Rappaccinis Daughter Essay: Finding the Heart in Rappaccinis Daughte

Finding the Heart in Rappaccini's Daughter         In Hawthorne's short story, "Rappaccini's Daughter", Rappaccini is ostensibly a cold, calculating scientist. A pure scientist who would willingly give his daughter, himself, or whatever else most precious to him "for the sake of adding so much as a grain of mustard seed to the great heap of his accumulated knowledge" (1641). This leads most to believe that Rappaccini lacks any emotion and concern for his "scientific subjects" and their desires. This assumption, however, is incorrect. Rappaccini cares dearly for, if no one else, one person and is willing to use his science to meet her needs. This person is his own daughter. Upon Giovanni's angry outburst to Beatrice, Rappaccini says, "My science and the sympathy between thee and him have so wrought within his system that he now stands apart from common men, as thou dost, daughter of my pride and triumph, from ordinary women" (1655). Rappaccini clearly cares dearly for his daughter and is willing to use his science to make Giovann i compatible with Beatrice because he recognizes her human need for companionship.    The conclusion reached by a cursory read of "Rappaccini's Daughter" is that Dr. Rappaccini is an evil, cold, and calculating scientist with only his scientific advancement in mind. This conclusion stems from Professor Baglioni's portrait of him. By Professor Baglioni's account, Dr. Rappaccini "cares infinitely more for science than for mankind" (1641). The hints of poison in Beatrice's person and the poisonous vegetation in Dr. Rappaccini's garden seem to support this assumption. There is an obvious parallel between the beautiful flowers, their wonderful scents and Beatrice's beauty and scented breath. Professor... ...and the love between her and Giovanni. He wanted only to be able to say, "My daughter, thou art no longer lonely in the world," and to see his beloved daughter happy, as is the wish of every parent for his child. Doctor Giacomo Rappaccini was not a cruel, bent, old man with an exclusive zeal for science and science alone. Rather, he was a "thunder stricken man of science" devastated by the horrible intolerance of one Professor Pietro Baglioni who, looking forth from the window of Dr. Rappaccini's house at the moment of Beatrice's death, "called loudly, in a tone of triumph [ . . . ] Rappaccini! Rappaccini! And is this the upshot of your experiment!" (1655).    Works Cited Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "Rappaccini's Daughter." The Tradition in American Literature Ed. George Perkins, et al, vol. 1, 7th ed. New York: McGraw Hill Publishing Company, 1990. 1637 - 1655.

Explore Joe Gargery’s role in Great Expectations Essay

In Great Expectations, Joe acts as a father figure to Pip, when he is in fact his brother-in-law, as Joe married Pip’s sister, Mrs Joe Gargery. We are introduced to Joe as a â€Å"mild, good-natured, sweet-tempered, easy-going, foolish, dear fellow†. Pip describes him as a kind and gentle man, making the reader immediately like him. â€Å"Good-natured† and â€Å"sweet-tempered† give Joe an endearing quality, so the reader is drawn to him. However, â€Å"foolish† introduces a potentially negative side to his character, like he is stupid, although this too could be considered endearing. Perhaps Dickens does this so that we can understand Joe’s actions better, or at least don’t view him too negatively when he can’t protect Pip from Mrs Joe. In contrast to his gentle personality, he is a blacksmith, and therefore a strong man. Pip thinks of him â€Å"like the steam-hammer, that can crush a man or pat an egg shell†. He is likening Joe to a machine in the forge, giving Joe a sense of power. Although, â€Å"crush† is quite a violent word, suggesting Joe to be violent, which he definitely is not. Perhaps Dickens included this detail to make us respect Joe, which is important for later on in the novel, so we don’t just view him as a â€Å"sweet-tempered† man. But there is a sense of this good natured man in the word â€Å"pat†, it could potentially have paternal connotations. Perhaps this links to the image of the egg shell as well, as it is a fragile protector of life. Furthermore Joe could almost be seen as the protector of Pip’s life, as he saves him several times. Also egg shells can be strong, but have weak sides if they are put under stress, just like Joe has a weak side – he can’t protect Joe from Mrs Joe Gargery. As well as this, there is the idea that Joe is in control, in the words â€Å"can† and â€Å"or†, he can choose which side of himself to be, strong or gentle. This is a very adult concept, but Joe can sometimes be very childlike. Joe can’t deal with the idea of death, despite being a strong blacksmith. When Pip asks Joe if Miss Havisham died, he eventually replies â€Å"she ain’t living†. This is a very backward way of saying it, a way we don’t normally use, showing Joe’s childish innocence. He avoids the subject of death again, when Pip asks him if he had heard of Magwitch’s death. Even though Joe never knew him personally, he avoids saying the words, instead he says he heard â€Å"something or another in a general way in that direction†. The vagueness of this statement is almost humorous, he can’t even just say â€Å"yes†. Joe is unable to confirm a person’s death, he just brushes over the subject, not fully acknowledging or possibly understanding it, like a child would. Another way Dickens portrays this childishness is through making Joe illiterate. Pip writes him a letter, and all he can read is his name: â€Å"Why, here’s three Js, and three Os, and three J-O, Joes, in it, Pip! † The exclamation mark at the end implies he is excited and proud that he has managed to read, and that he is wanting Pip to recognise his achievement, like a child would want their father too. This childishness makes Joe a lovable character, the reader wants to see him do well. Perhaps it also makes Pip’s behaviour towards him seem worse, from the reader’s perspective, as Joe is such an innocent character. Whilst Joe may not have great knowledge or academic skills, he possesses something most of the other characters don’t have, self-knowledge, he recognises he is illiterate and ‘stupid’. He tells Pip on two separate occasions that he is â€Å"most awful dull†. He is accepting of himself, he knows he is not the cleverest, in fact â€Å"awful† suggests that he thinks he is very stupid. Moreover, â€Å"dull† could imply many things, not only that he is stupid, but also that he isn’t sharp. Perhaps this is a reference to him being a black smith, that he is like one of his hammers, only good for physically things, he’s not sharp witted or clever. â€Å"Dull† could also intimate that he thinks he is boring, perhaps why he struggles to talk to, or be in the presence of people in a higher class to himself, because he considers himself boring and unworthy. But this ‘dullness’ does not stop him from being wise. Throughout the novel, Joe gives Pip many pieces of advice, for example â€Å"if you can’t get to be oncommon through going straight, you’ll never get to do it through going crooked†. Joe, even though he is perhaps the most uneducated character (shown in the wording of the sentence) he can sometimes be the most wise and honourable. Because of this he acts as a hidden role model for Pip. Not only is he honourable and wise, he understands his place: â€Å"I am wrong out of the forge† he tells Pip at their awkward reunion. Dickens suggests (through Joe) that people should stay in their class, and not aspire or try to move up; he argues for social immobility. Joe tells Pip that if he ever came back to the forge he’d â€Å"see Joe the blacksmith, there, at the old anvil, in the old burnt apron, sticking to the old work. † Joe labels himself â€Å"the blacksmith† implying that he believes it is all he is good at. The repetition of â€Å"old† makes him seem experienced, as he has been doing it a long time. There is also the idea that he clings or latches onto his work, in the word â€Å"sticking†, he fixes himself onto it so much that it has become how he defines himself. The fact that he feels himself â€Å"wrong† when not in the forge could be the reason why he can’t talk to Miss Havisham: â€Å"Joe†¦ persisted in addressing me. † It is like he cannot deal with the formality of he occasion, as he feels he doesn’t belong there. Dickens humiliates Joe here, presenting him as a shy and awkward character, making the reader sympathise with him. This is another negative quality, helping to balance out the character of Joe.

AntigonerS Brother Died - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 3 Words: 1007 Downloads: 10 Date added: 2019/06/13 Category Literature Essay Level High school Tags: Antigone Essay Did you like this example? Whether one is planning out their life or not, everyoners life is predetermined. In the Hindu religion, it is believed that oners life is based on how they have lived in their previous lives before. This has to do with how people lived their lives before and how they treated others. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "AntigonerS Brother Died" essay for you Create order In Antigone by Socrates everyone lives their lives based on their social class and gender. The characters in Antigone also have a destined plan of how they should live. Antigone supports cunning contrivance with its Laws. In Antigone gender played a major role on what people were capable of doing, even simple everyday tasks. It was not the norm for women to take charge or even share their true opinions. When Antigoners brother died in a battle with Polyneices, Creon stated that a proper burial was not permitted for Antigoners brother. Antigone being the rebellious person that she is did not stand for king Creonrs ruling. She gave her brother a proper burial at night by herself even though it was not allowed. The cunning contrivance of humanity in this case played a major role because everyone was expected to live their lives under someoners laws. In this predicament Antigone opposed to the law made by Creon and proceeded to do what she thought was the right thing to do. According to Antigone it says Watchman: OK, here it is. The body out there-someone buried it Just now and went away. They spread thirsty dust All over the skin and did the ceremony in full (page 11 lines 245-247). This explains how the king Creon found out that Antigone took control and buried her own brother. Antigone takes charge of her own life plan instead of following the norm of societyrs plan for her. She puts aside that she will not be able to get married and still remains brave when going against law. The laws in Antigone also coincide with cunning contrivance because most of the laws are made so everyone can act and live a certain way. Itrs liked how they live their lives in Antigone is already planned out for them. Even though Antigone resisted the law and took it upon her own hands, she was not afraid to let Creon know that she was the one who performed the proper funeral ceremony on her brother. This is shown on page 18, line 443 Antigone: Of course not. I did it. I wont deny anything. At this point this exemplifies what valor she has in her perception of doing what is right. She spoke openly about what she has done and took full responsibility for her actions. Creon thought he co uld scare off people with his power and authority but it did not work for everyone. In this end Antigone did what was morally correct but she did not do good in terms of following the law. In Antigone the laws were followed by everyone because society thought god made them. In relation to present day, many people follow morals as a way of following how god expects them to live. In reality our laws are not made by god but rather by our government and judicial officials. In Antigone it is clear that laws followed mainly because if people did not follow them, they may feel like their opposing or disrespecting gods wishes. This is a wicked and unfair aspect on how people in Ancient Greece were ruled by kings and queens. In Antigone it says Antigone: What laws? I never heard it was ZeusWho made that announcement. And it wasnt justice, either. The gods below didnt lay down this law for human use (page 19, lines 450-454). This conveys that Antigone told Creon that she has never saw the gods make a law of condemning someone to bury their brother. She is very fearless when stating this and standing up for what she thinks are her natural rights of a citizen of Ancient Greece. Creon thought his cunning contrivance that was establishedby humanity could have dominated Antigoners actions, because laws were known to be made by the gods. Antigone tried to reason with and explain why what she did was correct, but Creon was very ignorant and disagreed. He saw that with laws under godrs name that he was able to control everyoners lives. These laws were wrongly put forth and only was encouraged for Creonrs selfish intentions of not allowing Antigoners brother a proper burial. Creon basically sneakily pre-planned everyoners lives in Ancient Greece by using godrs name to carry out what he wanted people to do. On the other hand, the play Antigone can also be seen to not support cunning contrivance because of the norm of everyone following the laws and regulations. A character that supports this opposition is Antigoners sister Ismene. Ismene in the beginning of the play disagrees with Antigoners plan to go against Creonrs law. It is clear that she is not willing to do anything but follow the set laws, presumably made by the gods. When Antigone tells her sister about her plan she responds by saying Oh no! Think carefully, my sister. Our father died in hatred and disgrace After gouging out his own two eyes For sins hed seen in his own self (page 3, lines 49-53). This emphasizes how Ismene is fearful of Antigone following in their fatherrs footsteps. She makes it clear that she does not agree with Antigoners plan even if itrs her own brother. Ismene supports the claim that cunning contrivance is not supported throughout the play because she has not realized that how she lives her life is because of someone elsers selfish intentions. Ismene thinks following the laws are a way of pleasing the gods. Ergo, In Antigone cunning contrivance is supported and shown by Creonrs law to refuse the right of giving Antigoners broth er a respected funeral ceremony when he died in battle. The people of Ancient Greece lived their lives under a egoistic pre-determined plan made by King Creon, who had power in controlling people with godrs name.