 |
Portrait of Nathaniel Hawthorne
by Charles Osgood, 1840 |
Hi All!
We hope you're enjoying your summer so far, and we hope you're beginning to enjoy Hawthorne and his short stories!
So, what was the first story you read?
1. Briefly summarize the plot of the story.
2. Completely define ONE main character. Choose one quote from the story that best typifies your character and explain why you chose it. In describing your character, include as many traits as possible: physical, emotional, intellectual, and describe the character’s internal and external motivations as best you can. Tell us everything you possibly can think of about that character.
3. Please also talk about the message that Hawthorne wanted to impart to his readers; what was his purpose in writing the story?? Give examples from the story that support your point of view. We can’t emphasize enough the importance of drafting a well-organized, grammatically correct response on a Word document. After you have finished, please copy and paste it to the blog response.
Click on "comments" on the bottom of the page to post your response. Where it says "Comment as:" select "Name/URL" from the drop-down menu and enter your first and last name in order to receive credit (leave URL space blank).
Your next blog response is due August 10th.
Also, do not forget you will be expected to produce your annotated copy of each of your stories on our first day back in September. We're looking forward to reading your responses!!!
2. Sarah Blumenthal June 29, 2012 11:12 PM
ReplyDeleteThe Birthmark
In the story The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Aylmer, a retired scientist, left his work in the laboratory to marry a woman named Georgiana. Georgiana is perfect when it comes to beauty except for one feature on her face. She has a mark in the shape of a small hand. Aylmer has always looked at this mark as the sign of imperfection and thinks that it is horrible. Every time he sees it, he shudders and Georgiana has to deal with her husband thinking that she has something ugly about her. Aylmer has tried to convince Georgiana that he can remove the mark with science and she could be absolutely perfect. Georgiana is told this so many times by Aylmer that she begins to believe that she is ugly and will do whatever it takes to get rid of the mark. She agrees to let him do whatever is necessary to be rid of it. She isn't even the slightest bit scared when she learns that the outcome of almost all of his experiments are failures and that if he fails when trying to remove the mark, she could possibly die. Aylmer knows that this is a big job and if he makes one miscalculation it would all be over. Aylmer creates a liquid and pours it in a goblet for Georgiana to drink to get rid of the mark. She drinks it and falls into a deep sleep for a long time. During this sleep, Georgiana's mark slowly fades away and is on the verge of disappearing when they discover that she is dying. The mark symbolized the barrier between angelic-like perfection and mortality. When Aylmer didn't look past the mark and only saw her beauty as having an imperfection he didn't think about who she was or what her personality was like, he only saw that mark and didn't think about anything else.
One of the main characters in the short story was Georgiana. She was considered perfect when it came to looks, with the exception of the mark on her face. Some saw the hand-shaped mark as a charm, while others (including Aylmer) saw it as a sign of imperfection and flaw. Since she was so beautiful, Aylmer thought it stuck out even more than if she wasn't as pretty. Georgiana didn't want to believe in herself and always thought that what Aylmer said was right and that she was wrong when it came to her mark. She thought it was a good luck charm and that it was a sign of beauty while Aylmer thought it was hideous. She disregarded what she thought and took it so far that she began to hate the mark even more than Aylmer did. She should have stuck with what she believed in and told Aylmer that the mark included who she was and that he shouldn't want her to get rid of it. She knew that something was wrong with the mark when it caused a sensation that went throughout her body that something wasn't quite right, the moment before it was about to be rid of. She didn't tell Aylmer though, when she should have. She did not believe in herself and if she did, she would have still been alive to the end. Georgiana should have stood up for herself. One quote from the story that best shows this character is the following sentence. "To tell you the truth it has been so often called a charm that I was simple enough to imagine it might be so." This quote that Georgiana says in the story shows that she always thinks that everyone else is right and that her opinion is always wrong. She believes the things that other people say are true as opposed to what she thinks and always second guesses herself.
Continued on next entry
The Birthmark Continued.
ReplyDeleteThe message that Hawthorne wanted to say to his readers was that beauty shouldn't be thought of first. People shouldn't think about what they have after it is gone. That people should appreciate the things that they have and be happy with it. When people go too far to get the things that they can't have, disaster occurs and eventually the things that they already had will go away. For example in the story, Georgiana was as perfect as any human could get (in terms of beauty) and Aylmer didn't appreciate that. He kept on going further and further to try and make her absolutely perfect until they went so far that she died and now Aylmer doesn't have her anymore. He wasn't fully grateful for her until she was gone and realized that she was beautiful no matter what. Another example of this in the story was the flower that Aylmer created. Georgiana could see how special it was and didn't want to tamper with its beauty and well being. However, Aylmer insisted to pick the flower because it would wither anyways so there was no use in just looking at it. This represents the entire situation with Georgiana's birthmark. She knows how special it is and at first and doesn't want to do anything to it because she could see its beauty. Aylmer doesn't and only thinks about the scientific reasons for doing things, he never stops to appreciate the beautiful things in life long enough to not turn them into a science experiment. Aylmer convinces Georgiana to pluck the flower even though she doesn't want to at first and tries to make her look past what she thinks. This also happens with the birthmark. Aylmer convinces Georgiana that it is not pretty and to use science to make her better even though she knows that she is beautiful and that she loves herself the way she is, she is too greatly influenced by Aylmer and decides that he is right and that she needs to do as he says the same way that she plucks the flower. These examples all show how you need to appreciate and love the things in life while you have them and to stop trying to find ways to make everything perfect.
Kimberly Vish July 1, 2012 4:35 PM
ReplyDeleteRappaccini’s Daughter
In the story Rappaccini’s Daughter, a young man named Giovanni Guasconti left home to study medicine at the University of Padua. The place where he is staying over looks Dr. Rappaccini’s garden. It is full of wicked flowers. His daughter, Beatrice, catches his attention with her beauty and wickedness. She herself seems a human match of the evil flowers. She is full of poison and she accidentally kills everything that touches her, except for the flowers. Rappaccini is a wicked man who cares about science more than mankind and he decides to make Giovanni an experiment. Giovanni goes into the garden everyday to talk with Beatrice and slowly, without him knowing, the poison of the flowers and Beatrice works its way into his system. Professor Baglioni wants to help Giovanni and Giovanni also wants help for Beatrice. Giovanni convinces Beatrice to take the antidote, but the poison was keeping her alive so it killed her.
“He would sacrifice human life. His own among the rest, or whatever else was dearest to him, for the sake of adding so much as a grain of mustard seed to the great heap of his accumulated knowledge.” This is how Professor Baglioni describes Dr. Rappaccini. This quote sums up Rappaccini’s values quite nicely because his actions prove this accusation to be true. He sacrificed his daughter’s happiness and inevitably her life to his plants. He thought it would be interesting to see what would happen to Giovanni if he stayed amongst the plants for long. Giovanni did not know this, he played Beatrice and Giovanni like a fiddle in his “experiment”. He risked his own health for the sake of his “poison vegetables”. Rappaccini is a wicked man who cares more for science than mankind. He treats his patients as “experiments” instead of people. If a few people died here and there he wouldn’t mind. He works in a way you can call backwards. His chances of “success” are probably by chance, according to Professor Baglioni, and his “failures” he considers Rappaccini’s work. He is a man of science who took the poisonous flowers and breeds them together, making unnatural flowers with evil properties. From working with them, they have made him a sickly man, aged beyond his years. He took his daughter and worked the poison into her system so she can take care of the flowers for him. He is a power hungry man. When Beatrice told him how much she hated being the way she was he scolded her for being thankless. Why would she be weak when she can decide life and death? He does not understand care and tenderness for anything besides his flowers. He wants to be powerful and feared; he wants to be a god.
The message of this story is beauty and perfection is perspective. To Rappaccini perfection is a deadly and wicked variety. To Beatrice it is a gentle and loving thing. You should not mess with the nature of something or someone because they will have a different view on it than you will. Greed will cause sacrifice of the innocent. Beatrice never asked to become the way she was. Rappaccini forced it upon her and it cost her life.
Katherine Fucigna July 6, 2012 2:52 PM
ReplyDeleteRappaccini’s Daughter
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, Rappaccini’s Daughter, a young student from southern Italy named Giovanni Guasconti goes off to pursue his studies at the University of Guasconti and stays in the mansion of an old man, dedicated to evil science. This man was Dr. Rappaccini whose collection of poisonous plants and very beautiful daughter, Beatrice, fascinated Giovanni. Unfortunately, the deadly flowers’ aromas cause Beatrice to accidentally kill everything she touches. Professor Bagolini tries to warn Giovanni and help Beatrice. Giovanni spends his days talking with her, but eventually, he is infected too. Giovanni convinces her to take an antidote that Bagolini gave him which ends up killing her, for the poison was keeping her alive.
Dr. Rappaccini can best be described with the quote, “He was beyond the middle term of life, with gray hair, a thin beard, and a face singularly marked with intellect and cultivation, but which could never, even in his more youthful days have expressed much warmth of heart”. This describes him well not only for the aspect of his physical appearance, but also for the sheer coldness of his personality. He is very old and sickly looking, and yet still lean and tall. He wears black and has all the features that you would expect from a wise man of that age (a thin, white beard, for example). He is a very dark character because he sacrifices his daughter’s happiness for “marvelous gifts against which no power nor strength could avail an enemy…” She is basically his pride and joy, only because of the power that he has given her, which she would have gladly lived without.
The message that Hawthorne was trying to give is that you should not judge things with a greedy eye because it might be deceiving. Giovanni was drawn to Beatrice with great fascination and awe, but was infected with her curse at the end. All Dr. Rappaccini wanted was success in his science and experimentation on his daughter. This eventually caused her to see this and she died, trying to reverse what he had done to her.
I first read The Birthmark.
DeleteThis short story begins with telling how a man engrossed in science, by the name of Alymer, asks a beautiful woman named Georgiana to marry him. Georgiana, for all her beauty, has one single blemish, a mere birthmark, in the shape of a tiny hand on the alabaster skin of her cheek.
Shortly after their marriage, Alymer takes a notice in the birthmark gracing her face and asks her if it has ever occurred to her to have it removed. The very notion had never crosse her mind; for the other men that she had been with had called said birthmark a charm. Alymer is so hung up over the fact that his new bride is so perfect but for that offending (at least to him) mark upon her face that he makes short work of convincing Georgiana that he cannot live with that unnerving birthmark upon her lovely cheek.
He starts obsessing over that tiny hand, having dreams and such about it. Georgiana is disturbed as well, for she loves her husband and wishes to please him. This triviality has started to ruin their marriage. Georgiana has started to cower and loathe his gazes at her birthmark, and it consumes Alymer to the point where he decides to use his own concoction to remove the birthmark personally.
Alymer moves Georgiana to his laboratory so that he can begin the operation of removing the offending blemish. Georgiana agrees with all her heart to this procedure because she loves her husband and would sacrifice her life to make him happy. In the labs, as she waits for Alymer to perfect his elixir, Alymer amuses her with petty little science tricks to keep her from fretting about the process to be done. This elixir is so potent that it can extend the life of a person with only a few drops. In smaller quantities, though, the elixir is a wonderful cosmetic. It can remove freckles and other blemishes easily. Alymer produces a version of this potion to work specifically in Georgiana's case. He finally finishes the potion and hands it to his lovely wife. She imbibes the potion swiftly and they wait with bated breath for the elixir to work. Georgiana almost immediately falls asleep as a result of the potent potion working its' magic- or wreaking its' havoc. The birthmark fades and fades as time passes; though Georgiana is still asleep and grows very pale. Just as the blemish is nearly completely diminished, Georgiana wakes and sees that her face is almost blemish-less, and tells Alymer, in fewer words, that she is happy that he removed the birthmark, it's not his fault that she is going to die, and that she loves him. At the same moment that the blemish disintegrates into her lovely skin, Georgiana breathes her last.
"He had devoted himself, however, too unreservedly to scientific studies ever to be weaned from them by any second passion. His love for his young wife might prove the stronger of the two; but it could only be by intertwining itself with his love of science..."
DeleteThis quote describes Alymer perfectly. It shows that he is a scientist who doesn't necessarily have any more room in his heart for a wife. He is so engrossed in science that he cannot love his wife unless he combines his wife and science.
I can imagine, in my mind's eye, that Alymer has nerdy horn-rimmed glasses, Einstein-worthy hair, a tall, thin physiognomy, and sallow skin. He has long, languid hands (the better to creep you out with, my dear) and small, inset eyes. He dresses like a man of the middle class, not too pretentious and not too shabby, although I've no doubt that he loves to show off his nifty lab coat. He has a barely-restrained insane person's voice, high for his age and slightly grating. He is as his voice is: off the deep end, out in right field, couple of screws loose, barmy, you name it, he's it. In fewer words, insane as all get-out.
Though he is white-padded-walls and orange-jumpsuit qualified, he is clearly very intelligent in that evil-genius way. Though perhaps I am being too harsh. Perhaps he has had very bad experiences in the past concerning people with hand-shaped birthmarks on their cheeks. Perhaps his parents were killed by a person of that description. Whatever his reason for being so put out by his lovely wife's birthmark, it is still clearly an insane gesture to become so unhealthily obsessed with that fateful blemish. Obviously, on the outside, he wants a perfect wife. On the inside, perhaps he is a perfectionist. But I just cannot fathom the reason of WHY you would kill the person you love enough to marry. Clearly, he loves science and perfection so much that he is not capable of of living with something that does not fit those standards. That birthmark was clearly keeping Georgiana alive, and by removing it he killed her. Not the kind of guy I would ever even give the time of day to, much less be stupid enough to marry.
Honestly, I think that Hawthorne is absolutely batty for thinking up a story as disturbing as this. But then again, so was Poe, and so was Orwell, and so were a lot of other authors whose works are considered so fabulous that our schools must require their students to read them. All comments about sanity aside, I believe that Hawthorne was trying to convey a valuable message. Hawthorne was trying to describe, by way of a story, how obsession can lead to bad things. Alymer an Georgiana were obsessed with the birthmark and removing it, and as a result of that obsession, Alymer lost a wife and Georgiana lost her life. When you let something bother you so much it consumes you and takes up your entire life, you don't always have the insight to say to yourself "wow, this is taking over me. I had better stop and seek therapy" or something along those lines. Since you don't have the clear-headedness to realize your predicament, you have to learn the hard way to get over your obsession. With the story, there is Georgiana's death that alerts Alymer to say to himself "oh, crap, maybe I should have thought this through before she guzzled that potion and died" and realize the consequences of his obsession.
Emily Meyer July 9, 2012 9:48 AM
ReplyDeleteThe Birthmark
In this short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, there is an old scientist named Alymer and his wife, Georgiana. His wife was born with a small birthmark on her cheek. Her birthmark is a crimson color and the shape of a small hand. Being the scientist that Aylmer is, he wants to remove this birthmark from his beloved wife's cheek and so does Georgiana. Georgiana thought of her birthmark as a good luck charm, but now hates her birthmark and wants it removed no matter what the cost is. The next day, Alymer takes his wife to his laboratory. While they are walking throughout the laboratory, Alymer looks at his wife's birthmark and shudders. Georgiana faints and Alymer and his assistant, Aminadab, take her into her boudoir. Aminadab whispers to himself that if Georgiana was his wife, that he would never part with her birthmark. When she awakes, she remembers that her husband shuddered at her imperfection. Alymer now shows her a plant with a lovely flower that he had placed within her room. Alymer asks her to pick the flower and smell its perfume. Georgiana doesn't pluck it and the plant withers away within seconds. Next, Alymer leaves the room to discuss with Aminadab the procedures for this experiment. Georgiana hears the discussion faintly. After the discussion ends, Alymer comes back into the room and shows her small crystal globe that contains a gold colored liquid. She asks if it is "the elixir of life" and he replies, telling her that the liquid could make you immortal or could kill you within an instant, depending on the dosage. While Alymer is gone, Georgiana's curiosity about the volumes of books that is in her husband's collection. She sits down and reads a few of them, and discovers that her favorite one is her husband's journal where he records all of the experiments that he has ever done. Alymer comes back into the room where Georgiana is and finds her crying while she is reading about his experiments. He asks her to sing to him and she does. When she finishes singing to him, he leaves again. Suddenly she remembers about a sensation that she feels within the birthmark. She goes to tell her husband about it when she stumbles upon his laboratory. Inside are her husband and his assistant. Alymer is looking into his furnace when Aminadab tells him that his wife is in the doorway. He yells at her for approaching his laboratory and told her to go back into her boudoir. He leads her there and tells her that there is danger. He leaves her and he returns with a vial of a clear liquid similar to water. He shows her the affect on a sick plant. Within seconds, the plant returns to a healthy state. She quickly drinks the liquid and falls into a deep sleep. When she awakens, she is happy to see that her birthmark is gone, but she says to her husband that she is dying. As it turns out, her birthmark was there to mark life and when it disappeared, so did her life.
Continued on next entry.
Emily Meyer July 9, 2012 9:49 AM
ReplyDeleteThe Birthmark Continued
One of the main characters in this short story was Alymer and can best be explained with this quote, "Ah, upon another face perhaps it might, but never on yours. No, dearest Georgiana, you came so nearly perfect from the hand of Nature that this slightest possible defect or a beauty, shocks me, as being the visible mark of earthly imperfection". This quote describes Alymer as a person who cares solely about looks and cares about nothing else. He looks at Georgiana and sees a beautiful woman, but then his vision is destroyed by her birthmark. He wants his wife to be able to remove this birthmark. He wants her to have no imperfections. He convinces her to disregard her feelings about the birthmark, and makes her hate it alongside him. If he hadn't been so consumed with the urge to remove this mark, Georgiana would probably have been alive at the end of the story.
Nathaniel Hawthorne's message in this story is to look past your imperfections and that imperfection comes along with life. He wanted to teach people that life is not about correcting imperfections like Alymer tried to do, rather, it’s about making those imperfections part of who we are. Also, he wanted to share with us how people are consumed with the concern about looking good for people or worried about how their looks can influence their judgments.
Marissa Ebert July 10, 2012 4:28 PM
ReplyDeleteRappaccini’s Daughter
One of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short stories, called Rappaccini’s Daughter, is about a young man who moved from the southern part of Italy to study at the University of Padua. This man, named Giovanni Guasconti, moved into a mansion that overlooks a beautiful garden. He later found out that this garden, full of medicinal plants, belonged to the intelligent, yet somewhat evil, Dr. Rappaccini and his daughter, Beatrice. At first sight of Rappaccini’s beautiful daughter, Giovanni couldn’t take his eyes off of her. There was something so appealing and forbidden about Beatrice. The next day Giovanni met with one of his father’s old friends. The professor, Pietro Baglioni, told Giovanni about Dr. Rappaccini and Beatrice. He told Giovanni that the Dr. and Beatrice are dangerous. Soon after, Giovanni, against professor Baglioni’s advice, talked to Beatrice for the first time. Both of them seemed to really like one another, so they met up day after day at the same time. Giovanni’s love for Beatrice grew larger each day, even though he was starting to notice strange things about her. Her breath was the same as one of Rappaccini’s most poisonous plants, insects were attracted to her, and if they got too close, they died suddenly, and she never let Giovanni touch her. But Giovanni’s love for Beatrice was so strong that he overlooked these strange things and continued through his days in a dream-like trance. Professor Baglioni knew something was up with Giovanni, so he visited his house one day. Baglioni could smell the sweet poison and knew that Giovanni was in trouble. He told him that Rappaccini nourished Beatrice with poisons since her birth. He said that the poison was starting to soak into Giovanni as well. The professor gave Giovanni an antidote that would reverse the effects of the poison. Giovanni did not want to believe Baglioni, but in a test, he breathed on a spider, and it immediately died. The next day, he confronted Beatrice with this information and she told him that it was true. When Giovanni offered the antidote to her, she took it willingly. While she drank the liquid, Rappaccini emerged from the shadows and told Beatrice that he wanted her and Giovanni to be happy together. He was happy that Beatrice was not alone anymore. But what Giovanni did not know and Baglioni did not tell, was that taking the poison out of Beatrice, who was living off of them, would kill her. In the end, Baglioni shouts from Giovanni’s window, “Rappaccini! Rappaccini! And is this the upshot of your experiment?”
“Soon there emerged from under a sculptured portal the figure of a young girl, arrayed with as much richness of taste as the most splendid of the flowers, beautiful as the day, and with a bloom so deep and vivid that one shade more would have been too much. 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.” I chose this quote, thought by Giovanni, because it shows just how much he was attracted to Beatrice. I find it ironic how someone so full of health and life, could be thriving off of a poison that kills anything that comes near. And because of this, Beatrice has lived a very lonely and secluded life, yet still bounces with joy and happiness. You don’t even have to be near her to see just how beautiful she is with her ringlets and glowing personality.
The message Hawthorne was trying to send was that things are not always as they seem. An old, respected scientist could very well be an evil, heartless man who would do anything for greater scientific knowledge. A young man who moves to a new place to study at the local university could really be a lonely, romantic fool who will overlook the dangerous for beauty. The older gentleman who works as a professor of medicine at a college could have greedy intentions. And the shy beauty that rarely leaves her house could secretly be the most poisonous thing that could cross your path.
The Birthmark
ReplyDeleteIn The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Aylmer is a former scientist with a wife named Georgiana. His wife is beautiful except for a small crimson birthmark on her cheek the shape of a hand. Aylmer hates the birthmark and can't bear to look at it. People told Georgiana that it was lucky but she started to despise it after her husband told he hated it. Then Aylmer had dream that he attempted to remove the mark. He told his wife about it. She was upset and started to become obsessed with how ugly and imperfect the birthmark was. She lets Aylmer convince her to let him remove it using science. At one point, Aylmer looks at the crimson hand and shudders, causing Georgiana to faint. She becomes bothered by the mark so much that she is willing to use any means necessary to remove it, no matter how painful or dangerous it is. Aylmer spends a long time studying and experimenting, as the slightest mistake could kill Georgiana. Once he is done, he gives her a clear liquid to drink. The mark fades, but Georgiana begins to feel sick. Aylmer becomes excited that the mark disappears but they both realize that Giorgiana is dying.
One of the two main characters in this story is Aylmer. "Aylmer's sombre imagination was not long in rendering the birthmark a frightful object, causing him more trouble and horror than ever Georgiana's beauty, whether of soul or sense, had given him delight." This quote explains how obsessed with imperfection Aylmer became. The fact that he is a scientist and knows a small change could affect an experiment drastically could have caused this. He is obsessed with perfection, no matter how beautiful Georgiana is, Aylmer can not forget the small crimson birthmark on her cheek. He is also somewhat selfish, how he doesn't consider that Georgiana is not bothered by her birthmark and wants to remove it for his own sake. The fact that he could even come close to creating a removing her birthmark makes him a smart man.
The message in "The Birthmark" is that if you are obsessed with imperfection you will never be able to see the good in anything. Georgiana was beautiful but Aylmer started to forget that and become obsessed with the birthmark. Georgiana didn't seem to mind it but Aylmer wanted her to be perfect, so much that he (inadvertently) killed her.
Brianna Moore July 12, 2012 4:56 PM
ReplyDeleteRappaccini’s Daughter
In the short story, Rappaccini’s Daughter, a young man named Giovanni Guasconti from southern Italy decided he wanted to further his education at the University of Padua. Giovanni Guasconti ends up staying at a place with a garden full of unusual plants. The garden belongs to a man named Giacomo Rappaccini, a famous doctor who distils plants into medicines that are potent as a charm. Dr. Rappaccini’s daughter Beatrice catches Giovanni Guasconti’s eyes with her beauty. Unfortunately for Beatrice, because of the unusual plats aromas, everything she touches dies, besides the plants. Because Giovanni makes his way to the garden every day to talk to Beatrice, soon enough he is also infected. Professor Baglioni is dedicated to help Giovanni and Giovanni also wants help for Beatrice. Once Giovanni convinces Beatrice to take an antidote they both learn that the poison is what was keeping Beatrice alive and she ends up dying without it.
“Soon there emerged from under a sculptured portal the figure of a young girl, arrayed with as much richness of taste as the most splendid of the flowers, beautiful as the day, and with a bloom so deep and vivid that one shade more would have been too much.” This quote from Rappaccini’s Daughter describes Beatrice. Beatrice is very eye catching and almost causes Giovanni to become irresistible to her. Even though Beatrice may be beautiful, to her the meaning of true beauty is more gentle and loving rather than looks. It seems that to Beatrice you are what you are, and unfortunately she never asked to become what she was, it was forced upon her by her father, Rappaccini.
The message Hawthorne wanted to impart on his readers is that looks do not make a person and they can also be deceiving. Beatrice may have caught Giovanni’s eye with her outer beauty, but her inside is what infected Giovanni with her curse. Hawthorne also showed that sometimes people would rather succeed than actually take people into consideration. Dr. Rappaccini obviously did not care what it took to succeed even if it was at the cost of his daughter’s life and happiness. Unfortunately, when Beatrice eventually realized this and tried to reverse it, she ended up dying.
Kathleen Mensch July 13, 2012 4:01 PM
ReplyDeleteThe Birthmark
1. Nathaniel Hawthrone’s short-story, The Birthmark, is about Aylmer, a married scientist who finds imperfection and horror in a birthmark located on his wife’s left cheek. Her personality and beauty are flawless, just this one mark causes her husband to shudder when he looks at her. Throughout the story he tries many times to remove it and even convinces her how ugly and repulsive the birthmark is. As he keeps trying to remove it, she seems to hate herself more and more to the point where she’d rather die than not have it removed. He finally comes up with a solution that she drinks and as she falls into a deep sleep, the birthmark begins to disappear. As Aylmer rejoices in his triumph, his wife Georgiana wakes, but falls again, this time to death.
2. A character that really stood out to me in this short-story is Aylmer. He is a perfectionist at the highest level, shallow, persistent, self-driven, persuasive, but also showed his intelligence and ability to love. Georgiana was the ultimate vision of what a wife was to any man, but to Aylmer, her birthmark showed imperfection. He wanted to make her a perfect wife to him. He was persistent and persuasive when he tried countless times with different strategies and remedies to remove the birthmark and he even persuaded Georgiana to hate her birthmark more than he did, instead of accepting it. He was smart because he was a scientist that had already explored countless areas of nature such as volcanoes and natural fountains. He really loved Georgiana and another way to look at this situation was that he only wanted to best for her. He also proved that he would do anything for her, even take a hideous birthmark off her face.
“Still, whenever she dared to look into the mirror, there she beheld herself pale as a white rose and with the crimson birthmark stamped upon her cheek. Not even Aylmer now hated it so much as she.”
I choose this quote because Aylmer’s perfectionism, persistency, persuasiveness, and even selfishness had cause his poor wife to hate herself. She mentions later in the story how she’d rather die than to have not removed from her face. He lowered all of her confidence and she no longer saw herself as flawless, or even beautiful.
3. I think Nathaniel Hawthorne was trying to portray that nothing is really perfect, and that’s ok. You need to accept it and learn to love it because you can’t always change it or even attempt to change it. An example of this is that even though Aylmer successfully removed the birthmark from Georgiana’s face, but she died because he had rejected her for so long just due to a little imperfection on her face. He had spent most of their married life trying to find a cure or medicine to rid the birthmark. Another example is when Aminadab, Aylmer’s assistant, mutters, “If she were my wife, I’d never part with that birthmark.” This shows that although people around him could accept her one-single flaw, he just couldn’t get passed it.
Alissandra Brezinski July 13, 2012 6:31 PM
ReplyDeleteIn Nathaniel Hawthornes short story, Rappaccini's Daughter, Giovanni Guasconti leaves southern Italy to study at the University of Padua. Giovanni's room overlooks a unique garden filled with odd flowers and plants. He is quick to learn that this garden belongs to the famous Dr. Rappaccini and his daughter Beatrice. He also learns that the garden is used for medicinal purposes. Beatrice is quick to catch the eye of Giovanni. As a child, Beatrice was nourished with a poison that causes everything, besides the plants in that garden, to die. Her father was a crazed man who was obsessed with science. Giovanni and Beatrice eventually start talking everyday in the garden and Beatrice's poison was working its way into Giovanni's system. Professor Baglioni realizes the poison is starting to enter Giovanni's system and presents him with an antidote. Giovanni doesn't believe him and breathes on a nearby spider and the spider dies instantly. Giovanni was extremely mad so he went to confront Beatrice in the garden. Beatrice tells him that she does have the poison inside her. Giovanni convinces her to take the antidote and she takes it. Beatrice dies. They find out that the poison was the only thing keeping Beatrice alive.
"... and showed itself to be that of no common laborer, but a tall, emaciated, sallow and sickly -looking man, dressed in a scholar's garb of black," was the quote that described Rappaccini best. Rappaccini was extremely dedicated to science and many people disagreed with his practices. The quote seemed appropriate because it sounds like a description of a creepy old scientist, just like Rappaccini. Rappaccini was even willing to risk his daughters life just to perform an experiment on her. It was also said he thinks of his patients as experiments not humans. Rappaccini seems like cold-hearted man who only cares about himself. Beatrice was someone in Rappaccini's life that was his pride and joy because of the poison inside her. Beatrice though didn't want this inside of her.
The message Hawthore was trying to send his readers was everything is not as it seems. Beatrice's outer beauty may have been the only thing people saw, but inside was something evil. He also showed that someone that was well respected cared more about his fame and glory rather than taking his patients into consideration. One more thing Hawthorne showed was someone just trying to study could actually be extremely lonely who would be willing to risk his own life for love and looks.
Olivia Horbatiuk July 15, 2012 5:33 PM
ReplyDeleteRappaccini’s Daughter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a short story about a young man; Giovanni Guasconti who leaves southern Italy to study medicine at the University of Padua. Here, he stays in a dark and gloomy chamber overlooking Dr. Rappaccini’s garden full of mysterious and strange looking plants. Over the duration of his stay, the garden and the beauty of Beatrice, Rappaccini’s daughter, mesmerize Guasconti. Not only is she captivating but very dangerous, much like the garden. She was surrounded by poisons from her father her whole life simply for the cause of an experiment. Her life was changed forever so that her dad could add more to his studies and observations. So Beatrice herself is now a poison to life, breathing out her deadly aroma that can kill in an instant. All the while Guasconti knows none of this. After being led into the garden, Guasconti begins regularly visiting with Beatrice. It is not until he meets with professor Baglioni that Guasconti begins to worry about Beatrice and her effects on him. Guasconti realizes he is now infected and breathes out the same poison as Beatrice. From Baglioni he is given an antidote, which Guasconti then gives to Beatrice, but after taking it she dies. Poison being the substance that was keeping her body alive.
“He would sacrifice human life, his own among the rest, or whatever else was dearest to him, for the sake of adding so much as a grain of mustard seed to the great heap of his accumulated knowledge “, is the quote that best describes Dr. Rappaccini. He is an older, dreary looking man who will give up anything, even his own daughter for his own experiments. Clearly Dr. Rappaccini puts his work before everything and everyone in life when he began conducting an experiment on his own daughter that set her apart from others her whole life. He is a selfish and wicked man whose own actions came back to haunt him in the end. Beatrice died of the one thing that could have saved her, had she not been poisoned and altered. Dr. Rappaccini gives no thoughts to the effects of his studies, even when the outcome could severely affect a person’s life.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s message to his readers was that things are not how they appear to the eye. We may see something that looks harmless but when you become curious and explore, you may find danger hidden within. When Giovanni first saw Beatrice, he was taken aback by her beauty and essence. Little did he know that within her body, deadly poisons were lurking that would soon infect and change him forever.
Catherine Vish July 14, 2012 8:16 PM
ReplyDeleteThe Birthmark
1. Aylmer married Georgiana. Georgiana has a birthmark that looks like a hand on her cheek. Aylmer hates the birthmark and somehow convinces Georgiana that she hates it too. (Note she never hated it until she married him.) Aylmer had made this potion type thing that when Georgiana drinks it, it should make the mark disappear. Well, the potion thingy worked but it had one side affect- Death.
2. “…there lived a man of science, an eminent proficient in every branch of natural philosophy…” is the best quote to describe Aylmer. This is so because Aylmer is a man of science and philosophy, but he has yet to understand what life really is. For example, he put his own wife in danger when conducting an experiment. On a different note, Aylmer is very smart. I believe that his internal and external motivations mean well, it’s just a matter of thinking through situations carefully before performing them.
3. The purpose of writing this was to let the reader know that if you have one perspective on life that is how you are going to perform everything. I know that sentence sounds confusing when first reading it, but trust me, it makes sense. He took his wife and applied it to something he loves. He used science to locate the mark as a hypothesis. He then collected data and conducted an experiment. See? He saw life as a problem to be resolved by science (and look at how that turned out).
Aylmer is a scientist that took time away from his laboratory to get married to a beautiful women name Georgiana. Georgiana had a small birthmark upon her cheek. Many people had called it a charm so she never thought anything of it. Aylmer never said anything about the birthmark until after they were married. He completely hated the mark and was obsessed with having it removed. This hurt Georgiana's feelings because Aylmer described the mark as an earthly imperfection. He obsessed over the birthmark so much Georgiana finally agreed to have it removed. At one point, Georgiana hated the mark even more than Aylmer because she felt that he didn't love her with it. Aylmer drove his own wife mad. With his scientific skills, Aylmer concocted a poison that would take the birthmark off his wife's cheek. Georgiana takes the poison and the mark is gone. The poison kills Georgiana. Aylmer got rid of the birthmark but it came at a price.
ReplyDeleteAylmer: Selfish, absolutely obsessed with looks, arrogant (He thinks he's better than everyone else), inconsiderate, determined, intelligent. "What will be my triumph when I shall have corrected what Nature left imperfect in her fairest work!" (Hawthorne 5) This quote shows that Aylmer is obsessed with looks. He doesn't care that he is hurting Georgiana's feelings. Aylmer loves to have things go his way.
Hawthorne's message to his readers was that others around you can distort your self image. On the first page of the story Aylmer says "Georgiana, has it never occurred to you that the mark upon your cheek might be removed?" Georgiana replies by saying "No, indeed, to tell you the truth it has been so often called a charm that I was simple enough to imagine it might be so." Hawthorne could have been saying that if you love something about yourself don't change that for someone else.
Henry James Moreta
ReplyDeleteRappaccini's Daughter
Rappaccini's Daughter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is about a pupil from southern Italy known as Giovanni. He leaves for southern Italy to attend the University of Padua, where he will study medicine. While he is there, he resides in an edifice which overlooks the magnificent gardens of Dr. Rappaccini. Dr. Rappaccini's daughter, Beatrice, is one of the most attractive females Giovanni thinks he has ever seen in his entire life. It turns out that there is more to Dr. Rappaccini's garden, and his beautiful daughter, that meets the eye of Giovanni. Giovanni learns throughout the story that Dr. Rappaccini actually happens to be an evil scientist who's plants are poisonous. This was not the only downside to Giovanni's situation. Giovanni also learns that Beatrice has been nourished with these poisons by her father since birth, insects are attracted to her from the incense, but decease once they get in a close range. Before Giovanni learns that Beatrice happens to be poisonous herself, they develop a great attraction for one another and start spending time with each other each day. Giovanni eventually becomes infected with the poisons from Beatrice. He knows he is poisonous because he breathed on a spider and it died. Professor Bagolini gives Giovanni a potion which will reverse the effects of his poison. Giovanni offers it to Beatrice and she accepts, only to realize that the poison was keeping her alive, resulting in the potion killing her.
A quote that I think typifies Dr. Rappaccini well is a quote said by Professor Baglioni. "He would sacrifice human life. His own among the rest, or whatever else was dearest to him, for the sake of adding so much as a grain of mustard seed to the great heep of his accumulated knowledge. I think this quote typifies Dr. Rappaccini because as you read in the story you see how cruel Dr. Rappaccini will be to satisfy his curiosity. His own daughter was just a small part of his big experiment. Dr. Rappaccini obviously does not care for others, but cares for himself and science.
Nathaniel Hawthorne was trying to get across that there is more to something then meets the eye. As beautiful as Beatrice appeared to Giovanni, she was actually very dangerous and poisonous. Giovanni who first wanted to spend every minute of everyday with Beatrice embraced in his arms, was eventually infected with her poison at the end of the story.
The first story that I read this summer was “Rappaccini’s Daughter”. This story takes place at the University of Padua. Beatrice, Dr. Rappaccini’s daughter, is one of the main characters in the story. The quote, “…cried a rich and youthful voice from the window of the opposite house—a voice as rich as a tropical sunset, and which made Giovanni, though he knew not why, think of deep hues of purple or crimson and of perfumes heavily delectable” describes Beatrice and her personality in many ways. Beatrice is a young, beautiful, healthy girl. She is full of energy and a helping hand for her father in the garden. These are the qualities of Beatrice that we see in the beginning of the story through Giovanni Guasconti’s eyes. Throughout the whole story, Giovanni describes Beatrice as a beautiful girl but there has always been something about her that he was not sure about. When he watched her in the garden he noticed the way she cared for the plants. He also noticed the way her father never got too close to the plants. Giovanni soon realized that Beatrice, along with many of the plants in the garden, was poisonous. One day Giovanni gave Beatrice a bouquet of flowers. Moments later the flowers withered in her hands. From that moment on he made sure to keep his distance from Beatrice, unsure whether his body would be infected with poison. Once, when they were in the garden, Giovanni reached for a plant and Beatrice pushed his hand back. Imprints were left on his wrist from the grab of Beatrice. Instantly poisons entered Giovanni’s body. At first Giovanni blamed Beatrice for poisoning him, but the two of them soon realized that is was Beatrice’s father who was the one that poisoned both of them. Giovanni got medicine, which he hoped would rid the poisons from their bodies. Beatrice took the medicine first and slowly died. Her father’s scientific experiment lead to his own daughters’ death. I think that Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote this story to show that sometimes people get caught up in their work and they loose sight of the things that are most important to them. Dr. Rappaccini used his daughter to advance his experiments and research not realizing the hazards to her well-being. Dr. Rappaccini thought that by poisoning his daughter he would be giving her power, but he was wrong and it soon lead to her demise.
ReplyDeleteRappaccini's Daughter
ReplyDeleteGiovanni Guasconti has just moved from Naples to study medicine in Padua. From the room that he has rented in Padua, Giovanni can see the famous old Dr. Rappaccini's private garden, which is filled with poisonous flowers. Every day, Giovanni observes Rappaccini and his beautiful daughter Beatrice working in the garden, and he falls in love with Beatrice. But he soon finds out that Beatrice, having lived every day of her life in the garden among the flowers, is full of their poison, which now keeps her alive. Giovanni even witnesses her unintentionally kill harmless animals with her breath. Despite having seen this, he cannot resist Beatrice's beauty, and goes down into the garden daily to speak to her. Professor Baglioni, Giovanni's teacher at the University, knows that Beatrice is full of poison. He also notices that Rappaccini is always following Giovanni in the streets, and realizes that Rappaccini is using Giovanni in an experiment for his flowers. Having guessed Rappaccini's plan, Baglioni warns Giovanni of the Doctor's intentions, but Giovanni cares about nothing except Beatrice and ignores the warning. In a desperate attempt to save Giovanni, Baglioni gives the young man an antidote for the poison that is in Beatrice. With all good intentions, Giovanni persuades Beatrice to take the potion, but it kills her by neutralizing the poison that she lived off.
Professor Baglioni wisely summarized Dr. Rappaccini: "Beatrice's father (Rappaccini), was not restrained by natural affection from offering up his child in this horrible manner as the victim of his insane zeal for science." Dr. Rappaccini is known to all of Italy as a fabulous doctor, but Baglioni knows the real truth about him. The doctor's only interest is breeding flowers. Rappaccini is evil by nature, and his main goal is to create poisons. Whatever beneficial drugs he ever created came about purely by chance. The doctor's work with his plants has made him incredibly withered, sickly, and old, but his entire world is dedicated to them only. He has a daughter, Beatrice, whose beauty is legendary. But nobody has ever seen her, because Rappaccini has secluded her from the outside world, to the point where she doesn't know anything about the town in which she lives. Her father has made her part of his wicked garden by bringing her up in it, and exposing her to the sweet but deadly perfumes of the flowers. Rappaccini, because he himself cannot touch or smell the flowers for fear of sure death, needs Beatrice to help him in the garden because the flowers' poison runs in her veins and cannot kill her. He knows that eventually, the poison might kill Beatrice, but he cares more for the flowers themselves than for his own daughter. He is obsessed with his garden, and cares for nothing else. When Giovanni starts coming to the garden, Rappaccini always hides among the flowers and watches the young man spend time with Beatrice. The evil doctor decides to make an experiment including Giovanni. Ultimately, he succeeds, and Beatrice unknowingly transfers the poison into Giovanni, who becomes as evil-bodied as the girl.
Hawthorne's message to society is that because people are the way they are, they often become obsessed or addicted to certain things, even if their own life is endangered by their actions. In the story, Rappaccini's obsession was the evil flower garden. He thought about it day and night, even sacrificed his own daughter to the garden's wickedness. His consuming passion ended with the death of Beatrice. Beatrice herself, having spent her life in the confines of the garden and the house, was mentally still a child, eager to know all that she had missed concerning the outside world. She attached herself to the first person apart from her father that she had ever seen. Giovanni was, likewise, addicted to Beatrice's beauty. In his heart, Giovanni didn't love Beatrice, but was only charmed by her looks.
1. “Rappaccini’s Daughter” is a short story about a student named Giovanni Guasconti, who moved to northern Italy to study at the University of Padua. His dreary apartment overlooked a magnificent garden filled with poisonous plants, which he learned was the work of Dr. Giacomo Rappaccini, a famous doctor with a bad reputation. Giovanni spent most of his time observing the garden. Before long, he noticed Beatrice, Rappaccini’s daughter, a lonely girl he started to fall for. Giovanni realized Beatrice had a very close relationship with the plants in the garden, despite their poisonous nature. He then witnessed the death of an insect due to Beatrice’s breath, and the withering of flowers [that don’t grow inside the garden] as she touched them – he later learns her poisonous qualities are none other then the work of her father. She was raised with all the poisonous shrubbery since birth, so she herself became poisonous as well. After that, Giovanni stopped peering into the garden, but that didn’t stop him from thinking about Beatrice. When offered to be shown a secret entrance into the garden, he seized the opportunity and entered. Despite the warnings from his professor, Pietro Baglioni, Giovanni began spending more and more time with Beatrice, which ultimately infected him with the poison – his touch and breath became poisonous to everyone except Beatrice and the plants in the garden. Baglioni provided Giovanni with an antidote to try to cure Beatrice’s poisonous ways, but when she took it – it only resulted in her death.
ReplyDelete2. The quote, “…he cares infinitely more for science than mankind” thoroughly embodies Dr. Rappaccini in this short story. Throughout the story, it seemed as though everything the man did resulted in some sort of scientific gain – despite the sake of anyone around him. For instance, Rappaccini made his daughter poisonous to all things outside his garden so he could further his studies of those poisonous plants. He couldn’t take care of them because he would be harmed, but with the modification he made to Beatrice, she would be able to take care of the plants because he would be hurt if he tried.
ReplyDeletePhysically, Dr. Rappaccini was described to be different than most laborers – he was old, and looked sickly and scrawny. His mind was able and wicked, though, and almost disregarded the way he looked. He was a very mysterious character, who seemed detached from everything not science related – again relating back to the quote. For example, when Rappaccini encountered Baglioni and Giovanni in the streets – he acted cold and distant toward Baglioni, while Giovanni was regarded as an experiment, and Rappaccini seemed to be observing him through a scientific lens.
The scientist acted as if he had a twisted view of what was good and what was evil. He thought turning Beatrice and Giovanni into poisonous science experiments was a beautiful feat rather than something extremely unpleasant. He thought he gave them marvelous gifts and felt nothing but triumph and satisfaction in regard to his actions. He felt they were crazy for feeling miserable after being turned toxic. In reality anyone in their right mind -- a mind that cared more for mankind than science -- would say being someone’s experiment, and being internally altered, is nothing but undesirable.
3. The message that really stood out in this short story happened to be that things aren’t always what they seem. This was portrayed in many different scenes throughout the entire work. For instance, upon seeing the flowers, Giovanni described them as “gorgeously magnificent” and beautiful. It seemed rather odd to him that Dr. Rappaccini regarded the amazing flowers with a “perception of harm.” In reality, although the flowers seemed glamorous, they possessed a quality that was quite the opposite (in that they were poisonous). The exact same example could be applied to Beatrice, as she was described as beautiful and splendid when she actually had a condition fatal to those around her whether she liked it or not. Also, even though Dr. Rappaccini’s actions seemed abnormal – they were completely necessary to keep the old scientist from the consequences of tending to the deadly shrubs. Dr. Rappaccini seemed to be a weak old man when really he had a fully able mind and body – both of which he used in his wicked science. The message was portrayed again in reference to the antidote given to Giovanni by Baglioni. It was supposed to act as a cure when really it ended Beatrice’s life.
ReplyDeleteRapaccini's Daughter
ReplyDelete1)Rapaccini's Daughter is a very detailed short story about a young man named Giovanni Guasconti who comes from southern Italy to continue his studies at the University of Padua. This all changes however once he is told to gaze out of the window. He sees a beautiful garden full of plants and sights that he had never seen before. As his curiosity for the garden grows, he learns that it is tended and cared for by a doctor named Rapaccini and that most of the plants are poisonous. He soon spots Dr. Rapaccini's renowned daughter Beatrice out in the garden and becomes enthralled by her beauty and mysteriousness. He notices however that she touches plants that her father avoids, and kills plants and animals that she is near. Though this evokes some suspicion, Giovanni continues on with his fascination for Beatrice and eventually ends up spending time with her on a daily basis. Giovanni is also told by his mentor, Professor Pietro Baglioni, that Dr. Rapaccini is a dangerous man who willingly sacrifices human life in order to conduct certain experiments. Giovanni believes this to be untrue and continues to see Beatrice. After a long period of time, he is visited by Professor Baglioni and is confronted with the harsh reality that Beatrice has become poisonous due to all the time she has spent with the flowers in the garden, and that her poison was beginning to rub off on himself. Professor Baglioni gives Giovanni a vial and tells him that he should make Beatrice drink it because it will cure her of all her poisons. When Giovanni asks her if she truly has become a poisonous being, Beatrice confirms that she has become poisonous to all those around her and that is why she must remain segregated from the rest of the world. At the end of the story, Giovanni gives Beatrice the vial. Beatrice drinks the vial and dies instead of being cured. As Beatrice is dying, Dr. Rapaccini appears and asks her daughter whether she would have liked to face the dangers of normal life or be safe in the university with her father segregated from the rest of the world. It turns out that Dr. Rapaccini's biggest experiment, was his daughter's own life!
2) Beatrice is described as being a radiantly beautiful, naive, yet dangerous girl whose life has been ruined due to the life her father has forced her to live. Her father Dr. Rapaccini has ruined her life by forcing her to spend everyday in the garden full of poisonous plants. The constant contact of poison from those plants eventually caused herself to become poisonous and therefore made it so that she could never become involved in the real world or come into contact with others. Though she is nice and seeks only affection, it is denied to her due to the fact that she is part of her father's experiment. This quote truly exemplifies Beatrice because it shows how kind and naive she is, but also how lethal and dangerous she has become due to the actions of her father. "It is my father's fatal science! No, no, Giovanni; it was not I! Never! never! I dreamed only to love thee and be with thee a little time, and so to let thee pass away, leaving but thine image in mine heart; for, Giovanni, believe it, though my body be nourished with poison, my spirit is God's creature, and craves love as its daily food."
3) The message that Hawthorne is trying to get across to readers by this story is that it is better to expose yourself to the world even though there are dangers throughout it, then to keep yourself safe but isolated in your own little world. This is evident at the end of the story when as Beatrice is dying Dr. Rapaccini asks his daughter if she would have rather been exposed to the dangers and enemies that world had in store for her, or if she preferred the safe isolated life that her father had forced her to live. Before she dies, Beatrice states how miserable her life had been and how she wished only to be loved and experience the world for what it was.
The Birthmark
ReplyDelete1. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story, The Birthmark, an old scientist named Aylmer is married to a woman named Georgiana whom he is deeply in love with. Georgiana is everything but perfect for she was born with a crimson colored birthmark imprinted on her left cheek in the shape of a small hand. Both Aylmer and his wife Georgiana could not stand the crimson birthmark engraved on her cheek, to a point where Georgiana rather die than live the rest of her life with it attached to her face. Soon Aylmer and his assistant Aminadab, take Georgiana to his laboratory to have the birthmark removed. After finally coming up with a solution, Georgiana drinks the liquid given to her by her husband and falls into a deep sleep. While she sleeps the birthmark begins to fade away, leaving Aylmer thinking that he had succeeded in accomplishing his and Georgiana's wish. However when his wife awakens, she quickly falls back asleep into a cold, hard death. Georgiana could not cease to exist without her crimson colored birthmark.
2. One main character that stood out to me the most was Georgiana. She was a woman who believed she had her
own small good luck charm imprinted on her left cheek. Georgiana thought she was beautiful even with the birthmark
on her face, until her husband, Aylmer, began to criticize her imperfection constantly. She could not stand to see her
husband look at her in disgust. Georgiana began to believe that her birthmark was no longer a good luck charm for it
only brought horror to her husband's eye. She hated the mark more than Aylmer did. "...let the attempt be made at
whatever risk. Danger is nothing to me; for life, while this hateful mark makes me the object of your horror and
disgust,- life is a burden which I would fling down with joy..." This quote describes how Georgiana felt throughout her marriage with Aylmer. He had persuaded Georgiana into thinking that she was nothing but ugly.
3. The message that Nathaniel Hawthorne wanted his readers to understand was that everyone will come along with
their own flaws and imperfections but, you have to learn to look passed that and see the inner beauty in people, which is what really matters the most. If Aylmer learned to look passed his beloved wife's imperfection, she would not have been dead. Instead he persuaded his wife and himself into thinking that she either get rid of the mark or replace it with death.
"Rappaccini's Daughter" takes place in Italy and is about a young man Giovanni who falls in love with a woman that he sees in the garden named Beatrice. Giovanni lives in an old palace and his bedroom over looks a beautiful garden that Doctor Rappaccini takes care of. Doctor Rappaccini is a scientist and wears gloves and when he got to the plant that was like purple gems he even put a mask over his head. Doctor Rappaccini was Beatrice's father, and she also helped him with the plants in the garden. Beatrice touches the poisonous plants and cares for them. From Beatrice touching poisonous plants she became poisonous herself. Giovanni goes to the garden to meet Beatrice even though Professor Pietro Bagiloni tried to tell him not to. Giovanni eventually becomes poisonous and after he talked to the professor, Giovanni got an antidote to try and cure Beatrice, but the antidote reacted negatively and killed her. The character I chose is Giovanni. He is loving, caring, and very respectful. He is also very positive and helpful. He loved Beatrice even though she was poisonous and he really cared about her. He tried his best to cure her with the antidote, which ended up not working. "Day after day his pulses had throbbed with feverish blood at the improbable idea of an interview with Beatrice, and of standing with her, face to face, in this very garden, basking in the Oriental sunshine of her beauty, and snatching from her full gaze the mystery which he deemed the riddle of his own existence. But now there was a singular and untimely equanimity within his breast," this quote from the story applies because he really did love Beatrice and after her death he was saddened and he felt great grief. I chose this quote because it shows how much he really loved her and that he will always remember her. The message Hawthorne was trying to tell his readers was love is love no matter what the circumstances are and how hard it may be. People fall in love before they even know the other persons flaws, and even the flaws can't push them away. Even though Beatrice was poisonous, Giovanni still loved her and tried to help her. He even got poisonous because of her and stayed with her. When you love someone nothing can make you change the way you feel.
ReplyDelete1.) The first story I had read was "Rappaccini's Daughter" which is a story about a young Southern Italian medical student who travels north to continue his studies at the University of Padua. He lodges in what looks to be a old nobleman's mansion. As Giovanni(Our main character) studied his surroundings he found a garden which is preserved by a sickly but renowned doctor and seeing this garden he believes it is a sort of Eden as compared to the rest of the drab city. As he continues to watch the doctor then calls to his daughter, at first sight he is astounded by her beauty and watches her from a distance until the day ends, we continue to see glimpses of her but are also treated to a few mysterious incidents that point to something more sinister, such as the death of the lizard to a mere drop from a branch and the withering of the flowers at Beatrice's touch. Soon we discover how far the scientist Rappaccini is willing to go as we discover that his daughter was raised from birth to have poison imbued in her veins and how she has been isolated due to the fact that the very air she breathes is poison. However earlier professor Baglioni had given him these facts and a jar filled with an antidote said to render any poison harmless and after a small confrontation in which Giovanni was lost to rage and burning passion she drinks the antidote however as poison was in her veins she too was killed along with the poison in her blood.
ReplyDelete2.)Giovanni is an important character to note as he is our main character and one I would say the perspective is told from (although it does include narration). Physically he is a fit and as it was repeated many times, a beautiful young man who is from southern Italy. Emotionally he is stable near the beginning of the story but he falls in love with Beatrice and becomes passionate almost rage filled near the end and his youth starts to show a good quote to use in this situation would be when he finally snaps in the confrontation with Beatrice "Accursed one!" cried he, with venomous scorn and anger. "And, finding thy solitude wearisome, thou hast severed me likewise from all the warmth of life and enticed me into thy region of unspeakable horror!" I believe this shows his youth as he is quick to turn from a burning love to an almost seething hate for the one he loved only moments ago and this overpowers his intellectual side as I had believed he was a curious yet cautious man but near the end he had given in more and more to his emotions,a good contrast to observe is the passion Giovanni possesses compared to Rappaccini who is cold and calculating to the very end.I believe that even if Giovanni did not come looking for love he soon found himself almost craving it and was always battling his doubts through the story I don't think he had many motives besides wanting to clear his suspicions.
3.)In this story I think the message was the consequences of taking science too far, for example because of what Rappaccini did to his daughter she was forced to suffer in the name of science and cursed to never be able to see the life outside of that manor, cursed to solitude. It shows the horrible things we can create if we step outside the natural boundaries of nature too far, a poison that powerful was never meant to exist it only came about due to one man's sick fantasies and complete zeal in his devotion to science and this poison existed within his own daughter that was strong enough to kill any man from years of crossing the many poisonous plants together. I also find it worth mentioning that it is a bit ironic that the thing that killed Beatrice was not something we associate with death but rather life and the cure to poisons, this shows that Beatrice herself due to her father's negligence of nature's rules was the most potent poison herself.
1. In the short story "The Birthmark" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, a brilliant science named Aylmer spends endless days in his lab making discoveries on clouds, volcanoes, fountains and more. One day he left his lab to marry a beautiful women names Georgiana who was nearly perfect except for the small, hand shaped birthmark on her cheek. The sight of the birthmark made Aylmer shudder, and caused him to constantly be thinking of a way for it to be removed. When Georgiana sees how much the birthmark bothers Aylmer, she agrees to let him try to remove it at whatever the cost may be. With the help of his assistant, Aminadab, Aylmer creates a potion that he is very confident will make Georgiana's birthmark disappear. Georgiana drinks the liquid immediately only wishing that the birthmark was gone. This made her extremely tired so she went to sleep. When Georgiana was asleep, Aylmer saw the birthmark slowly fading away. His joy and celebration woke Georgiana up from her sleep. Georgiana knew then that she was dying and as the birthmark completely disappeared, Georgiana stopped breathing and died. Trying to remove Georgiana's tiny imperfection had ultimately killed her.
ReplyDelete2. One main character of the short story is Georgiana, Aylmer's wife. One quote from the story that best typifies Georgiana is, "If there be the remotest possibility of it let the attempt be made at whatever risk. Danger is nothing to me; for life, while this hateful mark makes me the object of your horror and disgust, ... " I chose this quote because it shows how devoted she is to her husband and that she would do anything to make him happy. She wouldn't want the birthmark on her face if it caused horror to her husband. Georgiana is extremely beautiful and many would think of her as perfect except for one flaw- the hand shaped, crimson birthmark upon her left cheek. Georgiana is both beautiful on the inside and outside. She loves her husband so much that she will do anything for him even in the suspicion that it may kill her.
3. The message that Hawthorne is trying to give to his readers is that everybody has imperfections and there is nothing wrong with them. Imperfections make everybody different and unique. You should not try to change someone's imperfections because that is a part of who they are. Though imperfections may be looked at as unattractive, everybody has them and they should be looked at as a good thing, not bad.
1. Once upon a time, man named Aylmer and a woman named Georgian got married. Aylmer was a scientist, who normally studies things such as volcanoes and the earth. He loved his wife very much, but he felt that she wasn’t perfect due to the birthmark on her left check. Aylmer felt as though it was a sin to have this mark. One night he brought up the point of removing the birthmark. At first, Georgian was insulted but as time when on she realized how much it bothered him. Being the loving wife that she was, she agreed to remove it at any cost. The scientist dropped all of his experiments and began obsessing over removing the mark. One day his wife was looking at his journal of the experiments that he had done. She realized that most of the experiments had never fully worked. When he figured out that she was “prying” into his stuff, he got very angry. As she was trying to please him, she told him that she would take anything that he felt would remove the birthmark. Aylmer deep down knew that his experiment wouldn’t work, but he still gave her the poison that would remove the birthmark. This one glass was the end of Georgian.
ReplyDelete2. Though several characters were in this book, I found that Aylmer was one of the more interesting characters. Aylmer could be described as someone who is never happy with what he has. He has a beauty young wife, but yet she is not beautiful enough. Although he thinks she is perfect, the birthmark on her left check will always be a sin to him. One quote from the story was “..but never on yours. No, dearest Georgiana, you came so perfect from the hand of Nature that the slightest possible defect, which we hesitate weather to term a defect or a beauty, shucks me, as being the visible mark of earthly imperfect.” He was the kind of man who will obsess over something until it is what he wants. Aylmer did not want the birthmark there and he would insist on talking about it at all hours of the day. Then finally when his wife, Georgian, agreed to get it removed, he obsessed over finding the experiment to remove it. One quote from the story describing this feature of him was “he found this one defect grow more and more intolerable with every moment of their united lives.” Deep down, he loved Georgian for who she was, but he thought that in order for him to be happy he needed to have the perfect life. This perfect life must have started with the perfect wife. Aylmer is clearly not happy with his own life, which is why he feels like everyone else needs to be perfect. As he does have a few features about him that stand out very much, he has a few hidden features. He is very intelligent and was a well-known scientist. He tried to makes experiments but he always failed at them. He was more known for his love of Nature not trying to figure out potions that will remove birthmarks. Aylmer was a man with many different levels to his personality.
3. Hawthorne wanted to impact readers by his writings. The birthmark was to show that beauty is only skin deep. One example of this in the story was that although Georgiana had this birthmark, she was still the same women whom Aylmer ha fallen in love with and married. The birthmark didn’t make her any different than who she was. In the stories, Aylmer mentions that he has an experiment that would remove freckles but not remove a birthmark because it goes too far down in the skin. Birthmarks and freckles are on the same level of your skin. He felt as though a freckle was totally different than a birthmark. He thought that freckles could be beautiful because they were only on the surface, but as soon as he thought that the birthmark was deeper down then it wasn’t beautiful. He could only see beauty on the skin, not the stuff that really mattered. (continue)
(continue) This short story shows that perfection comes at a very high cost. Throughout the story Georgian says that she will do anything, take any risk, to get rid of the birthmark. Well that risk was her life. People are born one way; everyone is perfect in their own way. If you want to change anything about yourself, there is always a risk. In this novel the risk was her life.
ReplyDelete1. Malvin collapsed in front of a grey stone in the middle of the woods after three days of travel, made his
ReplyDeleteintentions to await death known, and urged Reuben to go on home as he believed that without having to carry the burden of Malvin's survival, he would surely stand a chance. Hesitant, Roger said he would not leave his body there out in the open, unburied.
Therefore, Malvin made Reuben promise him this: Reuben would go on home and find his daughter. When she inquired about
her father, he would sadly relate the news of his death, and also say that though he was his comrade, and promised to
guard his life with his own, his demise was natural, and was through no fault of his own. He had done his duty, and after the period of mourning had passed, he would take Dorcas's hand in marriage and live a happy life with her.
He left Malvin there, sitting against the stone,
and soon found his way back. He did just as he promised; he found Dorcas, told her, and soon after married her. But
he never went back, nor did he send anyone to find Malvin.
The story picks up about eighteen years later, long after the birth of their first and only child, Cyrus Bourne.
Cyrus is very much like Reuben was when he was younger; ambitious, tall and sturdily built, and has exceptional aim with a rifle. The other families in the settlement were sure that he would become a great leader. Reuben on the other hand, had been suffering from mood swings and chronic depression ever since Cyrus was born (Cyrus is fifteen years old at this point in the story).
In early May, Dorcas, Reuben, and Cyrus leave the settlement.Eventually, they come to a stop to rest. The two men leave to go hunting, and Dorcas is left to prepare dinner. She is interrupted by the sound of a rifle. At first she assumes her son has shot a deer, and cries out with joy. But alas,he did not come. Thinking he needs help carrying the soon-to-be venison back to the set-up, she leaves to go find him.
Dorcas quickly comes upon her husband laying on top of a deer. She shakes him, and only after calling to him
about three times, does he respond. He points to the grey stone, now covered with bushes and shrubbery, and there lies
her son's body. On top of the bones of Roger Malvin.
2. Cyrus Bourne is one character whom I think represents something that happens all too often in today's world; something
ReplyDeletethat has always happened in the world's history: how the innocent are always dragged into matters far above their
heads and without reason must pay the price.
He is the character I chose to talk about because I think that most people would prefer to talk about either
Roger or Reuben, as they are the two characters that the most background info is given on. Reuben is also favorable because
his PTSD from the war combined with his guilt is so interesting to study and talk about. But Cyrus is simply a victim; as is his mother.
Not much can be said about him. We know he was strong, ambitious, street-smart (more like forest-smart), and could have grown
up to be your everyday courageous military leader. The following excerpt from the story describes Cyrus and his relationship with his father:
"The only child of Reuben and Dorcas was a son, now arrived at the age of fifteen years, beautiful in youth, and giving promise of a glorious manhood. He was peculiarly qualified for, and already began to excel in, the wild accomplishments of frontier life. His foot was fleet, his aim true, his apprehension quick, his heart glad and high; and all who anticipated the return of Indian war spoke of Cyrus Bourne as a future leader in the land. The boy was loved by his father with a deep and silent strength, as if whatever was good and happy in his own nature had been transferred to his child, carrying his affections with it. Even Dorcas, though loving and beloved, was far less dear to him; for Reuben's secret thoughts and insulated emotions had gradually made him a selfish man, and he could no longer love deeply except where he saw or imagined some reflection or likeness of his own mind. In Cyrus he recognized what he had himself been in other days; and at intervals he seemed to partake of the boy's spirit, and to be revived with a fresh and happy life."
Another fascinating aspect of Cyrus is why he was killed. Cyrus strongly resembled a younger version of his father
in both physical appearance and personality. It could be said that he was killed because Reuben tried to atone for his sin -
for breaking the promise he made to Roger. The place where he killed Cyrus is extremely symbolic as he was shot over
his grandfather's bones. Reuben tried do what should've been done years ago, and that was to die by Roger's side. He tried
to kill his younger self and re-write the past or he simply decided that by killing any living blood relative, then
he could die by Roger's side in peace and be forgiven by God (the very end of the story tells us that he prayed before he died).
3. There are so many possible answers to this third question, but I could hardly think of one. The obvious one is to
ReplyDeletealways keep your promises, but I find this too shallow-minded to fit the likes of Nathaniel Hawthorne. It's true, he could have
simply been feeling guilty about something and wrote this to ease pain of his soul, but within every great work of literature, there
is great meaning to be found, whether the author intended it or not. Continuing on, of theories I have two. One, Hawthorne
tried to emphasize the fact that war never breeds peace and though many don't consider it, the individual lives of the
brave soldiers are affected deeply. Two, the past is a scary thing to face and when we don't confront it head-on, the problems
will only continue to build-up until the stress kills you. Our guilt and pain should never be kept within us, and we should
try to find closure by any means possible. In this story, closure for Reuben would be burying Malvin's body, for Reuben was
a good man who felt so depressed for not keeping his promise, but the thought of war and having to tell Dorcas that her father's
body was left out in the open were to hard to face.
It could be both of the above theories, it could be neither, or it could be that and a bunch of other things. We'll
never know for Hawthorne is dead as well, but what matters is what meaning we each take out of it.
The story I read was "The Birthmark" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The plot of the story begins with Aylmer, a very successful scientist and inventor. Aylmer has a beautiful wife named Georgiana, but Aylmer believes that she has only one flaw, her small birthmark on her cheek the shape of a hand. This birthmark becomes Aylmer’s obsession. Aylmer hates Georgiana’s birthmark and tells her that he thinks she should have it removed. Aylmer’s words cause Georgiana to believe the same. Eventually, Georgiana decides to remove her birth mark, and Aylmer begins to work on the potion that will remove his wife’s flaw. After taking the potion Georgiana's birthmark begins to fade, until it is barely visible but as it fades, Georgiana begins to die. In the end Georgiana’s birthmark disappears and it takes Georgiana life.
ReplyDeleteOne character from the story is Georgiana. She is a very young, beautiful woman.Georgiana has a small birthmark on her cheek in the shape of a hand. The quote from the story "It has made meworship you more than ever" (said by Georgiana to Aylmer) is a very good quote to describe Georgiana because she worships her husband and does everything she possibly can to please him. Emotionally Georgiana is a little bit desperate for her husband’s approval because she chooses Aylmer’s opinion of her birthmark over her own just to make him happy.
Hawthorne's message of the story is mainly that man’s imperfections are not only physical, but also embedded into ones character. An example from the story that supports this is when Aylmer describes his dream of the birthmark sinking deeper and deeper into Georgiana's skin as he tried to remove it and eventually it becomes embedded in her heart. His message is that being imperfect is simply a part of being human which nothing can change including science.
I read "The Birthmark" by Nathaniel Hawthorne as my first short story for the summer assignment. In this short story, a man of science by the name of Aylmer has found his life calling in science, and has devoted himself to the subject. He falls in love with a woman by the name of Georgiana, in which he weds. Georgiana has a birthmark on her left cheek, resembling a small handprint, thought to be imprinted by a small fairy at her birth hour. Aylmer thinks the mark is an "earthly imperfection" and it takes away from Georgiana's beauty. Throughout the story, Aylmer makes it his mission to create some sort of concoction or potion to rid of the birthmark. With the help of his assistant, Aminadab, they create a concoction that rids of the birthmark. The potion causes Georgiana to fall asleep, and as she wakes up, the lines of the birthmark start to fade, but she begins to grow weaker. Unfortunately, Georgiana dies, leaving Aylmer all alone to document the outcome of his experiment in his folio volume.
ReplyDeleteAylmer is very intelligent man who studies endlessly in the scientific field. He is married to Georgiana, and gives up his studies to pursue a life with her. He is very disturbed, yet fascinated of Georgiana's birthmark on her cheek, although he cannot stand the birthmark itself, believing that the mark takes away from her natural beauty. Over the course of the story, he makes it his personal mission to remove or possibly make her birthmark vanish. In the end, his concoction epically fails and kills Georgiana.
"You are fit for heaven without tasting death!" replied her husband "But why do we speak of dying? The draught cannot fail. Behold its effect upon this plant." In this snippet of text, Aylmer is telling his wife that she is too sweet and genuine to not go to heaven, and that she shouldn't have to suffer through death in order to see it. Also, he is very confident in his concoction, saying that death could simply not be in her future because the "potion" is guaranteed to keep her alive, unless his science studies have ultimately failed him. You can see his determination and confidence in this quote, which really shows through all around in the short story. I chose this quote because when I first read, it really popped out at me and I understood the meaning of it right when I read it. Aylmer would do anything to keep his dearest wife alive, even if it meant slaving over experiments in a lab all day!I could imagine the character pouring his heart out over these lines. He is a truly caring and thoughtful character throughout the story.
I believe that Hawthorne's purpose in writing the story was to show the important of caring, determination, and passion. Aylmer's passion for sciences really took off and popped out at the reader in the first paragraph, showing that it is important to have a passion and set goals. Also, you can see the passion between Aylmer and Georgiana. The reader see tender, loving care between the two main characters. Aylmer really cares for his wife, which really comes through when he is working in his lab endlessly to create a concoction to rid of Georgiana's birthmark. He would not stop at anything for her. The moral of the story is that you will find passion in loving what you do, but you will find someone you love and intertwine both of them and not stop at anything to care for both passions.
PLOT SUMMARY:
ReplyDeleteAylmer is a scientific philosopher, who also studies the natural world. His young wife Georgiana is the love of his life (his job closely follows). A few days after their marriage, Aylmer asks his new beloved if she had ever taken upon the consideration of getting the tiny, hand-shaped birthmark on her left cheek removed. Georgiana confesses that no, she had not because it had been called a “charm” by so many others that she believed it was unnecessary. But Aylmer kept pushing, for he thought that the tiny birthmark was her only imperfection, and it was the only thing blocking her from being flawless. After much convincing of the practicality of the removal, Georgiana warily agrees. Aylmer’s assistant, Aminadab, does not understand why Aylmer has become so obsessed with removing the mark. He believes she is beautiful enough as it is, and felt as if he’d be lucky to have her as she was, birthmark and all. After many experiments, Georgiana realizes that Aylmer must be either doctoring her food, or making her inhale something in the air. She begins feeling strange. She then reads her husband’s books where he recorded all of his scientific experiments. But this angers Aylmer, so Georgiana sings to sooth his temper. Later, Georgiana drinks the concoction that Aylmer directs her to take, although she is aware that it is dangerous. Aylmer tries to ease her mind by telling her that it cannot fail. After drinking it, Georgiana feels tired, so she falls asleep. The potion works, and the birthmark fades. Aylmer gets his wish, and his wife is now perfect in every way, but it is fatal. Georgiana praises her husband for his noble work, and tells him not to feel sorry for rejecting “the best the earth could offer”. In the end, she dies.
CHARACTER DEFINITION:
Georgiana is the ideal wife for any man of her time. She is obedient and loving, and aims to please Aylmer in the best way she possibly can. Not to mention her unmistakable beauty, which the women are jealous of, and the men are quite fond of. She is also very intelligent and curious as well. For example, when she chooses to read Aylmer’s book of experiments, she seems to understand his philosophies and beliefs. Georgiana is also brave. She chooses to put her husband first, by risking her life for his happiness. From his personality, you would doubt that Aylmer would do the same and make the same sacrifices for his wife as Georgiana did for him. Georgiana’s husband’s opinions and thoughts also mean the world to her, and when he brings up the removal of her birthmark, she is taken aback. Although Georgiana’s former and present lovers would kill to place their lips, or even hand on her “flawed” cheek, she throws all of their praise away. The only opinion that matters is Aylmer’s, and she becomes disgusted with her appearance. Georgiana’s internal motivations to remove the mark were deeply intertwined with Aylmer’s acceptance and happiness as well. She chooses to change herself because of Aylmer’s wishes. Her external motivations were a result of Aylmer also. When he shudders and stares at the sight of her birthmark, it makes Georgiana feel horrible about herself, almost like she isn’t adequate enough for him. The quote that I chose to describe Georgiana’s personality and characteristics is this: "’It has made me worship you more than ever,’ said she.” I chose this quote particularly because of its directness. It is so utterly clear that Georgiana puts her husband first because she admits that she worships him, and even his most un-noble moments in the readers point of view, makes her worship him more. It shows just how true she is to her husband.
Gemma Caglioti
THE MESSAGE:
ReplyDeleteI believe that there were two messages Nathaniel Hawthorne was trying to send to the reader. One is that no living thing is perfect. Everyone and everything must have an imperfection in some way, shape, or form. But that is what makes us unique and beautiful, such as Georgiana’s birthmark. It almost seems as if Aminadab was the most intelligent character in this story, not the scientific philosopher, because he would have been perfectly content with Georgiana the way she was, flaws and all, unlike Aylmer. This now draws me to my second part of the message. I believe Hawthorne was also trying to prove how utterly ridiculous it is to strive for complete perfection, or alter somebody in some way to attempt to achieve flawlessness. In this short story, it ultimately ended up in Georgiana’s death. Her death can also represent the death of just being human; completely imperfect and flawed.
Gemma Caglioti
"The Birthmark" by Nathaniel Hawthorne involves the intense desire of Aylmer, a philosophical scientist, to remove a much despised tiny red hand on the face of his otherwise perfect wife, Georgiana. As the story continues, Aylmer brings his wife to his laboratory where he has concocted various potions intended to altering the natural world. He offers a special liquid which Georgiana drinks and slowly the birthmark fades. Georgiana, however, dies in the end.
ReplyDeleteNathaniel Hawthorne developed the character Aylmer in a expressive manner. Aylmer is pail, slight, and tall. As a scientist and a philosopher he is very serious in his work. When he decided to marry he chose an almost perfect, ideal women. As he saw it, she had one massive flaw. She was born with a red, tiny hand on her left cheek. As the marriage continued Aylmer grew more and more intense, with hatred of the birthmark. He see's himself as a intellectually gifted and feels compelled to experiment and develop potions which will change the natural world. He does not admit his failures, not to his wife, not even to himself. He is intent on seeking perfection. A quote that describes Aylmer's strong point of view is the following, "No, dearest Georgiana, you came so nearly perfect from the hand of Nature that this slightest possible defect, which we hesitate whether to term a defect or a beauty, shocks me, as being the visible mark of earthly imperfection"
Hawthorne wrote this short story, "The Birthmark" to show that imperfection exists in the natural world. The author uses symbols of red and white to stress that all things are mortal and will die. The idea that perfection can be achieved and is unrealistic and causes great loss and pain in the end. The illustration of the beautiful flower when plucked withers and dies is a fore-shadowing of the intense desire of Aylmer to remove the birthmark and thereby achieve perfection in this beloved wife, Georgiana.
Roger Malvin's Burial
ReplyDeleteThis short story was about two companions that survived a battle, Roger Malvin and Rueben Bourne. Roger Malvin, the elder was more critically injuried and would not make the journey back home so he told Rueben to leave him to die. Roger had a daughter and Rueben married her because it was one of Roger's requests. They had a son and they went out of their settlement to create a new one. While taking a break and setting up camp it is May 12th which is the day that Reuben had left Roger to die and so he thought to get rid of his sins and guilt he most kill his son and he does so.
The character i chose was Reuben Bourne. He was a very loyal man and he had a lot of guilt but cared and was compassionate. A quote that really defines Reuben as a loyal and a compassionate guy is "And because you have been a father to me, should I therefore leave you to perish and to lie unburied in the wilderness?" exclaimed the youth. "No; if your end be in truth approaching, I will watch by you and receive your parting words. I will dig a grave here by the rock, in which, if my weakness overcome me, we will rest together; or, if Heaven gives me strength, I will seek my way home." This quote is saying that Reuben will not leave Roger to die like this and wants him to come back to the settlement with him to get treated or die at home with his daughter by his side.
The message that I have found in the short story is that you can't let guilt take over you and you can only do so much and after something happens you can't change it you just have to continue and move on to the next.
"The Birthmark" by Nathaniel Hawthorne is about a scientist & philosopher named Aylmer who gets married to a beautiful woman named Georgiana. In every way, Georgiana is perfect except for a red mark on her left cheek. Some use the mark on her cheek to heighten her beauty. However, her husband Aylmer sees it as an imperfection. She becomes burdened with the fact that Aylmer sees her as imperfect and begs him to take it away. He tries many different things but all cease to make an effect. He eventually comes up with a liquid that should make it go away. Georgiana drinks it before it is ready and the mark goes away. A couple days later, she dies.
ReplyDeleteThe main character of the story is Aylmer, a skinny & pale scientist and philosopher. He chose the ideal woman to marry, Georgiana, but insists she has one terrible flaw, the birthmark on her left cheek. He hates the birthmark and will not stop until it is removed. He grows more passionate about removing the mark, that even Georgiana says herself she would rather die than have the mark removed. Eventually, Aylmer makes a liquid that makes the mark disappear, at the expense of his wife's life. A quote that describes this is, "No, dearest Georgiana, you came so nearly perfect from the hand of Nature that this slightest possible defect, which we hesitate whether to term a defect or a beauty, shocks me, as being the visible mark of earthly imperfection".
The message of this story is to show that nothing is perfect, and you shouldn't tamper with imperfections and just leave them be. Tampering with imperfections can lead to devastating consequences. The world is imperfect and has a certain order to it that cant be messed with. Rather than trying to "fix" or "remove" imperfections, you should take time to embrace them.
"Rappaccini's Daughter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a short story in which Giovanni Guasconti leaves his home of Southern Italy to go to the University of Padua. The garden under his window is left with strange plants. He soon learns it's under the care of Giacomo Rappaccini and his beautiful daughter Beatrice. Beatrice captures Giovanni's eye because of her beauty. Because of the plant aromas, everything Beatrice touches dies, except the plants. Because Giovanna goes to the garden everyday to talk to Beatrice, he too becomes infected. A professor named Baglioni is dedicated to help Giovanni and Beatrice. Giovanni convinces Beatrice to take an antidote and ends up dying. He learns that the poison keeps her alive.
ReplyDelete“Soon there emerged from under a sculptured portal the figure of a young girl, arrayed with as much richness of taste as the most splendid of the flowers, beautiful as the day, and with a bloom so deep and vivid that one shade more would have been too much.”
Beatrice, Rappaccini's daughter, is very eye catching and beautiful. But what really sets her apart is that she is beautiful, loving, and kind on the inside. She also takes people for who they are, and that is all. Beatrice will only judge you on you're manner, rather than what you look like.
The message Hawthorne is trying to get across is that looks do not make up a person. Also, looks can be decieving. Beatrice is very beautiful which catches Giovanni's eye, but the curse that she has on the inside infects Giovanni.
The short story "Roger Malvin's Burial" by Nathaniel Hawthorne is about two friends, Roger Malvin and Reuben Bourne making a journey home. Roger, is in critical condition and cannot make the journey home, therefore he tells Reuben to leave him to die. Roger's dying wish is that Reuben would marry his daughter, Dorcas. Reuben does this but cannot feel at peace for not going back and properly burry Roger. Years later when there son, Cyrus is about 15, the whole family goes out into the wilderness. They make a rest stop and as Dorcas prepares for dinner, Reuben and Cyrus hunt. Because of the guilt, Reuben shoots Cyrus over Roger's tombstone.
ReplyDeleteThe character Reuben is very loyal and compassionate. He sees Roger Malvin as a father and hasn't forgotten him over the years, as he feels guilty for not properly burying him. Reuben also is loyal because he nearly refused to abandon Roger as he was dying and couldn't make it home. The quote, " "And because you have been a father to me, should I therefore leave you to perish and to lie unburied in the wilderness?" shows that. Reuben is also loyal because he keeps his word and marries Dorcas.
The message Hawthorne was trying to get across is to not let guilt take over your life. You can't live with guilt because it will haunt you for the rest of your life. You need to come to terms with what happened and move on.
Rappaccini's Daughter
ReplyDelete1. Giovanni Guasconti is a student at the University of Padua, in southern Italy. He moves into a meager apartment that overlooks an exotic garden below. He is told that the garden belongs to a Dr. Rappaccini and his daughter. Later that day, the Doctor and his daughter are seen working in the garden. It was love at first sight. Her beauty, her femininity, everything. He visits a friend of his late father, Professor Baglioni, and asks him about Rappaccini. Baglioni is surprised, but then answers him saying that Rappaccini is indeed a wonderful and brilliant man in the world of science, but his experiments are less than admirable, as is his reputation. His daughter, named Beatrice, is the beauty of the land and is pursued by many young men, but it is rumoured that she has much knowledge of her father's work. On his way home, Guasconti buys a bouquet of flowers. which he throws down to Beatrice the next day from the window, after watching an insect die upon contact with her breath. For many days he does not look into the garden. He goes for a walk around Padua, and is stopped by Baglioni. While they greet each other, Doctor Rappaccini is seen walking across the street, and then stares at Guasconti. As he walks away, Baglioni warns Guasconti about Rappaccini. When Guasconti returns home, his landlady Lisabetta shows him a secret entrance into the garden, as she has noticed how he enjoys to look down upon Beatrice while she works. While he walks through the garden, Beatrice appears. Guasconti questions her about the rumours he had heard from Baglioni, and she denies having any advanced knowledge of the plants and medicine. She tells him that she simply cares for the plants, that she was raised with them, and that any word that leaves her lips is true. They walk through the garden and talk. Then they come to a blossoming purple plant. Guasconti had seen it before, when he first say Beatrice. It is poisonous, and he smells it on her breath. She was raised with this plant in particular, and she explains to him how the plant is like a sister to her. It's scent runs through her veins; it is the essence of her breath. Then he sees Rappaccini standing near the secret entrance, and soon finds himself back in his room, filled with thoughts of Beatrice. He continued to meet with Beatrice in the garden, until one morning, Professor Baglioni showed up in his apartment. He warned him about Beatrice, and said that she was as evil and deadly as the plants she tended to. He gives him a vial that is said to be the cure for the poison. Upon their next meeting, Guasconti shows Beatrice the vial and tells her of the happy days they could have together if they were cured (by now he had the same poison in him as Beatrice, being exposed to the purple plant on a daily basis). She says they should both drink from it, but that she should go first to test it. Rappaccini shows up and scolds her for being ungrateful. She drinks from the vial, and she dies.
2. The character I'm going to describe is Professor Pietro Baglioni. Baglioni is a professor of medicine at the university where Guasconti goes to school. Though he is old, he is lively, generous, and very hospitable. He enjoys a good glass of wine, and was close friends with Guasconti's late father; so naturally he feels responsible for the orphaned young boy. An example of this protective nature is shown when his vial of poison kills Beatrice (he never told Guasconti that it would kill her; he said it would simply cure her). Before her death, when he and Guasconti encountered Rappaccini on the street, he vowed to himself that he shall not let any harm come to the boy. He warned Guasconti, but a man in love does not listen to anything contrary to his feelings. He truly feels that Beatrice is not only beautiful, but also very dangerous, as is her father. He respects Doctor Rappaccini for his love of science, but that is where it ends. Rappaccini's ignorance for mankind is Baglioni's number one reason for detesting him. One can imagine how he felt when his poison killed Beatrice. The following quote from the story reflects his very admirable fatherly nature: "This must not be," said Baglioni to himself. "The youth is the son of my old friend, and shall not come to any harm from which the arcana of medical science can preserve him. Besides, it is too insufferable an impertinence in Rappaccini thus to snatch the lad out of my own hands, as I may say, and make use of him for his infernal experiments. This daughter of his! It shall be looked to. Perchance, most learned Rappaccini, I may foil you where you little dream of it!". I chose this quote because despite the fact that I do not approve of murder, it really tells us how he treats people he is close to. It shows us that Professor Baglioni is a wonderful man, and an even better friend, because he will go to great lengths in order to protect his loved ones. I truly believe that he is the single most inspirational character in this story.
ReplyDelete3. There is one message in this story that boldly stands out: "amantes sunt amentes", Latin for "lovers are lunatics" (note how similar the words "amantes" and "amentes" are; they even knew this back then). After only seeing Beatrice once, Guasconti buys her a bouquet of flowers and throws them down to her from his window. When Baglioni stops him in the street and warns him about Beatrice, he simply ignores him and tries to pull the "I'm in a rush," excuse. He continuously goes down to the garden and spends time with Beatrice, despite the purple flowering plant that Beatrice claims is both fatal and like a sister to her. It is said that he perpetually daydreams about living a romantic life with her. Shortly before her death, he lashes out at her and calls her many horrible names, yet gives her the vial with the supposed "cure" anyway. He wanted to run away with her after she took the cure after only knowing her for a short period of time. I find that this story is much like Romeo and Juliet, except we don't know what happens to Guasconti afterwards (though it would be ironic if he stabbed himself), and Beatrice is the one who dies from poison. This story warns us of how dangerous and blinding love can be. Love mustn't be rushed, because it will make us do horrid things.
ReplyDeleteRappaccini’s daughter by Nathanial Hawthorne.
ReplyDelete1. A long time ago at the University of Padua, there lived a young man named Giovanni Guasconti. His chamber over looked a well-known garden, that was tended to by a doctor named Giacomo Rappaccini, and his beautiful daughter, Beatrice. Giovanni was curious about the garden and would watch it out of his window. One day at the University Professor Pietro Baglioni told Giovanni all about the doctor. He said that the doctor thinks of everyone as a science experiment. That he would sacrifice any human life for the love of science. As a few days past, Beatrice and Giovanni ran into each other. They took an extreme fancy, but during that moment he figured out that some of the flowers in the garden were deadly. Many days pasted and Giovanni kept thinking about the incident. He soon ran into the Professor again. This time he tells the professor how he has been able to do things that he wasn’t able to do before, such as killing animals with his breath. The professor tells him how Beatrice is truly evil and will ruin him. Giovanni is given a vile of poison that he thinks will cure Beatrice, but in reality she dies.
2. One of the main characters in this story is Professor Pietro Baglioni. He is a man of science at the University of Padua. He is an older man who is especially nice when he some alcohol in him. I believe that he played the biggest part in the story. He was the one of gave the vial of poison to Giovanni and tricked him into killing Beatrice. The professor acted as though he was looking out for the youth but he was actually using ulterior motives to ruin Rappaccini. He said, “be of good cheer, son of my friend! It is not yet to late for the rescue.” This was when the professor gave Giovanni the vase of poison to give to Beatrice. The professor was a very smart man but Giacomo Rappaccini was always slightly better than him. Since the two men were in the same field there was always the competition. The professor wanted to ruin Rappaccini so he poisoned his daughter.
3. I think that the most important message that Hawthorn wanted to impart to his readers is you can’t always trust everything. The professor befriended Giovanni and acted as though he was looking out for him. He said, “The youth is the son of my old friend, and shall not come to any harm from which the arcana of medical science can preserve him”. Giovanni was tricked and listened to everything that the professor had said. He believed the professor when he said the vial of poison would save Beatrice, but really it would kill her. In the end this was the professor wanted. He wanted to ruin Giacomo so he took the life of something that meant the world to him. You can’t always trust everything.
Roger Malvin's Burial
ReplyDeleteThis story is about two men who were severely injured during a war. Their names were Reuben Bourne and Roger Malvin. Roger was the older one who had a family at home including a daughter who Reuben was intending to marry. Reuben was a young man who wasn't as badly hurt as Roger and could make it back to their home, or very close. They were both left in the wilderness since none of the other soldiers knew where to find them and Roger was dying. Reuben didn't want to leave his side, but Roger wouldn't let him because Roger knew that he should use his strength to get home and then get someone to take care of Roger's body instead of using his strength to keep Roger alive which he knew wouldn't happen. Reuben started to agree once Roger told him about how he once had to do the same thing with another soldier and how they both were saved and the other soldier is still alive. This story gave Reuben hope that maybe they could still both make it. Before Reuben left, Roger made him vow to send other soldiers back to bury his body once he died (if they came back and he was dead). Reuben promised and was on his way back home. He started losing strength and started dying the same was that Roger did. He was all alone in the wilderness with no one to help him. Suddenly, other soldiers spotted him and brought him back to safety. Roger's daughter, Dorcas, was taking care of Reuben and asked about what happened to her father once he regained his strength. All Reuben said was that he died and when Dorcas asked if he buried his body, Reuben said that he did. Reuben would always carry the guilt that he never buried Roger throughout his life. During his wedding, when he should have been happy, he felt guilty and sad. This thought about Roger that was always on his mind turned him into a very angry and upset man. He tried to support him and Dorcas by owning a farm, but he never got any business because he was a terrible business man since he was so angry at everyone all the time. Dorcas and Reuben had a son named Cyrus. Reuben loved Cyrus because he was exactly like his self. Cyrus liked to hunt and enjoyed the hunting trips that he took with his father. The family decided that they were going to live in the forest and live off of nature. They would hunt for their food and drink their water from freshwater sources such as rivers or lakes. Cyrus was very excited for the adventure and Reuben felt like he would enjoy life with his family in the wilderness. Dorcas was very sad to be leaving everything behind, but she felt like it was more important to be with the people that you love instead of in the environment that you love. One day, Cyrus and Reuben went out to hunt when Reuben passed by a very familiar place. He got a closer look at it and it was the site of where Roger had died. He recognized everything because he left little landmarks around it so that when he was supposed to send help, then they could tell where they were supposed to go. Reuben heard something in the bushes and shot it thinking it was an animal for dinner. Dorcas heard the gunshot from the camp, thinking Cyrus shot a deer, and ran to go help him bring it back to the camp. When she called out for Cyrus he didn't respond. She just figured that he was farther away. Dorcas found Reuben lying on the ground in a very strange position as he looked very disturbed and upset. She asked what happened and he pointed to their son. Reuben accidentally shot Cyrus at the exact same spot that Roger died. Cyrus was now dead and it turned out that a curse was put on Reuben so that this would happen since he never buried Roger like he vowed to do. Reuben prayed for his son, Roger, and so that the curse would be lifted and that an event like this would never happen again. Continued in the next entry.
Roger Malvin's Burial (Continued)
ReplyDeleteOne main character in the story was Roger Malvin. He was an older man who was injured fighting in the war. He had a daughter named Dorcas and gave them his blessing before he passed away. Roger was a man who always thought of others. Instead of wanting Reuben to stay with him as he died in the wilderness, he was trying to think of ways to keep Reuben safe and to get him back home. One quote from the story that shows his character the best, is," let the wish of a dying man have weight with you; give me one grasp of your hand, and get you hence. Think you that my last moments will be eased by the thought that I leave you to die a more lingering death? I have loved you like a father, Reuben; and at a time like this I should have something of a father's authority. I charge you to be gone that I may die in peace." This shows how much he thought of Reuben and that he doesn't want someone else to suffer so that he can have someone with him while he dies. He did, however, make Reuben vow to bury his body once he found others. He told him to send a few people (not including his self) to come back and bury his bones once he was dead. If he was still alive, then they would bring him back to their hometown. One of his last wishes was that Reuben also keep Dorcas safe and happy and to marry her. I think that Roger was a great person to want the people that he cares about to be happy even though he would soon be dead. He wasn't thinking about what was going to happen to him, he was thinking about what would happen to his family once he was gone.
I think that the message of the story, was that you should always do as you promise. If you tell someone that you will do something, you need to do what you said or else there will be consequences. An example of this in the story was when Reuben promised to have someone bury Roger's bones if he was dead. Reuben never even told anyone about this and the guilt was always with him. Since he never did this, a curse was put on him and he didn't even know it. He was at the site of where Roger died and accidentally killed his own son, thinking that he was a deer. This was the curse that was then lifted from Reuben, because of this event, and Reuben prayed for the curse to never come back and for forgiveness from Roger. If Reuben had just kept this one promise, none of this would have ever happened. Cyrus wouldn't have died, Reuben would have most likely been a better farmer and businessman, and he would have been a happier person in general. In conclusion, what Hawthorne was trying to say in this story, is that if you don't keep your promises then you will have certain consequences.
The Birthmark
ReplyDeleteAylmer is a man of science who married a beautiful lady named Georgiana. Georgiana is known for her beauty and for an unusual birthmark in the shape of an open hand on her left cheek. Aylmer cannot stand the sight of it. He thinks this one imperfection ruins her entire beauty. She is fine with it as is everyone else but him. One day he asks her if she ever thought it could be removed. She shrugged it off and didn’t care too much about what her husband said but he wore her down with his shudders of disgust. She allows him to experiment on its removal so they could be happier and he starts to love her more for it. They move into his laboratory. After a few experiments, none of them working to Aylmer’s liking, he thinks he has the perfect remedy. And it works, for a whole two minutes. The little birthmark was so attached to her that when it left her face, Georgiana died.
Georgiana is a mortal woman, just like every other woman in this world of Aylmer’s. “[Our Mother] permits us, indeed, to mar, but seldom to mend, and, like a jealous patentee, on no account to make.” This quote is taken from Aylmer’s recollections of his experiments. Georgiana fits this description perfectly. Georgiana was described as “the best the earth has to offer”. She was beautiful; she would be perfect except for one blemish on her cheek described as a fairy’s hand. She was of the earth so she could not be perfect. Georgiana was innocent of crime yet stuck in a jail in her marriage to Aylmer. Had she married any other man her fate would have been different, and she would have been happier. And alive. Georgiana didn’t mind the birthmark but Aylmer’s disgust of it broke her will to live. The first time he asked about it she waved it away but day by day he slowly broke her down with his obsession. By the end of the story she did not care if she died from the experiment. She was a strong lady but did not care to live only to face her husband hating the sight of her. This proves her love for Aylmer. He might be an awful person with no sense of mortality but she loved him with all her heart. She trusted him and gave him the benefit of the doubt. She moved into his laboratory and Georgiana told him she would take the poison if given to her by his hand. She read his experiment book and came to understand him and love him more for it. He is not worthy of her loyalty.
This story exemplifies the moral of to love what you have. Aylmer did not completely love Georgiana and he ended up losing her. Do not try to improve to perfection, perfect is only reached in heaven. Aylmer could not stand his love having an imperfection and he tried to barter with something he did not fully understand. The “remedy” ended Georgiana’s life. Do not wish your life away. Aylmer wanted to fast forward to a world he did not yet belong. He did not understand to take into account what other people wish. This story shows us what it means to be human; don’t try to be perfect because nothing is.
Roger Malvin's Burial
ReplyDelete1. Reuben Borne and Roger Malvin are two men who closely escaped from battle and into the forest. They're both severely injured, and both lost most of their remaining strength from the journey. They rest at a large, tombstone-shaped rock and after one night, Roger knows that his wounds are too deep to keep going. He requests that Reuben carry on without him to his home and marry his daughter, Dorcas. Reuben does not want to leave the old man out in the open in the hands of the wilderness, so he says that he'll stay until Roger has died, so as to bury him afterwards. The latter will not have this and tells Reuben to save his strength for the hike to his house. He reluctantly does so and almost does not make it. He collapses, is found by a group searching for war survivors, and is delivered to Roger's house. He lies about burying Roger, is married to Dorcas, and becomes a bitter, old man who is plagued by guilt. The couple has one son named Cyrus, and while the family is out in the woods, they find him dead at the tombstone-shaped rock. Dorcas collapses in sorrow and a tree (which was to mark where Roger lay) falls on the three of them.
2. A quote to best describe Roger Malvin would be "Leave me for my sake, that, having said a prayer for your safety, I may have space to settle my account undisturbed by worldly sorrows". This portrays him quite well because it shows how kind and unselfish he is. He is basically just a wise, old man who has been a father-figure to Reuben throughout battle. All he really wants is to be left at the rock, so that he can die peacefully under the stars and for the boy to make it home safely to marry Roger's daughter.
3. The message that Nathaniel Hawthorne was trying to impart on his readers was to tell the truth because there could be serious consequences in the long run. For example, Reuben lied about burying Roger Malvin and became very mean, selfish, and paranoid because of it. He then could only love Cyrus, whom in which he could see bits of himself.
Rappacini’s Daughter
ReplyDelete1. Dr. Rappacini is a man of science who has infected his daughter with poison. She is now carrying the poison within herself. Giovanni comes along and decides to talk to her. They end up falling in love, however, he is now infected with the poison as well (most likely when she pushed him out of the way of the poisonous plant). Well, Giovanni gets a silver vial from Professor Baglioni, which is suppose to cure any poison. Giovanni gives it to Beatrice (daughter) and she ends up dying from it.
2. “Giovanni trembled. Beatrice shuddered…” is the quote that would most describe Dr. Rappacini. He is a man of science that had turned him into a monster who is feared by most. He doesn’t give any regard to others feelings, but there may be something else to him. Don’t hold me to this, but I think he might’ve had good intentions when he probably planned Giovanni to be infected with the poison. I think he tried to give someone to his daughter he created and infected with poison. So, to summarize, he is a mysterious man whose intentions are unknown.
3. The moral of the story… hmm… kind of tough to figure out. Maybe he wrote this to show people that when someone is unhappy with something they did, another might come along and try to make it better. The moral- good intentions can have horrible outcomes, but it’s the thought that counts. :)
Roger Malvin’s Burial
ReplyDeleteNathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, Roger Malvin’s Burial, is about two men, one young and one old, who are wounded from battle. They were shot during Lovell’s Fight and after a three day journey, stopped to rest by a tree. The older man, Roger, said that he could not go on and asked the younger man, Reuben, to continue on without him. Back home Reuben plans on marrying Roger’s daughter, Dorcas. Reuben is unwilling to leave Roger at first but makes a vow to come back for him and continues on. He is found by a group of soldiers and is taken home. He tells Dorcas that her father is dead and he stayed with him until the very end. Everyone thinks Reuben is a hero and feeling guilty, he gets more irritated each day until he is an unhappy man. Dorcas and Reuben get married and have a child named Cyrus. Reuben becomes a farmer and finds out that he is a terrible farmer so he and his family move to the woods where they scavenge for food and sleep outside. One day Reuben and Cyrus search for game separately while Dorcas stays behind. Reuben hears a noise so he shoots. He goes to where the victim is and he finds Roger’s makeshift grave and the dead body of Cyrus, his son.
“His foot was fleet, his aim true, his apprehension quick, his heart glad and high; and all who anticipated the return of Indian war spoke of Cyrus Bourne as a future leader in the land.” This quote describes Cyrus as the perfect soldier and that he is looked upon fondly by many. Everyone expects him to do great things. Cyrus is a happy boy who is respectful to his parents. Instead of being upset about living in the woods he is just glad that he can use his skills and be with his family. He was very much like his father Reuben. Cyrus is enthusiastic until the moment he is killed because of his father’s foolish mistake.
Hawthorne’s purpose of writing this story was for entertainment to others. The message he tried to show was that guilt stays with you forever and not being there when he said he would caused damage to the characters most important love. At the end of the story it says that seeing his dead boy made Reuben say a prayer, something he hasn’t done in years. Reuben didn’t keep his vow and he had to pay the price, whether it was Roger’s spirit’s doing or his own stupidity.
Rappaccini’s Daughter
ReplyDelete1. Doctor Rappaccini had a beautiful daughter named Beatrice. He also had an exquisite garden full of exotic plants of his creations. They were extraordinarily beautiful, but highly poisonous. One day Giovanni looked out a window looking into the garden and gazed at the many plants before him. He saw Beatrice and Rappaccini in the garden, but he noticed something different about them. Beatrice’s beauty stuns Giovanni and he begins to visit her daily and soon he falls in love with her. After a while a friend of Giovanni’s father comes to visit and nonchalantly brings up Beatrice. He tells Giovanni that she is poisonous and should stay away. Giovanni doesn’t believe him, so decides to give her fresh flowers and see if they will wilt. In doing so, he finds that he himself is now poisonous due to all the time he has spent around Beatrice and the poisonous plants of the garden. When Giovanni and Beatrice both know that they are both poisonous due to the creations of Rappaccini, Giovanni offers Beatrice a medicinal antidote to cure the poison. When she takes it, she dies and both Rappaccini and Giovanni realize that for Beatrice poison is what kept her alive and without it she would die.
2. Beatrice is an absolutely beautiful young lady that every man wants to be with and every lady is jealous of in the town. Her problem is that poison is the element of her life keeping her alive. She doesn’t know she is poisonous until Giovanni tells her and when she finally finds out she hates her father for what he had done to her. She wishes she wasn’t poisonous so she wouldn’t be lonely and feared all the time. The quote I chose was, “So now our friend Giovanni’s secret is out. You have heard of his daughter, whom all the men in Padua are wild about..” I chose this quote because it really tells me how beautiful Beatrice must have been and with that such a struggle she endured being lonely. Also that Giovanni tried to keep both his love for her and his now poisonous self a secret trying to protect both of them.
3. I think Hawthorne’s purpose in writing the story was to show that everyone has flaws and you shouldn’t try to fix it. Beatrice was the character with the flaw in this short story. Even though she was the most beautiful, gorgeous, admirable girl that anybody would want to be with, her breath was poisonous. Giovanni and a friend of his fathers, Baglioni, had given Beatrice this antidote to rid the poison and instead caused her death. If they hadn’t given Beatrice the poison, her and Giovanni could have lived together in the garden by themselves, considering they were both poisoned and already in love.
The Birthmark
ReplyDelete1. In the story The Birthmark, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, a women named Georgina and a man named Aylmer are married. Georgina is seen to be gorgeous by everyone, except for her one flaw. On her face, Georgina has a birthmark that looks like a crimson hand. Aylmer cannot stand to look at it on her face and doesn't fail to let Georgina know how he feels. He tells her how unattractive it is so many times that it starts to make Georgina feel so bad about herself. Georgina began to ask Aylmer why he married her if he can't look at her face without thinking how ugly it is. One day Aylmer proposes an idea to get rid of the birthmark using science. Georgina convinces herself that she will do whatever it takes to get rid of it. He produces a liquid that Georgina will have to ingest and it will make the birthmark fade away. Georgina drank the liquid and fell into a very deep sleep, and as she was sleeping Aylmer discovered that the birthmark slowly started to fade away. When she awoke, with the birthmark barely on her face, she told Aylmer she was dying. In the end Aylmer figured out that the birthmark was her connection to life, without that birthmark Georgina died. It was more than an imperfection, and Aylmer failed to see that.
2. One of the main characters from the short story The Birthmark was Georgina. Georgina is a married women, who is seen to be one of the most beautiful women, except for one small imperfection, the birthmark on her cheek. Some looked at the birthmark as something she was born with and thought nothing of it, others looked at it as if it was an ugly imperfection. One of those people who hated her birthmark was her husband Aylmer. In the story, Georgina said "Then why did you take me from my mother's side? You cannot love what shocks you!" This explains Georgina's confusion to her husband as to why he would marry her if he would not love her for who she is. Throughout the story Georgina is convinced by her husband that the birthmark needs to be removed. She drinks a scientific potion Aylmer creates and drifted into a deep sleep. When she awoke the birthmark was nearly gone, but she was dying. Aylmer never realized that her birthmark was what was keeping her alive, without it, she would die. It was what kept her in the mortal world alive and well. If she accepted herself for who she was, and made her husband do the same, she would have still lived.
3. The message the Hawthorne wanted to impart in this story was that nobody's perfect. Everyone has imperfections and you don't have to love them but you have to accept them. Georgina said that her birthmark was called a charm by some and that she didn't want to remove it at first. Her husband, having the opposite opinion, wanted it removed. If her husband accepted her flaw she would have lived. Everyone has imperfections and you have to learn to live with them.
1. "Rappaccini's Daughter" is a short story that takes place in Padua, Italy. He moved there to study at the University and his room that he stayed in overlooked a garden full of poisonous plants. Dr. Rappaccini was the owner of the garden and he was a famous doctor that not many people liked. Giovanni had a strong interest about the garden and spent a lot of time in it. The famous doctor had a daughter named Beatrice that Giovanni began to fall in love with. Beatrice loved the plants and spent a lot of time in the garden as well and was very close to them. Giovanni later found out that everything Beatrice touches or breathes on dies. Beatrice was poisonous because she was around poisonous plants her whole life. Giovanni thought about Beatrice often, and began to spend a lot of time with her. Giovanni became poisonous as well because Beatrice was always with him. In the end Giovanni tried to cure Beatrice with an antidote, but instead of helping her it killed her.
ReplyDelete2. "He would sacrifice human life. His own among the rest, or whatever else was dearest to him, for the sake of adding so much as a grain of mustard seed to the great heep of his accumulated knowledge." This quote was stated about Dr. Rappaccini and it fits him very well because Dr. Rappaccini is very cruel and doesn't care for others like he cares for his curiosity and his garden. Dr. Rappaccini was old looking and looked rather sickly. He was a cruel man and a very curious man as well. He was very smart even though he might not have looked it. Science was his life, and nothing else seemed to matter at all. Things that a normal person would think were terrible, Rappaccini would think they it was great. An example is turning Beatrice poisonous. He thought it was a great thing to use his daughter as part of an experiment, but any other person would think thats absolutely horrible and cruel.
3. The message that stood out to me most in this short story was everyone has flaws and we have to move past that. Beatrice was poisonous but Giovanni looked past that and they still seemed to make it work. He learned to accept the fact that she was poisonous and move on and realize all her inner beauty. He tried his hardest to help her though by getting her an antidote which ended up not working.
Henry James Moreta
ReplyDeleteRoger Malvin's Burial
1. "Roger Malvin's Burial" by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a short story which takes place in the 1700's. The story starts off with two soldiers on a journey back home after a battle with Indians. The two soldiers were walking for days when, Roger Malvin, who is the older of the two soldiers says he can't go on for any longer because he is in terrible shape. Despite arguing between the two, Reuben is convinced by Roger to leave him there. Reuben promises Roger that he will bring back help for him or if not give him a proper burial. When Reuben got ohm he lied to his wife Dorcus (daughter of Roger) by telling her that he did all he could have done but Roger had died on the journey back. Reuben and Dorcus would go on and have a child named Cyrus. Reuben lived everyday with the guilt of Dorcus's dead father. Reuben's family eventually lost their farm and became poor. They had to start trying to live and survive in the woods. One day, Reuben heard a noise behind a bush and shot at it. It turned out to be his own son Cyrus and he was laying upon the area where Reuben left Roger Malvin. Reuben told Dorcus the truth about her father and he thought the guilt was lifted off his shoulders but he killed his own son which was the thing that gave him some happiness in his life.
2. A character I choose is Dorcus. Dorcus was the daughter of Roger Malvin. She ended up marrying Reuben. Dorcus is a compassionate and forgiving person, this is showed in the story when Reuben tells the truth about her father. When first she heard the news she was upset but she was not angry at Reuben. Another example is when the family went poor and had to live in the woods, she put trust in Reuben to keep them safe. Hawthorne wrote "Dorcas, in the simplicity of the olden time, watched by the bedside of her wounded lover, and administered all those comforts that are in the sole gift of woman's heart and hand."
3. The message in this short story, "Roger Malvin's Burial" is that you shouldn't lie about something that you will feel guilty about. This is because guilt can not only bring you down but bring others close to you down as well, through trust issues and other problems you face with guilt.
At the beginning of Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story "The Birthmark," Aylmer is a very successful scientist. He loves science and natural philosophy, but he also falls in love with, and marries, the beautiful Georgiana. Her physical appearance is almost perfect, except for a tiny birthmark on her left cheek. As time passes, Aylmer becomes more and more disturbed by the mark, which is to him a symbol of ruined perfection, and desperately wants to remove it. Georgiana's birthmark turns up in every conversation, and Aylmer starts having nightmares about it. Georgiana, seeing that they cannot be happy together anymore because of the mark, agrees to have it removed. To start preparations for erasing the birthmark, Aylmer takes Georgiana to his laboratory, where he shows her all of his remarkable findings and prepares a potion for her to drink. He claims that the potion, once drunk by Georgiana, will cause the birthmark to fade away. Georgiana, trusting Aylmer’s good intentions, drinks the potion. As a result, the birthmark fades away, but so does Georgiana's life.
ReplyDeleteAylmer is among the most accomplished philosophers and scientists ever. He is proficient in all branches of science, having explored the anatomy of the human body and the properties of most regions on Earth. Aylmer is very careful that no detail of any experiment should escape him, noting down his procedures and all of the results in a large volume. Because he is used to perfection, he wants his wife Georgiana’s appearance to be perfect, which it nearly is, aside from the "odious" birthmark. He can’t bear it, and the longer the birthmark stays on his wife's cheek, the less he can enjoy their life together.
The message that Hawthorne imparted on the readers of "The Birthmark" is that Aylmer needed perfection, and that one cannot expect perfection in everything. Aylmer's career made him very confident in himself, and yet, in the end, he failed trying to make Georgiana "perfect." The birthmark was part of Georgiana, and removing it only resulted in her death.
"Roger Malvin's Burial" is a short story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Roger Malvin and Reuben Bourne are soldiers that were both wounded from "Lovell's Fight" in the year 1725. The two men carried on for three days straight and decided to rest for a little while. They stopped in front of a tree that had a a spot that resembled a gravestone. Roger Malvin was older and more severely wounded than Reuben. Roger asked Reuben to continue the journey without him because he was dying. Reuben does not agree at first because he thinks he should stay by Roger's side until the moment he passes away. Roger knows that if Reuben stays, they will both die. Reuben and Roger's daughter, Dorcas, are together. They plan on getting married. Roger doesn't want his daughter to lose two important people in her life. Roger knows that it's best for Reuben to continue on without him because at one point in his life he was the youth in a similar situation. After a debate, Reuben agrees to Roger's last wishes and moves on. He promises Roger that he will come back to that exact spot either to save his life or to die right along with him. Not long after Reuben leaves the spot, he is found by other soldiers. The soldiers bring him back to the nearest settlement. Reuben told Dorcas that her father was dead. It wouldn't be 18 years until Reuben finally goes back to the spot where Roger and him rested. Dorcas and Reuben got married and had one baby boy named Cyrus. Year after year Reuben became a more irritated and bitter man. He felt so guilty for telling his wife that her father was dead when there had still been hope to save him. Reuben is a terrible farmer yet the family lives on a farm. The family decides to go out into the forest to live. One day Reuben and Cyrus went to hunt game separately. Cyrus made a noise and Reuben suspected it was just an animal and shot his gun. Little did he know it was his own son who was so much like him that he had shot and killed.
ReplyDeleteRoger Malvin is a loving man that has a happy spirit. Roger is a soldier so he is strong. He is an older man. Even when he is dying he wants nothing but good things for others. "Carry my blessing to Dorcas, and say that my last prayer shall be for her and you. Bid her to have no hard thoughts because you left me here" represents Roger Malvin because he is such a good man. He loves his family. He is a trusting person. It is possible that he is too trusting because Reuben didn't follow through with his vow.
The message Hawthorne wanted to send to his readers was to not trust everybody. Also, that guilt can stick with you for your entire life. Try to make the right decisions to avoid doing something wrong and you won't be "haunted" your whole life by a terrible mistake you made. Reuben lost his son and his father-in-law. His guilt will never leave him. He hurt everybody he loved.
The Birthmark
ReplyDeleteBrianna Moore
"The Birthmark" by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a short story involving a man named Alymer who loves science. He is married to a beautiful woman named Georgiana. Beside for her beauty, Georgiana is also known by her unique birthmark on her cheek. The birthmark is shaped as a hand. Alymer cannot stand the look of the birthmark on Georgiana’s face and is almost convinced that this one flaw ruins all of Georgiana’s beauty. The birthmark on Georgiana’s face does not necessarily bother Georgiana, but what does bother her is how much her husband complains about it, making her feel horrible about herself. Sometimes Georgiana even questions why Alymer even married her if he cannot stand the look of the birthmark. Eventually Alymer entertains the idea of removing the birthmark through science. Georgiana agrees on removing the birthmark so they make way to the laboratory. After a few unsuccessful experiments Alymer makes a liquid that he thinks will make the birthmark fade away. After drinking the liquid Georgiana fell into a deep sleep and the birthmark began to fade. As Georgiana woke they noticed the birthmark was barely on her face. Georgiana died after the birthmark left her face and Alymer learned that the birthmark is what kept her alive.
Georgiana is one of the main characters in the story “The Birthmark”. She is not only young and beautiful, but also very unique for she has a birthmark on her cheek in the shape of a hand. This quote from the story: “At the mention of the birthmark, Georgiana, as usual, shrank as if a redhot iron had touched her cheek” describes Georgiana very well. At first, the birthmark on Georgiana’s face did not really bother her, but after constantly listening to her husband Alymer complaints that it ruins her beauty every time the birthmark is mentioned she becomes self-conscious and eventually agrees to get it removed.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s message in the short story “The Birthmark” is that in order to see true beauty you must look beyond the imperfections. Nathaniel Hawthorne also gave out the message that beauty is perspective and just because one person does not find beauty in something doesn’t mean that another person might not. Even though some people saw past Georgiana’s unique birthmark on her face Alymer constantly made her feel bad about herself and eventually ended up killing the one he loved because of his selfish desire.
Rappacini's Daughter
ReplyDeleteIn the short story, Rappacini's Daughter, a man named Giovanni Guasconti moved to Padua to get an education there. When he moved into his new mansion, he noticed a garden outside a window. He asked about it and found out that it belonged to Dr. Rappacini and his daughter Beatrice. It was said that the plants in that garden had medicinal uses but that they could also be very deadly. There were also many rumors about Beatrice. They involved how beautiful she was and how much knowledge she had about plants since she grew up with her father experimenting and learning new things about plants all the time. She was never allowed outside her house except in the garden. Giovanni saw Dr. Rappacini working with his plants with a lot of safety gear on, almost as if being anywhere near the plants would kill him. Beatrice appears at the exit of the Rappacini house and starts strolling through the garden. She has no safety equipment on at all and even touches the plants and smells the plants too. She is not at all affected by the plants and is told by Rappacini to take care of a plant that he is unable to go near. She agrees to take care of it. Giovanni starts to notice something about Beatrice. A flower from the bush that she is supposed to take care of drops liquid onto a passing lizard. The lizard shortly dies after. This flower was fastened onto Beatrice's shirt but did not cause any harm to her. Then Giovanni saw her with a fly that came to the garden because of all of the sweet smelling flowers there. She breathes onto the fly and it dies. Giovanni suspects something about her and goes to talk to professor Baglioni. Baglioni has hated Rappacini for a while because of his methods of scientific discovery. Rappacini would sacrifice any human being just to increase his knowledge of science. Baglioni told Giovanni that he (Giovanni) might be part of Rappacini's new experiment and to be careful around him. Giovanni didn't want to believe him and after he was introduced to a secret passage from his house to the garden, he thought he could become acquainted with Beatrice no matter how dangerous she appeared to be. He also realized that she made the fresh flowers that he gave to her started to wilt when she held them. He started to wonder how come he was okay talking to her when she was breathing right next to him and he was in the atmosphere of the flowers, but he didn't care. He had fallen in love with her and she felt the same way. In the end, he was part of the experiment and had become as poisonous as Beatrice was and when Baglioni tried to help with an antidote that could cure the poison from both of them, only Beatrice had taken it because she wanted to make sure it was safe for Giovanni. It turned out that because she took the opposite of poison it killed her. This happened since she was practically raised on poison ever since she was little. Before Beatrice died, she told Giovanni that the poison had an even worse effect on him than her because he let it effect his heart and personality while she remained as kind as she would have been without the poison. (continued on next entry)
Rappacini's Daughter Continued
ReplyDeleteOne main character in the story was Beatrice.
She was very kind and gentle with everyone she met, even though she was filled with poison. She was so beautiful that men that hadn't even seen her fell in love with her. She had been isolated from the outside world her entire life and only wanted a friend. She thought that maybe she could become acquainted and friends with Giovanni, and then tell him that she is too deadly to be near him and just have the memory of him to think about. This shows how she thinks of others constantly and she has come to accept who she is and how she needs to make it work to the best of her ability. Although, when she went to Giovanni to become friends, she didn't know that she would become so attached and fall in love with him. She found out later that what had happened was part of her father's experiment and she had accidentally also been part of it. Rappacini never told Beatrice that he was going to do that, and so Beatrice, unintentionally, caused Giovanni to become poisonous. She also shows how she always thinks of others first when she took the antidote first and told Giovanni not to take it until they saw the result. She ended up dying because of the antidote, but instead of just letting Giovanni take it without knowing the result she wanted to take it so that if there was a bad result Giovanni would be safe.
A message Hawthorne wanted to show his readers was that no matter how bad or rough things can get, you should always remember who you are. An example from the story is that Beatrice was taken away from the rest of the world and wasn't allowed to leave the house or the garden, she never had a friend before Giovanni, and her poison inside of her was the result of an experiment by her father. She never once let go of who she was and her kindness even though things were tough. When Giovanni was yelling at her and let the poison get through to him she wouldn't say anything as terrible as he was saying in return. Another example was from Giovanni's point of view. As he realized what was going to happen as a result of becoming monstrous and deadly, he was growing angrier and angrier. He disregarded what his usual behavior would be and was making some bad decisions by what he should do because of it. Beatrice was the one who tried to convince him not to do certain things and to just calm down. Giovanni listened to what she said but did not calm down and as a result of showing her the antidote at all, she died. This is why I think the message of the story is that no matter how bad or rough things can get, always remember who you are.
Roger Malvin's Burial
ReplyDeleteQuestion 4 really relates to this story because the society that Reuben Bourne lived in during his early years was at war, and as he got older, he was at war with himself. When Reuben went off to fight in the battle, he said goodbye to his girlfriend, Dorcas, and left with her father, Roger Malvin. After the battle, Reuben and Roger are seriously injured, but Roger is more hurt than Reuben. After a couple days, Roger tells Reuben to go and find their village and marry his daughter, but before Reuben leaves, he props Roger up and leans him against a big, granite rock, that is shaped ironically like a gravestone. As Reuben fulfills Roger’s dying wish, he leaves Roger, and sets out, as best as he can while still injured, and soon he finds a rescue team, and ironically takes him back to the nearest village which happens to be his own. He finds Dorcas and tells her what happened to her father after the battle. After this, the guilt of leaving Roger behind turns Reuben into a bitter man. But Reuben is not all bitter. When he takes his one and only son, who is now 15 years of age, on a hunting trip on the anniversary of the day that Roger died, Reuben gets into a hunting accident and dies accidently, on the spot where his grandfather died. When Dorcas comes because she thought that her son had killed his first deer, she is devastated. Reuben tries to consol her, and he says that her father and her son now lay in the same grave, so whenever she cries, she will be crying on both of them. Had Reuben not gone to fight in the battle, he wouldn’t have had the guilt of leaving his new father-in-law there to die, but he also wouldn’t have had his permission to marry Dorcas. In the end, Reuben did turn bitter to the point but he still had feelings for his wife and he still loved his son.
(I posted this on the blog for the second story as well)
Kennedy Skala
ReplyDeleteRappaccini's Daughter
8-10-12
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Rappaccini's Daughter was about a young mad who moves into an apartment and outside his window there is a magnificent garden. Later on he finds out that is an old scientists garden. He makes medicines and does many experiments with his rare plants, flowers, and shrubs! One day whuile the young man, Giovanni was looking into the garden the scientists daughter was called out into the garden to ewxamine the plants and flowers and shrubs. Giovanni knew that she was the one! She was beautiful and kind and sweet! He was talking to his professor one day and his professor told him that her name was Beatrice. He also told Giovanni that Dr. Rappacini had seen him looking out the window at his daughter and is now making an experiment that has Giovanni as the subject! Gioovanni was warned to be careful and to just forget about the Rappaccini famioly altogether. But Beatrice was so beautiful that it was impossible to do! He found a secret entrance to the garden and went in! He met Beatrice face to face and she was shocked and surprised to see him. As the days went on Giovanni would visit each day to see Beatrice. One day the scientist had caught them. Gikovanni went to see her one day and he began to feel weird. He was poisoned. He immediately began to blame Beatrice and she promised him that it was not her who had poisened him it was her father. Giovanni was dying. The only thing he wanted was kiss before he was gone forever. Dr. Rappaccini came out and knew what had been going on. He told his daughter to just forget about him but Beatrice loved him so she got a vile and gave it to him to survive. But the poison had to go somewhere so she took in the poison and then died right in front of her fathers eyes and in front of her loves face. Then Giovanni's professor yelled to the Dr. I told you that your devious plan would come right back at you. For now you have lost one of your most prized possesions; your daughter!
The character that i picked was Beatrice. A quote that Beatrice said during the short story was; "But it was not I. Not for a world of blisswould I have done it". This says that she isa trustworthy person and that she is kind and not evil like her father. She loved Giovanni and would never try to poison him. Beatrice is pretty, young, kind, sweet, nice, loving, caring, and helpful to her father. Which explains that Beatrice would nnever do such a thing to Giovanni becasuse she loved him very much! Showing the fact that she took her life for him in the end of the story.
Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote this story for many reasons. One of the reasons is because he wanted to teach the lesson that one person may be horrible and nasty to others but it doesnt mean that the other person related to him is horrible and nasty and mean to others. You should always meet with the person before you spread rumors about their appearance or personality. All people deserve a chance! Some things said about them could be true buyt could not be true. It's all based on you opinion once you meet the person and think about it! This shows in the short story when Giovanni's professor was telling him about how mean and nasty and rude Dr. Rappaccini was and then he told Giovanni that the daughter was just like that was what he herd from others. The professor has not met the daughtrer but told Gioovanni about her from what he herd from others. Later on when Giovanni finally meets Beatrice she said to him not to believe any rumors that he has herd in the past. She told him that he should only believe what she tells him about herself. This is what shows the resemblence between the solutuion and lesson of the story with the short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne!
1. In "The Birthmark," by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Aylmer is a really smart scientist. He meets a nearly flawless woman. Her only flaw is a little red mark in the shape of a hand on her cheek. Her name is Georgiana and he marries her. As time goes on, Aylmer hates the birthmark on her cheek more and more. Aylmer brings up the idea of removing the birthmark. She loves him very deeply, so she wants to get rid of it. She hates seeing the face he makes when he looks at it. Aylmer believes that he will be able to remove the birthmark so one day they try to. He spends hours creating a concoction and setting it all up. Eventually, he gets it all ready and he is positive it will work. Georgiana drinks the concoction that Aylmer gives to her, and she falls asleep almost immediately. The birthmark starts to fade and after a little bit she wakes up. She tells Aylmer that she is also dying, and as the birthmark completely fades she dies. Aylmer then realizes that it is impossible to make her perfect while keeping her alive.
ReplyDelete2. One of the few main characters is Aylmer. A quote that really defines Aylmer is when he says, "has it never occurred to you that the mark upon your cheek might be removed?" This quote really defines Aylmer because he wanted his wife to be perfect. Also, he thought that science could solve everything so he knew there must be a way to get it removed. His whole life is devoted to science and philosophy. He is pale, probably because he doesn't spend much time outside.
3. The message that Hawthorne wanted to send to his readers was that nothing in nature could be perfect. That is why Georgiana died. Nature wouldn’t allow her to be perfect. The story says that her birthmark was the bond keeping her alive because it was her only imperfection. Without that, she couldn’t live.