What parallels are there between the Garden of Eden in the Old Testament in the Bible, and the garden in Hawthorne's short story, "Rappaccini's...

As
the other response has noted, "" is full of allusions to Adam, Eve, and the Garden of
Eden. Most notably, perhaps, is the fact that the story largely unfolds in a beautiful garden,
and that Beatrice (i.e. Eve) is a source of temptation to Giovanni (i.e. Adam). A lot of the
parallels in Hawthorne's story, however, are actually ironic reversals of the traditional
Biblical story, and I think it's worthwhile highlighting those as well.

First off, consider the fact that Rappaccini slowly inoculates Giovanni against the poisonous
plants in order to secure a companion for his daughter: "My daughter...thou art no longer
lonely in the world. Pluck one of those precious gems from thy sister shrub and bid thy
bridegroom wear it in his bosom." Rappaccini is in this sense a dark echo of the Abrahamic
God, who creates Eve so that Adam will not be "alone." The danger of playing God was a
mainstay of Romantic-era literature, so it's not surprising to see this theme at play
in...