Scarlet Letter

1 Pages 310 Words

Evil In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Writings


Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of The Scarlet Letter and “Rappaccini’s Daughter”, uses the concept of evil as a main theme in some of his stories. “Rappaccini’s Daughter” is not a simple story focusing on a clear line separating good from evil. Instead, the story focuses on the gray area where good and evil overlap. In Rappaccini’s Daughter, Rappaccini, a scientist who “cares more for science than for mankind’, makes a solution to keep his daughter pure forever, therefore he is considered the evil in the story. In the Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingworth is considered the evil, even though one could argue that many of the main characters in the story are sinners or are evil including all of the townspeople. The concept of evil is also shown in contrast to the concept of good in both stories. In The Scarlet Letter, one can argue that it is a romance as well as an evil novel, same can be said with “Rappaccini’s Daughter”, where they contrast between beauty and evil.

In Rappaccini’s Daughter, the theme that any man who touches Rappaccini’s daughter, without his approval will die, gives the story a sense thrill and evil. Rappaccini’s love for science gives him an image of a mad scientist, who sacrifices moral values in exchange for knowledge. He distorts nature and corrupts his daughter in order to satisfy his arrogant pride. This may be considered as pure evil, but he does this actually thinking that his daughter would benefit from his scientific experiment. In my opinion, this was a quest for knowledge and the need for power. By isolating his daughter, Rappaccini knew he could keep her ignorant and dependent upon him. The immense power he has given his daughter is ultimately for his own use and not to protect her....