Symbols and Symbolism in Nathaniel Hawthornes Rappaccinis Daughter :: Rappaccinis Daughter Essays

The Use of Symbolism in Nathaniel Hawthornes Rappaccinis Daughter Nathaniel Hawthornes Rappaccinis Daughter is maybe the most complex and difficult of all Hawthornes short stories, but also the greatest. Nathaniel Hawthorne as a poet, has been characterized as a man of low emotional drive who adopted throughout his entire life the role of an observer. He was always able to record what he felt with remarkable words but he lacked force and energy. Hawthornes personal problem was his sense of isolation. He thought of isolation as the root of all evil. Therefore, he made evil the theme of many a(prenominal) of his stories. Hawthornes sense of the true human included intellectual freedom, passion and tenderness (Kaul 26). Hawthorne was also a symbolist who had enormous respect for the material world and for third estate sense reality. Hawthorne usually established a neutral territory somewhere between the real world and fairy land, where the actual and imaginary m eet. His ultimate mapping was always to open an intercourse with the world and out of this came symbolism (Kaul 66). For example, the cross -hybridization of the plants in the garden is called adultery (Newman 267). Rappaccinis Daughter was first published in declination 1844 in the United States Magazine and Democratic Review under Hawthornes own name. Before the story was even published Julian Hawthorne read the unfinished multiple sclerosis to his wife and she asked how it was going to end. Hawthorne was not quite sure how he was going to let the story end. It has been said that Beatrices dilemma may have been a thoughtfulness of Sophias (Hawthornes wife) sheltered years when she was younger at home with her mother. While Giovannis failure to save Beatrice or himself is a tragic reversal of Nathaniels and Sophias happiness together (Newman 258). In Rappaccini s Daughter, it is rich of symbols and symbolic allusions. Its setting is a fantastic garden fille d with vegetation and poisonous flowers and in the center is a broken fountain. Hawthornes focus is on Beatrice as she is seen by Giovanni. Hawthorne presents a trapped and poisonous Beatrice who needs a special kind of redemption. She is a prisoner in the garden and her body is full of poison.