Love in the Male Dominated Society of the 1800s in Hawthornes Rappaccinis Daughter :: Rappaccinis Daughter Essays

Love in the Male Dominated Society of the 1800's in Hawthorne's Rappaccini's Daughter "Rappaccini's Daughter" is a strange tale, kind of an early pseudo-scientific short story, that focuses on the life of Beatrice and her bizarre nature. The result of a twisted experiment, she must find happiness within the walls of a garden her father has created for her. Although her life depends on a fatal poison, she defines her soul as "God's creation, and craves love as its daily food" (2131). This paradox creates a powerful story as the mortal Giovanni falls in love with the deadly Beatrice. Insane love and harsh words end the story with the climactic suicide of a heartbroken girl. I saw this situation as being analogous to women's rights at the time. "Rappaccini's Daughter" was published in 1844, women couldn't vote in the USA until around 1920. This story was written in a time when women were generally victimized by the society they lived in. Rappaccini purposely introduces his only daughter to a poison filled, solitary life in the name of love. As he "spends his life in achieving a picture" (2131) Rappaccini forgets about the "miserable doom" (2132) he has inflicted upon his beloved daughter. This parallels the inflicted miseries women of the nineteenth century endured such as arranged marriages as well as many other paternalistic conditions placed in the name of love or safety. "Rappaccini's Daughter" was written two years after Hawthorne's marriage and during the same year of his first daughter's birth. The strange idea's brought forth in "Rappaccini's Daughter" are more easily seen when his position is put into perspective. As a father he knew that his daughter would be subject to the very restrictions he so skillfully illustrates in "Rappaccini's" as well as in "The Scarlet Letter". Could these stories be the imaginative musings of a frustrated father? Perhaps they were due to his own feelings after becoming a new groom. In either case both stories have a dominating theme of the oppression of women's sexuality, Beatrice's poison being that of society. Harsh consequences befall Rappaccini when he tries to control things he truly cannot, such as love and life. Would the same happen to Hawthorne is sought to exert as much control? The character of Rappaccini exemplifies perfectly the views held towards women in the