And Contrast Rappaccini's Daughter And The Fall Of The House Of Usher

Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne take two different approaches in describing the nature of isolation in their stories. Edgar Allan Poe’s work is known for being dark romanticism dealing with the supernatural, self-destruction, and the evil within one while Hawthorne’s work leans more toward romanticism literature that emphasizes romantic feelings and alluding to biblical texts but also uses some dark contexts like Poe. In “The Fall of the House of Usher”, Poe takes a dark approach on the nature of isolationism and being outcast from society and how it can drive a person insane and lead them to their demise such as the title suggests. In “Rappaccini’s Daughter”, the reader gets a different form isolation of a daughter that is poisonous

The setting for “Rappaccini’s Daughter” alludes to the Garden of Eden. The action between Giovanni and Beatrice takes place mainly in the garden where she is confined because she is poisonous to those around her beside the rest of the poisonous plants that reside in the garden. Like many of his other stories, Hawthorne alludes to different texts from the bible like in Young Goodman Brown. This story is no different in the use of the Garden of Eden to depict the fall of man but there are many differences from this story and that of Adam and Eve. For example, instead “the woman now becomes the poisoned apple” and “Adam” or Giovanni in this case is doing the wrong by going towards the “apple” or Beatrice (“Gardens and Edens”). Although Giovanni has been told not go near Beatrice because she is poisonous he does so anyways because he is captivated by her imminent beauty. Unlike Adam and Eve, where Eve was created to accompany Adam, in “Rappaccini’s Daughter” Giovanni was placed in the garden by Rappaccini to accompany Beatrice. The centerpiece of the garden also included a fountain with a crack going through it which is a similarity that is also found in Poe’s story. The setting ties in with the theme of the fall of man when ultimately Giovanni still decided to approach Beatrice ignoring the repercussions and he even claimed that it was her who “instilled a fierce and subtle poison into his system”.

Such as the fountain in “Rappaccini’s Daughter” and both the sister and house in “The Fall of the House of Usher”. While both stories may focus on the fall of man their way of getting that across to the reader differs. In “Rappaccini’s Daughter”, the fall of man is depicted through the relationship between Giovanni and Beatrice. Giovanni is completely aware that Beatrice is poisonous but continues to pursue her because rather than heed any common sense or take into consideration how many men have also led astray by her, he is still led by his desires. The fountain found in the middle of the garden with a crack going through the front of it symbolizes the innocence that is still left in the world like Beatrice and is confined to the garden to avoid being destroyed. Rappaccini also plays the role of a god in a sense because he is the one that created all the plants and created a poisonous Beatrice after experimenting on her and as well placed Giovanni in the garden to accompany Beatrice eventually leading him to become poisonous too. While “Rappaccini’s Daughter” focuses on alluding to biblical texts to get the theme across “The Fall of the House of Usher” uses the setting to create a gloomy and eerie atmosphere to allude to the death that is soon to follow. The fall of Usher was him letting his fear consume him and letting the fear manifest itself to real life. The cause for his fear and madness