A Renaissance Tale of Human Hubris On the Interrelationship of Setting, Theme and Characters in Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Rappaccini's Daughter" Contents Introduction.......................................................................................................................... 1 Argumentation...................................................................................................................... 2 1. The Fantastic Elements of the Setting.................................................................. 2 1.1. The Preface as a Foretaste..................................................................... 2 1.2. The Opening Phrase............................................................................... 3 1.3. Rappaccini's Garden.............................................................................. 3 1.3.a. The Garden of Eden and the Fairytale Garden....................... 3 1.3.b. Rappaccini's Garden as a Reflection of his Hubris .................5 2. The Renaissance as Temporal Setting.................................................................. 7 2.1. Direct Hints to the Renaissance............................................................. 7 2.2. The Renaissance as an Age of Radical Changes................................... 8 2.3. Italy …showed first 75 words of 9123 total…

…showed last 75 words of 9123 total…given directly in the text, not by means of footnotes. 4 = "The New Adam and Eve." 5 = Hawthorne's essay "Fire-Worship." 6 = "The Celestial Railroad." 7 = "Egotism; or the Bosom Friend" (its original title was "Egotism; or, the Bosom Serpent"). 8 In India there have been reports of poisonous girls ("Giftmädchen") since the 5th century AD. Like Beatrice, these girls were said to have been fed on poison from birth. This story has frequently appeared in European literature and scientif