Analytical Essay: Rappaccini's Daughter In the literal sense, Nathaniel Hawthorn's Rappaccini's Daughter is the story about the rivalry between two scientists that ultimately causes the destruction of an innocent young woman. However, when the story is examined on a symbolic level, the reader sees that Rappaccini's Daughter is an allegorical reenactment of the original fall from innocence and purity in the Garden of Eden. Rappaccini's garden sets the stage of this allegory, while the characters …showed first 75 words of 1307 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1307 total…eir pride and the desire to become like gods. In the story, the loss of innocence and purity resulted when the perverse scientific rivalry between Rappaccini and Baglioni took the life of the passionate and innocent Beatrice. Through the literary devices of poetic and descriptive diction, Nathaniel Hawthorne depicted the symbolism of the characters and the setting. Through the allegory of the Garden of Eden, the dangers of the misuse of power are strongly portrayed.