enjoy Part 2 of the Introduction via the following link: Introduction (Part 2)

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Source:

Waggoner, Hyatt H. Hawthorne: Selected Tales and Sketches. 3rd ed. Orlando: Holt, 1970.

Secondary Sources:

Crowley, J. Donald. ed. Hawthorne: The Critical Heritage. New York: Barnes, 1970.

Fogle, Richard Harter. Hawthorne’s Fiction: The Light and the Dark. Norman: Univ. of Oklahoma, 1964.