Comparing 'Dark Romanticism In Rappaccini's Daughter' And

The last decade of the 18th century to the last decade of the 20th century was known as the period of Romanticism. It was a time when authors wrote of self- exploration and examining how people fit into the larger society. Authors used their writing as a way to connect characters quests and journeys to find their self to that of their audience. Romanticism used nature and human nature to show the inherent good within the world. Dark Romanticism focused on the inherent bad elements of nature and human nature as well as destruction and death. Nathaniel Hawthorne ‘s “Young Goodman Brown” and “Rappaccini's Daughter,” along with Elizabeth Stoddard’s “The Prescription” focus on self exploration through through the methods of both Romantics and Dark Romantics as well as through the obstacles in their lives.
Hawthorne’s writing can be argued as having characteristics of Romanticism and Dark Romanticism; however his writing more often is considered to be Dark Romanticism due to his use of religion and death. In both “Rappaccini's Daughter” and “Young Goodman Brown” the main characters ultimately die without reaching their ideal happy ending. Beatrice, Rappaccini's daughter died after being given a dose of antidote to cure her of her poisonous self, “‘ That lovely
Salem during that time was governed as a religious theocracy. Sarah E. Jones wrote in her article “Holy Hysteria” that, “The Massachusetts Bay Colony had been founded as a sort of Puritan utopia free from heretical interference, and Salem, like all Massachusetts settlements, enforced religious law” (19). Hawthorne family history of Puritanism is very prominent in his stories. Hawthorne used negative light on church to show his distrust in organized religion, but continues to show that he considered faith to be