Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne 1804-1864
• Born in Salem,
Massachusetts
• Puritan
Background
• Ancestor was
John Hathorne
– one of the
three judges in
the Salem
Witch Trials
Hawthorne’s Background
• Began writing after college
at Bowdion College in
Maine
• Spent many years in
seclusion – starving artist
• Held many jobs including
writer, publisher, working at
a custom house, and
consul in England
More Background
• Married Sophie Peabody in
1825
• Was friends with Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow,
Ralph Waldo Emerson,
Henry David Thoreau,
Herman Melville, and
President Franklin Pierce
His Themes in Writing
• Moral
allegories
• The sinful
man
• Hypocrisy
• The Dark side
of Human
Nature
• Religious in
Nature
His Most Famous Works
• Novels
– The House of Seven Gables
– The Scarlet Letter
• Short Stories
– “The Minister’s Black Veil”
– “Young Goodman Brown”
– “Rappaccinni’s Daughter”
And Now, Nathanial Hawthorn’s Short Story
“Rappaccinni’s Daughter”
Themes
• Main Theme: Corruption
.......Corruption is the main
theme of “Rappaccini's”
daughter. Among the
definitions of corruption are
these: (1) wickedness, evil,
malignity; (2)
contamination, pollution,
decay.
• Hawthorne focuses on
both kinds of corruption,
contrasting one with the
other in order to make
clear this truth: that the
more heinous form of
corruption is the first kind,
which lodges in the human
heart and intellect.
• .......The theme of corruption
begins to manifest itself when
old Lisabetta refers to the
“strange flowers” that grow in
the garden and the narrator
mentions plants that “crept
serpent-like along the
ground.”
• When Rappaccini appears in
the garden to study the plants,
the narrator observes that “the
man's demeanor was that of
one walking among malignant
influences, such as savage
beasts, or deadly snakes, or evil
spirits, which, should he allow
them one moment of license,
would wreak upon him some
terrible fatality.”
• .......But the real evil is not in
the garden plants; it is in
Rappaccini. He is a canker
that generates corruption.
• He first corrupts his soul,
committing the father of all
sins, pride, by defying God
and nature in order to
aggrandize his reputation
through experiments that
turn his garden into an evil
Eden.
• His experimentation also
corrupts his body, which
becomes feeble and
sickly, and transforms his
innocent daughter into a
poisonous agent whose
very breath can kill.
Exceeding the Bounds of Morality
• Rappaccini far exceeds
the bounds of morality
when he ruins the life of his
daughter—and
jeopardizes his own life—for
the sake of achieving
scientific breakthroughs.
• His fictional research
foreshadows the
experimentation of historical
figures such as the infamous Dr.
Joseph Mengele. a member of
the Institute for Hereditary
Biology and Racial Hygiene,
founded in Nazi Germany in
1934. Mengele performed cruel
experiments on live human
beings in the Birkenau
concentration camp, where he
served as an SS officer
beginning in 1943. Jewish
inmates became virtual guinea
pigs, enduring great pain and
suffering..
• Here in the 21st Century
scientists are
experimenting with the
possibility of cloning
human beings, an activity
which theologians
generally condemn as
unethical and immoral
Love
• Although Dr. Rappaccini
corrupts the body of
Beatrice, her soul remains
pristine. She is a gentle
young woman who treats
even the highly poisonous
plant in the marble vase
with tenderness.
• When Giovanni reveals Baglioni's phial
as an antidote for the contaminants in
their bodies, she says, “Give it to me! .
. . I will drink but do thou await the
result.”
• Her response indicates that she
suspects foul play but is willing to test
the antidote on herself. If it turns out to
be a fatal poison, only she will die.
Giovanni will live. Whether Giovanni's
love for Beatrice is as strong as her
love for him—or whether he even
experiences love rather than
infatuation—is open to question.
Hatred
• .......Rappaccini and
Baglioni, rivals in science,
despise each other. One of
the goals of Rappaccini's
research is to discover
medical breakthroughs
that will elevate his
reputation above
Baglioni's. Baglioni
retaliates with the phial of
poison that kills Beatrice.
Isolation
• Because her father has
turned Beatrice into a
poisonous agent, she
remains isolated in her
house and garden. Her
ignorance of the world
outside and her lack of
contact with its inhabitants
have rendered her a mere
child in terms of cultural
and social growth.
Artificiality
• Almost all the plants in
Rappaccini's garden
appear unnatural to
Giovanni.
• The artificiality of the flowers
reflects the artificiality of
Giovanni's affection for
Beatrice. It is insincere. It also
reflects the artificiality of Dr.
Rappaccini's motives in seeking
breakthrough medical cures.
His primary interest is not in
saving lives but in enhancing his
reputation and satisfying his
coldly intellectual curiosity.
Exploitation
• Dr. Rappaccini exploits
Beatrice in his medical
research. Giovanni exploits
her for her charms; his
professed love for her
seems insincere. Dr.
Baglioni kills Beatrice to
spite Rappaccini.
Some Basics…
• Characters
– Young
Goodman
Brown
– His wife,
Faith
– Mysterious
man in the
forest with a
strange
looking staff
Some Basics…
• Minor Character’s Notes…
– Constable: person in law
enforcement
– Deacon: position in church
held by congregation
member
– Goody: abbr. of “goodwife”,
female version of goodman
– Reverend: pastor
– Sabbath: day of rest in the
Judo/Christian church – in
this case, Sunday
YGB as an Allegory
• What is an allegory?
– A story where everything is a
symbol
– Used commonly to instruct
especially in religious matters
– Some famous allegories are:
• Dante’s Divine Comedy (more
famous though is the first part
commonly known as Dante’s
Inferno
• John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress
The Allegory of Young Goodman
Brown – Basics
• The Snake
Satan –
The Devil
• Why?
– See Genesis Chapter 3
The Allegory of Young Goodman
Brown - Basics
• The Forest
• Evil / Sin
The Allegory of Young Goodman
Brown – Basics
• Stars / Sky /
Heavenly
Bodies
• Heaven /
Connection
with God
The Allegory of Young Goodman
Brown - Basics
• White
Purity
• Red
Sin
• Pink
????
The Allegory of Young Goodman
Brown - Basics
• Fire
• Hell
The Allegory of Young Goodman
Brown – now, not basic
• Young Goodman Brown
• The common Christian man –
brown is neutral
• Faith
• A Christian’s faith
• Witches
• Satan / Evil
One Last Thing for Tomorrow…
Another literary term feather
for your literary term cap…
• Imagery: words and
phrases that re-create vivid
sensory experiences for the
reader. Usually imagery is
visual, but often it is written
to the senses of smell,
hearing, taste, and touch
Assignment for Tomorrow…
• Read “Young Goodman
Brown”
• There will be a basic quiz
tomorrow on the
PowerPoint and the story
– PowerPoint is online for your
viewing enjoyment
• Underline in pencil
examples of imagery – for
effort points