By the reading and discussion of Rappaccini’s Daughter in today’s class, I noticed that the scientist, Rappaccini, is so cold and scientific that he even uses his daughter for the experiment. Since Rappaccini is an enlightenment man in the book, Hawthorne expressed her view of enlightenment though this character. The writer of the book, Hawthorne, is a Transcendentalist, which the most important thing to him is heart. Form the book, apparently, Hawthorne did not agree with the pure enlightenment thinking, which lost sanctity of the human heart.
Background of the book:
The book was written in mid 19th century, which the industrialization took place. Most of the people enjoyed the benefit from the development of science and technology, but there were still some people suffering from the environmental pollution or the working pressure brought by the revolution.
In my opinion, Rappaccini is actually not a bad guy. However, he is just too scientific in his nature. Some people thought the main theme is Corruption as Hawthorne contrasts the different corruption to make clear this truth: that the more heinous form of corruption is the first kind, which lodges in the human heart and intellect. But though my point of view, the main theme is love. Although Rappaccini corrupts the body of Beatrice, her soul remains pristine. She even treats the highly poisonous plants nicely. She falls in love with Giovanni, a college student. Thus it is the genuine love that sets no conditions or makes no demands.
I understand your last statement, but I disagree. No matter what the motivation, violating the sanctity of a human being's heart is wrong. Even if it is his own daughter, Rappaccini does not have the right to isolate her from the rest of the human race. Perhaps he feels that he has made her impervious to the ills that strike the rest of humanity, and thus he has arranged a fair trade. I wonder -- does any human have the right to dictate the life of another? I say no. Of course, there is room for disagreement here.
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