Rappaccini's Daughter Questions and Answers
Rappaccini's Daughter
What are three gothic elements in "Rappaccini's Daughter"?
The Gothic puts us into touch with the uncanny, the parts of ourselves or our world that we don't want to see. For this reason, it is associated with what Freud called the return of the repressed,...
Rappaccini's Daughter
How does Beatrice die in "Rappaccini's Daughter"?
In "Rappaccini's Daughter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Beatrice dies when her lover Giovanni gives her a potion that destroys the immune system that had protected her against the poisonous flowers in...
Rappaccini's Daughter
In "Rappaccini's Daughter" by Hawthorne, what is the unusual relationship between Beatrice and the purple shrub?
The purple shrub is the poisonous plant Rappaccini created and used to "nourish" his daughter, Beatrice, as the basis of his perverse experiment. It's therefore a kind of sister to Beatrice; or,...
Rappaccini's Daughter
A quality of Romanticism is a belief that the beauties and mysteries of nature are a source of moral lessons. What is...
Because of her father's evil experiment, his lovely daughter Beatrice poisons all that she breathes on and touches. This means she has to stay inside her father's garden, otherwise she might harm...
Rappaccini's Daughter
In “Rappaccini's Daughter,” what is a direct quote that confirms that Giovanni gave an antidote to Beatrice and...
Professor Baglioni comes to visit Giovanni at the young man’s apartment, and he gives Giovanni a “small, exquisitely wrought silver phial” containing a supposed “antidote” to Beatrice’s poisonous...
Rappaccini's Daughter
In "Rappaccini's Daughter," Beatrice asks Giovanni to believe nothing of her except what he sees with his own eyes....
When Giovanni first sees Beatrice, he has the impression that she is "another flower, the human sister of the vegetable ones," because she is as beautiful as they are but seems likewise dangerous....
Rappaccini's Daughter
In "Rappaccini's Daughter," why doesn’t Beatrice want Giovanni to touch the plant? Why does she protect him? Explain.
Beatrice does not want Giovanni to touch the plant because she knows that it would cause Giovanni harm. That is the simple answer, but exploring why she doesn't want Giovanni to come to harm or die...
Rappaccini's Daughter
What parallels are there between the Garden of Eden in the Old Testament in the Bible, and the garden in Hawthorne's...
As the other response has noted, "Rappaccini's Daughter" is full of allusions to Adam, Eve, and the Garden of Eden. Most notably, perhaps, is the fact that the story largely unfolds in a beautiful...
Rappaccini's Daughter
Who is Beatrice's "sister" in "Rappaccini's Daughter"?
Beatrice's "sister" is a particularly poisonous plant that her father believes is too potent for him to care for any longer. He tells her that he thinks his "life may pay the penalty" of coming in...
Rappaccini's Daughter
Why is Beatrice happy to die in Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Rappaccini's Daughter"?
Beatrice is happy to die at the end of "Rappaccini's Daughter" because she feels the pain of having been born poisonous. She has long endured the solitude that her father, a scientist, created for...
Rappaccini's Daughter
Compare and contrast Giovanni with Beatrice in "Rappaccini’s Daughter."
In "Rappaccini's Daughter," the two primary characters are Beatrice and Giovanni. They end up in the same place, but they're certainly more different than alike. Beatrice is the daughter of a...
Rappaccini's Daughter
Why did Rappaccini poison his daughter?
As Professor Baglioni tells Giovanni, Rappaccini cares infinitely more for science than for mankind. Baglioni goes on to say that Rappaccini would sacrifice anyone, even himself or someone he...
Rappaccini's Daughter
In what ways can Beatrice be seen as a pawn of the men?
Beatrice can be seen as a pawn of the men because she makes relatively few decisions for herself in the story; most of the story's action takes place as a result of her father's and Giovanni's...
Rappaccini's Daughter
Is Giovanni in love with Beatrice in "Rappaccini's Daughter"?
"Rappaccini's Daughter" is definitely a love story of sorts, so I believe that a strong case can be made that Giovanni is in love with Beatrice. It is not hard to imagine why he would fall for such...
Rappaccini's Daughter
What does Baglioni give Giovanni?
Baglioni gives Giovanni an "antidote" that will supposedly cure Beatrice. The narrator tells the reader that a "professional warfare of long continuance" exists between Baglioni and Rappaccini and...
Rappaccini's Daughter
In "Rappaccini's Daughter," Beatrice says, “this garden is his world,” referring to her father’s garden. What two...
The garden may be Rappaccini's world in the sense that it's the thing that matters the most to him but it's also Rappaccini's world in that he controls what happens in it. Rappaccini loves his...
Rappaccini's Daughter
Who has unselfish love in "Rappaccini's Daughter"? Explain.
Beatrice is the character in the story who shows unselfish love. Her father's love for her is tainted with selfishness because he uses her for his scientific experiments. Giovanni's love for her is...
Rappaccini's Daughter
Please describe the characters of Beatrice, Giovanni and Rappaccini in "Rappaccini's Daughter."
In Rappaccini's Daughter, Nathaniel Hawthorne has created very complex characters in what is a study in motive along with a study in good and evil, as well as in science and nature. Giovanni is the...
Rappaccini's Daughter
According to the following passage from "Rappaccini's Daughter," how can Rappaccini’s love for his daughter as a...
Rappacini's name is connotative of the adjective rapacious which means excessively grasping or greedy. Using his daughter, who looks "redundant with life, health, and energy" Rappacini, a ruthless...
Rappaccini's Daughter
How has Giovanni changed throughout the story of "Rappaccini's Daughter"?
The beautiful Giovanni becomes fascinated with the beautiful Beatrice as he watches her from above tend her flowers in the garden next door, alternatively attracted to and repulsed by her. Although...
Rappaccini's Daughter
One of the qualities of a Romantic story is an interest in the supernatural. In "Rappaccini's Daughter," how does...
When Giovanni examines the plants in the garden, he recognizes them as unnatural. He thinks that they're fierce as well. These aren't qualities that a person normally attributes to plants. It...
Rappaccini's Daughter
How does the narrator's telling of the story of "Rappaccini's Daughter" affect the reader's understanding of events?
The narrator of "Rappaccini's Daughter" is of the third person limited omniscient variety. This means that the narrator is not a participant in the events that take place in the text and does not...
Rappaccini's Daughter
What are the gothic features in "Rappaccini's Daughter"?
"Rappaccini's Daughter" is a 1844 short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, written at a period in which Romantic or Gothic story writing was flourishing. It has several Gothic elements, described...
Rappaccini's Daughter
Did Baglioni know that the antidote would kill Beatrice?
It is unclear whether or not Baglioni knows that his antidote would kill Beatrice. On the one hand, when he sees her die after drinking it, he calls out "with horror," asking Dr. Rappaccini if his...
Rappaccini's Daughter
What elements foreshadow the ending in "Rappaccini's Daughter"?
In "Rappaccini's Daughter," a sense of foreboding and evil that are from the beginning attached to Rappaccini and his garden foreshadow Beatrice's sad end. The ending of this story is tragic....
Rappaccini's Daughter
How do Rappaccini and Baglioni use Beatrice and Giovanni for their own needs in "Rappaccini's Daughter"?
When Giovanni first speaks with his father's old friend, Professor Baglioni, the professor tells him that Dr. Rappaccini cares a great deal more about science than he does about people and that he...
Rappaccini's Daughter
What are Baglioni's suspicions about Giovanni?
Baglioni first suspects that Giovanni's interest in Dr. Rappaccini proceeds from an interest in his daughter, Beatrice. She is famously rumored to be quite beautiful and knowledgeable, and her...
Rappaccini's Daughter
Who would be considered the antagonist in "Rappaccini's Daughter"?
In order to figure out who or what is the antagonist, we must first decide who the protagonist is and the nature of that character's main conflict. I would argue that Giovanni Guasconti is the...
Rappaccini's Daughter
What did Rappaccini want to do? Why had he grown poisonous plants in his garden?
Doctor Rappaccini is said by Professor Guasconti to have a great devotion to science, a greater devotion to science than to people, and he is willing to sacrifice people, including himself, for...
Rappaccini's Daughter
How does Giovanni feel after Beatrice accepts the bouquet he tosses to her from his window?
Giovanni Guasconti is obviously very much struck by the beauty and grace of Beatrice Rappaccini when he sees her in her father's garden. He finds her to be enchanting in her loveliness, her voice...
Rappaccini's Daughter
Did Rappaccini love his daughter in the story "Rappaccini's Daughter"? What evidence from the story supports your...
Rappaccini comes across as a cold, insensitive man. When Giovanni first sees him tending to his flowers, he observes that the doctor “avoids the actual touch of the flowers, or the direct inhaling...
Rappaccini's Daughter
What did Giovanni notice about the living creatures in the garden?
In "Rappaccini's Daughter," protagonist Giovanni Guasconti moves into an old building before beginning his studies at the University of Padua. He glances outside of his room's window and sees a...
Rappaccini's Daughter
Explain what Dr. Rappaccini wanted to do for Giovanni and Beatrice with his science.
In Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story "Rappaccini's Daughter," Dr. Giacomo Rappaccini is a brilliant scientist who cultivates poisonous plants which he uses to create medicines. Rappaccini is a...
Rappaccini's Daughter
Why does Giovanni not die from Beatrice's breath (he just becomes poisonous himself) in "Rappaccini’s Daughter."
Hawthorne's "Rappaccini's Daughter" is one of those classic stories which is worth discussing. This is a good question with a simple answer--Giovanni had become accustomed to the poison in small...
Rappaccini's Daughter
What is the message of "Rappaccini's Daughter"?
As an allegory, the story is open to many interpretations, so there is no single "message" or moral to the story. A few themes do stand out, however, including the following. Science is...
Rappaccini's Daughter
Discuss the ideas of appearance and reality as presented in "Rappaccini's Daughter."
When Giovanni starts watching Beatrice in the garden below his window, he is at first enticed by her beauty and virtue. Of her face, we learn he is struck by its expression of simplicity and...
Rappaccini's Daughter
Why does Dr. Rappaccini require his daughter's help in "Rappaccini's Daughter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne?
In "Rappaccini's Daughter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Dr. Giacomo Rappaccini is a classical evil scientist figure, whose towering intellect and intellectual curiosity have led him to delve into the...
Rappaccini's Daughter
What is the role and idea of nature in the story "Rappaccini's Daughter" by Hawthrone?
Excellent question. "Rappaccini's Daughter" is actually a commentary both on the nature of man and the nature of science. The science, here, comes in the form of manipulating humans and nature...
Rappaccini's Daughter
In "Rappaccini's Daughter" by Hawthorne, does Giovanni ever truly self-reflect? If not, do you think he will do so...
Giovanni is filled with rage at Beatrice and vents his anger to her for being poisonous. After he insults her, he still dreams that there is a way to change her nature and for her to be united with...
Rappaccini's Daughter
Is "Rappaccini's Daughter" a love story?
In some ways, this question is asking for a subjective response, and it is a fun question to ask students after reading this story. It is a fun question to ask, because about half the students feel...
Rappaccini's Daughter
What would be a character sketch of Dr. Rappaccini?
Dr. Rappaccini is an esteemed and skilled physician, but "he cares infinitely more for science than for mankind." He treats his patients as interesting medical experiments rather than human beings,...
Rappaccini's Daughter
What is the moral conflict in "Rappaccini's Daughter"?
In his story, "Rappaccini's Daughter," Hawthorne raises a question proposed by others such as Victor Hugo with his character Claude Frollo and Mary Shelley with Victor Frankenstein: What are the...
Rappaccini's Daughter
Describe the character of Beatrice in Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story "Rappaccini's Daughter."
Rappaccini’s daughter, Beatrice, first appears as a devoted and dutiful daughter who seems to have accepted her fate as “sister” of a toxic flowering plant. (Note, for example, how she sighs and...
Rappaccini's Daughter
Describe Professor Baglioni in Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story "Rappaccini's Daughter."
Doctor Pietro Baglioni is one of the few characters in "Rappaccini's Daughter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Baglioni is a well respected professor of medicine at the University of Padua and is known as...
Rappaccini's Daughter
Does Baglioni like Rappaccini? What does he say about him?
Professor Pietro Baglioni does not like Doctor Rappaccini. When Giovanni first brings up Rappaccini's name, Baglioni's demeanor changes immediately, and he doesn't respond with the same cordiality...
Rappaccini's Daughter
In the story "The Birthmark," what are quotes about Aylmer and his wife Georgiana that are similar to Giovanni in...
In "Rappaccini's Daughter," Giovanni Guasconti witnesses the death of a small lizard after a drop of moisture falls from a gorgeous flower picked by Beatrice Rappaccini falls on it. He sees that...
Rappaccini's Daughter
In "Rappaccini's Daughter," what does Baglioni’s story reveal about his suspicions about what might be happening to...
Professor Baglioni, when he sees Giovanni looking so different from the first time they met, grows convinced that Doctor Rappaccini has been making a study of the young man. Baglioni claims to know...
Rappaccini's Daughter
How is "Rappaccini's Daughter" an allegory?
Allegories are stories with a hidden meaning, very often a moral message, and they are often characterized by a one-to-one correspondence between their characters and the particular trait they...
Rappaccini's Daughter
In "Rappaccini's Daughter" is there any symbolism tied to Giovanni's struggle while dealing with Rappaccini's...
In addition to the elements you have identified, in "Rappaccini's Daughter," by Nathaniel Hawthorne, I notice not only that the house Giovanni lives in seems too solemn and crumbling, but the stone...
Rappaccini's Daughter
How does anti-transcendentalism relate to "Rappaccini's Daughter"?
Transcendentalists believed in the divinity of nature. Many, like Ralph Waldo Emerson, thought that when we are in nature, something very special happens to us. We return to a childlike state of...
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