Beatrice as a dangerous human. He seems only to see Beatrice as a beautiful girl and loves her because of her physical appearance. Once again for those reasons
above, N athaniel Hawthorne’s Rappaccini’s Daughter was a good example to
explore more about types of love. Therefore, this novel is a good choice to help explore that topic.
B. Problem Formulation
The writer presents some problems as shown in the following questions: 1.
How is Beatrice characterized as seen by the narrator? 2.
How is Beatrice characterized as seen from Giovanni’s point of view? 3.
How does Giovanni’s point of view on Beatrice’s character reveal his type of love toward her?
C. Objectives of the Study
In the objectives of the study, the writer focus on three objectives since the problem formulation divided into two. The first objective is to see how Beatrice is
characterized in the short story, the second objective is to see how Beatrice is characterized
from Giovanni’s point of view and the third objective is meant to find out how
Giovanni’s point of view of Beatrice reveal Giovanni’s type of love toward her.
D. Definition of Terms
There is one term that needed to define in order to get clear explanation to avoid misunderstanding
1. Love: Based on The Art of Loving, love is an activity, not a passive
effect; it is “standing in”, not a “falling for”. In the most general way, the active character of love can be described by stating that love is
primarily giving, not receiving Fromm, 1963:18. 2.
Character: According to A Handbook to Literature is defined as a brief descriptive sketch of personage who typifies some definite quality. The
person is described not as an individualized personality but as an example of some vice oe virtue type, such as a busybody, a glutton, a
fop, a bumpkin, a garrulous old man, a happy milkmaid, etc. 1986:81.
7
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW
A. Review of Related Studies
Some comments and criticism about Nathaniel Hawthorne and his work are very important to gain better understanding in doing this analysis. These
comments and criticism are taken from many sources in books and journals. Margaret Hallissy in Hawthornes Venomous Beatrice: Studies in Short
Fiction explains how poisons in general and venomous women in particular have long been the embodiment of fear for moral evil and physical destruction. She
stated that: Venomous women have been equated with sexual excess and are believed
to threaten men both physically and morally. She explores the paradoxes and ambiguities which surround female sexuality. Beatrice represents the
homeopathic strand of this tradition, defined by Sir Thomas Browne, which makes her both a sexual seductress and a spiritual savior 1982:234.
It is this strand in which one poisonous creature is not only unable to infect another, but also serve as an antidote. As a paradox, Beatrice can touch
poison yet not die. She can also operate in a world of sexuality yet remain uncorrupted. In Rappaccinis Daughter, Beatrice is a life force who
reconciles both physical and spiritual natures. Giovanni responds to her only as a physical being and fails to understand her as a real person rather
than just a symbol of evil. The fall into sexuality is the Fortunate Fall for it unites flesh and spirit and allows man to move beyond his initial physical
attraction for the female and come to understand her as a total being. Beatrice, representative of all females, is therefore to be considered both
the problem and the solution to mans salvation. 1982:231.
In Rappaccinis Children, William Shurr describes the tale as “a savage
stereotype of the classic American religion”--Calvinism 1981:4. He states that: Rappaccinis Daughter is an allegory of a fallen garden with Giovanni and
Beatrice as Adam and Eve, Rappaccini as both God and Satan, and Baglioni as an ineffectual Christ. The world is now totally under the
control of Satan and redemption is only a quasi-successful operation involving a few elect. The tree of life has turned into a poisonous plant
of death. Rappaccini is compared to a Calvinist deity who gives his creatures no choice but preordains the poison which will infect their
bodies. Beatrice is a child of the devil and her specific evil for Giovanni is her sexual attraction. In this corrupted garden, sexual love does not lead to
love and consummation but rather to the death of a seductive woman. 1981:4
Most of Hawthorne‟s short stories present humans‟ psychological problems. Spiller 1961:78 states the opinion in the The Style of American
Literature that the central theme of most his stories is not sin theological problem, but rather than the psychological effect of the conviction of sin on the lives of the
early colonists. Like Poe, he was an explorer of the dark recesses of the human soul, and he used his art to reveal, rather than to resolve the dilemma of human
destiny. Hawthorne‟s Rappaccini’s Daughter is one of his short stories which also
present humans‟ psychological problem which is presented in the main character; Beatrice cannot lead her life as other people lead it because of her father‟s
treatment toward her. Beatrice has been victimized by the father to achieve his own ambition to be a man of science. Brenzo in Trancendental Symbolist
criticizes toward the short story and also puts the same insight about the matter. In his critics he states:
Rappaccini projects his own selfish desires onto Beatrice and then blame her, not himself, when she refuses to go along with his scheme. His quest
for knowledge is secondary to his need for power. By isolating her, he has kept her ignorant and dependent upon him. The power that he has given to
his own daughter is ultimately for his own use. 1977:155
The statement shows that Rappaccini‟s treatment toward Beatrice has trapped her into the psychological problems because her father does not let her to lead her life
normally. Some criticisms draw attention to the Giovanni and Beatrice‟s relationship
as the mixture between feeling of love and hate in Giovanni. Elder states The dark view would send Giovanni out of the influence of the
unintelligible power; the bright view would encourage him to see Beatrice in daylight may give him a chance to appreciate her true spiritual self. But
enjoying the mixture of love and horror was sure to create an infernal
blaze. This truth is closely related to Hawthorne‟s analysis of the relation between Giovanni and Beatrice just before his harsh words to her near the
conclusions of the story. 1969:96
This statement intends to explain that there is also a psychological conflict that is experienced by Giovanni when he has a close relationship with Beatrice, such a
war of love and honor in the Giovanni‟s inner life. In this thesis, the writer wants to explore how Giovann
i‟s points of view of Beatrice reveal his type of love toward her by employing psychological approach
in this study. The study focuses on how Beatrice characterized by the author, Beatrice in Giovanni‟s point of view, and Giovanni relationship with Beatrice.
B. Review of Related Theories
Since this analysis starts with the intrinsic elements of the literary work, it is appropriate to put the literary theories in the first part.
B.1. Theory of Characterization
To find out how the characters are characterized in the story, we need to know the theories of characterization. According to Holman and Harmon in A
