Rappaccini’s Daughter (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne
- First Published: 1844
- Type of Plot: Gothic
- Time of Work: The late eighteenth century
- Setting: Padua, Italy
- Principal Characters: Giovanni Guasconti, Dame Lisabetta, Dr. Giacomo Rappaccini, Beatrice Rappaccini, Dr. Pietro Baglioni
- Genres: Short fiction, Gothic fiction
- Subjects: Love or romance, Science or scientists, Religion, Death or dying, Ethics, Medicine, Mad scientists, Gardens or gardening
- Locales: Padua, Italy
The Story
A young man named Giovanni rents a room in an old edifice belonging to a family whose ancestor was listed among the sufferers in Dante's Inferno. It looks down on a luxuriant inner garden belonging to a neighbor, Dr. Rappaccini. The garden is brilliant with exotic blooms, the most spectacular, a shrub growing by a ruined fountain. It is covered with rich purple blossoms. Dr. Rappaccini often tends the garden, but he is always protected by heavy gloves and sometimes a face mask. His lovely daughter, Beatrice, takes no such precautions, however, and she is the...
[The entire page is 1554 words long]
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