Lesson 8 - Mind Over Matter - 1117 Words

Lesson 8 – Mind Over Matter If Rappaccini’s garden can be seen as the Garden of Eden, in what role does that place Rappaccini? This brilliant scientist biologically succeeded in creating a beautiful and virtuous daughter, and he succeeded through his experiments in making her deadly to get close to. If one views Rappaccini as a God, creating his own Eden with his own impure purposes, what does this mean? It is clear that Rappaccini is the least innocent of all of the characters in this short story. Was he trying to destroy social and scientific convention, or was he merely trying to see how far he could push himself and the envelope of acceptable scientific practice? â€Å"Rappaccini’s Daughter† is a great story that shows many great uses†¦show more content†¦The uses colorful descriptions are also to describe Beatrice, drawing a parallel between her and the garden. A marble fountain is located in the garden, and given its description, the fountain is a symbol of physical corruption and purity of the soul, very much like Beatrice. The constant mention of Dante at the beginning, the viewpoint of Giovanni from his balcony looking down as into a pit, the poisonous vapors presumably rising from all of it, all suggests the ledge overlooking the deepest Hell where Dante and Vergil discussed the different degrees of sin, beginning with lust and ending with malice and betrayal. At the bottom of this pit, at its center, is not Lucifer, or even Rappaccini, but a fountain. There is no indication that the water flowing from the fountain is polluted. Beatrice’s innocent spirit is very similar to the fountain: many passionate and holy things gush out of her heart, when the pure fountain has been opened from its depths and made seen in its transparency to the mental eye; remembrance that, had Giovanni known how to estimate them, it would have assured that all of the ugly mystery was only an earthly allusion. In Roman mythology, the god of seasons and of ripening plants and fruits wooed and won Pomona, a nymph. Before meeting Vertumnus, she had confined herself to her garden to tend the plants and fruits. The statue of Vertumnus can be perceived as a symbol of