Her sweetness of temperament and magical face had made her famous in the whole town of Padua. Beatrice is the only daughter of Prof. Rappaccini. She is young and beautiful. Her father’s inhuman lust for knowledge has turned her into a poisonous human being. Her breath can kill. She hates her father’s science, but loves him too much to defy him. So she becomes his agent of destruction by helping him in his work. She looks after the garden. But her father’s love for destruction cannot infect her. She remains a deeply human character. She knows her misfortune, but wishes to live a healthy normal life. She wishes to be loved, but finds it impossible to go against her father’s cruel will. She dies a tragic death in trying to test the effect of Baglioni’s cure. Her last words reflect her true nature. She is a purely human character in spite of the inhuman teachings of her father. Her innocence and her sufferings make her a lovable character. So, her death comes as a shock. Beatrice deserves pity not only for her sudden tragic death, but also for her love and obedience to her father. She dies by the antidote given by her lover Giovanni, but actually she is a victim of her father’s thoughtless love and jealousy. She is to be pitied more for her unhappy isolation and of her only love affair. The character of Beatrice inspires love as well as pity. She is a lonely girl deprived of true happiness and love. Her character has symbolic significance. She stands for the beautiful world of nature that is being corrupted and polluted by the science.
Character-Sketch of Beatrice in Rappaccini's Daughter
Rappaccini’s Daughter is a tragic love story, and Beatrice is its heroine. She plays an important role in explaining the theme or back ground idea of this fantasy. She was the only daughter of Dr. Rappaccini. God had made her the paragon of beauty and physical grace. She was also an embodiment of innocence, sweetness and purity. Her voice was as enchanting as the “sunshine in the south”.
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