Scholarly Source Paper on Rappaccinni's Daughter

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Sarah Schreiber English 3350 Professor Ginsberg 9 February, 2015 Scholarly Source Paper Conflict and Characterization of Doctor Rappaccini How is Dr. Rappaccini characterized? Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Rappaccini’s Daughter” presents many conflicts throughout the story, and most are used in the characterization present. A handful of these conflicts, whether used thematically or directly characteristically, are conveyed to illustrate and examine the characters in the story. The most prominent conflicts present that help to characterize are modern science and morality, good and evil, and inherent human fault, all very Romantic ideas. It also is seen that racism is very present, if not hidden, in the story itself, can be seen in many instances, and is a large part of understanding and simply reacting to the story. These are brought into the story in a most brilliant way, and Dr. Rappaccini is a prime example of how Hawthorne uses conflict as a great characterization technique. Doctor Giacomo Rappaccini is known as a brilliant ingenious scientist and medical doctor, who has a garden where he focuses on growing plants for medicinal purposes. When he is introduced into the story, he seems like a normal doctor who is just very interested in medicine and finding the plants that can do amazing things for people; there is no evidence whatsoever that there may be something a bit antagonistic about him. This is mainly because he has made what appears to be a modern day garden of Eden. Rappaccini himself is rarely seen throughout the story, and when he is, he is covered in a variety of odd gear, or protective clothing. Throughout his interactions in the story, the reader begins to see the true nature of Rappaccini’s intentions. As Hawthorne begins to go into more detail about Rappaccini, he begins by stating “. . .in spite of the deep intelligence on his part, there
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