As the
guilt-ridden descendent of Puritans, Hawthorne was deeply concerned with what he termed
"secret sin" and the hypocrisy of many sinners. It is interesting that in more than
one instance the garden of Dr. Rappaccini is alluded to as the Garden of Eden with Dante's
Inferno also being mentioned. And, that Beatrice is sexually alluring to Giovanni is clearly
apparent:
She looked redundant with life, health, and
energy; all of which attributes were bound down and compressed, as it were, and girdled tensely,
in their luxuriance, by her virgin zone.
Yet, while
Beatrice would appear to be Eve-like, there is an ambiguity surrounding her as well as about the
goodness of both Giovanni and Dr. Baglioni that is not untypical of Hawthorne. For, against the
temptations he feels, Giovanni rationalizes the the "luxuriant vegetation" would keep
him "in communion with Nature while he
could not
determine how much of the singularity [of his idea] which he attributed to both [Dr. Rappacini
and...
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