Julianti 1

Jessica Julianti
Lauren Smith
Pre-University Reading
29 November 2014
Rappaccinis Daughter
Rappaccini's Daughter is a story about a young guy named Giovanni who was at first
intrigued by the beauty of Dr. Rappaccini's flowerbed. He then saw Rappaccini's daughter,
Beatrice and fell in love with her. He did not realize at first that Beatrice was poisonous until
after Professor Baglioni told him a story and he killed a spider with his breath. He became
immune to Beatrice's poison because he spent a lot of time with Beatrice. Professor Baglioni
convinces Giovanni that Beatrice has been raised as a living scientific experiment and
Giovanni is becoming one as well. The professor then gave Giovanni a powerful antidote
against poison, with the suggestion to use it on Beatrice in order to bring her back from
poisonous to a normal human being. However, Beatrice's life was imbued with poison and the
antidote was a "poison" for her. Thus, she died in front of her father and Giovanni.
In Rappaccinis Daughter, I believe that Professor Baglioni is the wicked person. He
had a strong opposition to Dr. Rappaccini and he was the one who destroys the relationship
between Giovanni and Beatrice. Giovanni and Beatrices relationship was tragic from the
beginning and the way Hawthorne writes the story was intriguing. One of my favorite quotes
is There is something truer and more real than what we can see with the eyes and touch with
the finger. It shows that people has feelings that cannot be seen and touched. The other
quote is there was a peculiar quietness in the look, as if taking merely a speculative, not a
human interest, in the young man. It shows how serious he was when he observes an
experimental object.