in Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Rappaccini's Daughter"

Introduction.......................................................................................................................... 1

Argumentation...................................................................................................................... 2

1. The Fantastic Elements of the Setting.................................................................. 2

1.1. The Preface as a Foretaste..................................................................... 2

1.2. The Opening Phrase............................................................................... 3

1.3. Rappaccini's Garden.............................................................................. 3

1.3.a. The Garden of Eden and the Fairytale Garden....................... 3

1.3.b. Rappaccini's Garden as a Reflection of his Hubris .................5

2. The Renaissance as Temporal Setting.................................................................. 7

2.1. Direct Hints to the Renaissance............................................................. 7

So the fantastic spatial setting of the garden resembles the place where the Fall of Man had occurred. The allusions to this biblical parable by means of the spatial setting indicate that the parable repeats itself here. Rappaccini is "the Adam" "of the present world" (96), he is characterized by the same presumptuousness and excessive thirst for knowledge, expressed by the plants of his own creation, that caused the Fall of humanity in the Garden of Eden.

Schau alle Wirkenskraft und Samen... 68

We can assume that Hawthorne consciously shaped Rappaccini on the model of Faust who, like Rappaccini, was a reckless researcher typical of the 16th century, the age of renaissance and humanism. Rappaccini is, like Faust, a hero who passionately seeks power: "it seemed as if [Rappaccini] was looking into [the plants'] inmost nature, (...) their creative essence" (p.96). This is reminiscent of Faust's words:

Jackel, Gunter, ed. Das Volksbuch vom Till Eulenspiegel. Leipzig: Reclam, 1956.

The fairytale gardens resemble the Garden of Eden in yet another regard. They are well-ordered places which are excluded from their often chaotic environs by means of impenetrable obstacles17. This separation18 points to the Garden of Eden in so far as Eden was a harmless place distinguished from its surroundings by the tamed nature there19. It was a secure spot where the Creator placed the still innocent Adam and Eve. Correspondingly, Rappaccini's garden is accessible only via one "private entrance" (108) followed by "several obscure passages" (109) that lead to the "hidden entrance" over which "the entanglement of a shrub (...) wreathed its tendrils" (109)20.

69 Christopher Marlowe, The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, Scene 1, 20-23.

86 "Mensch, Der kunstliche" in Elisabeth Frenzel, Motive der Weltliteratur 511.

Norton Anthology of English Literature. New York: Norton, 1996.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Garden Eden, Rappaccini's Daughter, Rappaccini Adam, Rappaccini Frankenstein, Berlin Walter, Gartner Enzyklopadie, Celeste Chemin, Galileo Galilei, Faust Frankenstein, League Devil, rappaccini's daughter, enzyklopadie des marchens, garden eden, enzyklopadie des, des marchens, rappaccini's garden, nathaniel hawthorne, der weltliteratur, berlin walter de, berlin walter, walter de, de gruyter, walter de gruyter, ed enzyklopadie des, des marchens vol5,
Approximate Word count = 9303
Approximate Pages = 37 (250 words per page double spaced)