The Birthmark, Rappaccini’s Daughter and the Strange Case...

When you hear the word â€Å"mad scientist† you perceive an aggressive, eccentric, awkward and intellectual individual that works with fictional equipment in order to initiate their intelligible schemes. On the other hand, they fail to recognize the evil that will stream from the hubris of â€Å"playing god†. A majority of the time these â€Å"mad scientists† are individuals who value their experiments and scientific curiosity over themselves, others and the world. The literature works, The Birthmark, Rappaccini’s Daughter and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde all depict the role of a â€Å"mad scientist† who ultimately destroys themselves and others in an attempt to create something perfect. Nathaniel Hawthorne in The Birthmark† illustrates an†¦show more content†¦Thus, Dr. Rappaccini is symbolic of an early gardener who uses genetics to alter the appearance and fragrance of plants and flowers. It should be noted that Beatrice, much like Georgiana sans the birthmark, is an extraordinarily beautiful young woman, for she is â€Å"endowed with all gentle and feminine qualities† (Hawthorne, 1057) and is worthy to be worshipped. Without a doubt, this little tale related by Professor Baglioni serves as a foreshadowing device related to Beatrice herself, meaning that Dr. Rappaccini has â€Å"experimented† on Beatrice since birth with poisons which have mysteriously endowed her with â€Å"Nordic† beauty. In fact, Professor Baglioni points out that Beatrice is certainly the offspring of her father’s experiments — â€Å"That old fable of the Indian woman,† he exclaims, â€Å"has become a truth by the deep and deadly science of Rappaccini and in the person of the lovely Beatrice† (Hawthorne, 1059). Beatrice then admits the truth, for she tells Giovanni that her father is â€Å"a man fearfully acquainted with the secrets of Nature† and that she is â€Å"the effect of my father’s fatal love of science† (Hawthorne, 1062). In order to rid Beatrice of this curse and be â€Å"purified