Rapaccini's Daughter: An Exploration of Human Nature The key to understanding Hawthorne's perspective on science and nature in Rappaccini's Daughter was his cheeky introduction , when he stood midway between transcendentalists and "pen- and men of ink who appeal to the intellect and sympathies of the multitude" - too unpopular for the multitude and too popular for the transcendentalists. By choosing not to fall into either camp, he seems to tease us with the strengths and weaknesses of each: even science and nature. It is not a question of balance or weighting of the arguments. His device here is to play on the tensions linked to these apparent polarities. On first reading "Rapaccini's Daughter" seemed to be a cautionary tale, a warning about the dangers of too much science, of excessive manipulation of nature - leading to "a thwarted nature". ", the "fatality which accompanies all these acts of perverse wisdom". Rappaccini is described as a "cowardly empiricist" and "not restrained by natural affection for his daughter". Beatrice, his daughter, describes herself simply as his earthly daughter , while plants are the "offspring of her intellect". Beatrice is described by her physical beauty and her poisonous physical nature. She is also described by the "pure light of her character". for Beatrice - which could be love - and the aversion to her. The obsession is for her beauty and simplicity: her goodness. The horror is due to her poisonous physical nature lacking when he urges Beatrice to take the fatal antidote to his poisonousness. Beatrice protected Giovan...... in the center of the sheet......science was represented by his behavior with his daughter and her garden - by not touching nothing directly, just watching and caring from afar. Baglioni sought power in a manipulative and political manner, represented by his academic rivalry with Rappaccini, his plan to kill Beatrice, and his manipulation of Giovanni as a tool to kill Beatrice. Giovanni wanted power over Beatrice - he wanted to recast her into a form he could "love" - ​​he could not love her as she was. Beatrice and the plants in the garden were the innocents in this story: they simply were born. The poison in their physical nature was simply: there was no malice in them. Beatrice was the only human being who showed true love and who only wanted to love/love. She expressed her love for John by dying - and by dying she freed herself (transcended) from the power of each of these men.