Name

Kelley Martin

English 1301

3 May 2007
Symbolism of Beatrice Rappaccini

	Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary defines symbolism as “the art or practice of using symbols especially by investing things with a symbolic meaning or by expressing the invisible or intangible by means of visible or sensuous representations.” In “Rappaccini’s Daughter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, he practices symbolism in every aspect of this particular short story. Hawthorne symbolizes Dr. Giacomo Rappaccini’s daughter, Beatrice, in a variety of ways. She symbolizes a fountain, a flower and a sister of the flowers, an experiment to her father, and a poison to a local professor. 
	First, Beatrice symbolizes the marble fountain in her father’s garden. The fountain was “sculpted with rare art, but so wofully shattered that it was impossible to trace the original design from the chaos of remaining fragments” (Hawthorne). Just like the fountain, Beatrice was sculpted with rare art; she was sculpted by the hands of God, and made into a masterpiece. This masterpiece is “shattered” and made into something totally different by her father’s hands. In the garden, the fountain is placed in the middle of the garden, so it can be seen as a main focal point. Beatrice is a main focal point of her father’s life not because she is his daughter but because she is an important part of his garden. The fountain is a material object and Beatrice is a human being, but Dr. Rappaccini does not relate to them differently in anyway.
	Second, Beatrice symbolizes a flower and a sister to the other flowers in her father’s garden. Beatrice relates to the flowers as her sisters because just like them she was raised in the garden, nourished by a human, and matured into a beautiful display. She sees the flowers as her family especially a certain purple shrub: 
She embraces them and inhales their aroma without a mask or gloves. The doctor tells his daughter that he can no longer care for the purple shrub anymore, as he has already put his life in danger by getting so close. He asks that she take full responsibility for its care. Beatrice accepts the responsibility with great excitement and says that it will be her pleasure to take in the perfumed breath of the pungent flower, referring to it as ‘the breath of life’. (“Plot”)
While all the flowers are just sisters to Beatrice, the purple shrub is more like a twin sister. Beatrice “grew up and blossomed with the [shrub], and is nourished with its breath,” she “loves it with a human affection” (Hawthorne). Like twins, the shrub’s appearance is purple and Beatrice leaves a purple color whenever she touches something or someone. The shrub also gives off a poisonous perfume which is exactly the same scent Beatrice’s breath gives off. Dr. Rappaccini was smart in all the scientific events of raising his daughter but instead of raising a human; he raised a flower.
Next, Beatrice symbolizes her father’s experiment. His experiment makes her poisonous and lethal to others. Beatrice’s whole life revolves around her father’s scientific work, just like a lab rat’s whole life would revolve around a laboratory. Richard Brenzo explains Beatrice as “educated for a life of sacrifice” (164), and with this education comes “[isolation]… from most previous or future human relationships” (153). In other words, her father makes all the decisions in her life and she is not given the opportunity to think for herself. He is a scientist at all times never a father. In fact, he does not even feel bad about sacrificing his daughter for an experiment:
Beatrice asks why her father had inflicted such a horrid condition on her. Rappaccini, surprised by the question, answers that he has given her the greatest gift--she is invincible to virtually any power and she has the capability to defeat any enemy. He asks her if she would have preferred to be weak. She answers that she would prefer to have been capable of being loved instead of feared. (“Plot”)
Her father is so caught up in being a scientist that he does not see how much he has hurt Beatrice. The health of his daughter was sacrificed for greater knowledge. To add to the hurt, no one is aware of the garden because her father keeps it secret and the only way in is through a private entrance. Beatrice is poisonous and alone because her father decided to use her as an experiment. Dr. Rappaccini fails to realize that unlike most experimental things, there is only one Beatrice, and he does not get another chance to have her as a daughter.
Last, Beatrice symbolizes a poison to Professor Pietro Baglioni. Baglioni is a professor of medicine and very experienced in what he does. He is jealous of Beatrice because she “is learned in the ways of her father’s garden and in his experimental medicines” (“List”). Beatrice is a poison to Baglioni because he thinks she is going to take his spot at the university (“List”). Beatrice, like a poison, does not understand or comprehend that she is a poison to anyone:
Do people say that I am skilled in my father’s science of plants? What a jest is there! No; though I have grown up among these flowers, I know no more of them than their hues and perfume; and sometimes, methinks I would fain rid myself of even that small knowledge… But, pray, Signor, do not believe these stories about my science. (Hawthorne)
Baglioni thinks totally different. He thinks that Beatrice will use the knowledge she has gained from her father against him. Also Baglioni provides a medicine that would act as a cure to Beatrice, which is just like treating her as a posion. He was so blinded by thinking of Beatrice as a posion that he was too afraid to confront her and ask her for himself. When someone comes in contact with a possible poisonous object their first reaction would be to refrain from contact. They are too afraid to touch it and find out if it’s poisonous or not. Baglioni was afraid of finding out the truth and instead of making a new co-worker in the business; he made her a poisonous person in his mind which could have ended up spoiling his career.
Hawthorne’s extensive use of Beatrice as a duality is evident in “Rappaccini’s Daughter.” The reader may interpret the symbolism of Beatrice as positive or negative, but one interpretation is true no matter what: Beatrice is the most important character and symbol in this short story. From a non-material object to a deadly toxin, the symbolism of Beatrice has infinite possibilities.

Works Cited

Bloom, Harold. "List of Characters in ‘Rappaccini's Daughter’." Bloom's Major Short Story Writers: Nathaniel Hawthorne (2001): 57-57. Literary Reference Center. Web. 6 May 2007. 
---. "Plot Summary of ‘Rappaccini's Daughter’.” Bloom's Major Short Story Writers: Nathaniel Hawthorne (2001): 50-56. Literary Reference Center. Web. 6 May 2007. 
Brenzo, Richard.  "Beatrice Rappaccini: A Victim of Male Love and Horror.” American Literature May 1976: 152-162. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost. Web. 6 May 2007. 

“Symbolism." Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary. Merriam-Webster, Inc. Web. 06 May. 2007.