“Rappaccini’s Daughter” is possibly the best known of Nathaniel Hawthorne's stories and was certainly given more revision than any of his other tales: it was first published in the United States Magazine and Democratic Review in December of 1844, included in his second short-story collection, Mosses from an Old Manse (1846), and received further “stylistic” modification in 1854 (Hawthorne X:507, 537, 549). The tale's third-person voice gives us a glimpse into the life of Giovanni Guasconti who has come from southern Italy to Padua, to pursue his studies there at the University. A garden next to his lodgings soon attracts his interest, and eventually his attention is riveted on a young woman who frequents that garden. A meeting between the two characters occurs and a relationship appears to blossom between Giovanni and this woman, one...
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Citation: Sucur, Slobodan. "Rappaccini’s Daughter". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 23 June 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=16909, accessed 09 June 2026.]
