Hawthorne's Garden of Eden Allegory in "Rappaccini's Daughter."

In "Rappaccini's Daughter," Hawthorne has created a carefully-constructed allegory for the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, but with one significant twist: the gender roles of the two major characters, Adam and Eve, are switched. In Hawthorne's version, Giovanni represents Eve and Beatrice represents Adam, with Rappaccini and Baglioni filling the roles of God and Satan, respectively.

The major set piece of the story, Rappaccini's garden, is an obvious substitute for the Garden of Eden. Throughout the story, several direct comparisons between the two are made. The shrub in the pool can only be interpreted as a stand-in for the Tree of Knowledge in Eden, Beatrice's statement that it was "created" by her father indicates as much. Rappaccini, the "creator" of the garden and "father" of Beatrice, is Hawthorne's substitute for God himself.

Baglioni's speech so often echoes sentiments expressed by Satan in Milton's "Paradise Lost" that it becomes very obvious early on who Hawthorne intended him to represent. He alludes to a rivalry with Rappaccini, accuses Rappaccini of being interested only in his experiments and of Rappaccini's desire to replace Baglioni at the university with his daughter just as Satan sees God as an aloof observer intending to replace his angels with mankind. Baglioni attempts to "foil Rappaccini where he little dreams of it" just as Satan resolves to use deception against God, rather than risk a direct attack. Later, Baglioni admits he seeks to thwart Rappaccini, even while admitting that Rappaccini is, in truth, a "wonderful man," basically stating the representatives of good and evil in the story for the reader to see.

The major difference between the original tale of Genesis and Hawthorne's take is the sex of the two young lovers. In the original tale, it is Eve who brings the forbidden fruit to Adam and convinces him to partake of it. In "Rappaccini" the opposite is true, it is Giovanni who brings the source of the couple's downfall (the potion) into the garden and provides Beatrice with it. It is Giovanni, not Beatrice, who represents Eve in this tale.

Hawthorne's choice of the name Beatrice for his female protagonist is no accident. Beatrice is the name of Dante's guide through part of purgatory and all of heaven in "The Divine Comedy." She is Dante's perfect, innocent woman. Hawthorne goes as far as cluing his reader into this connection by outright mentioning Dante. Knowing this, it becomes obvious that Hawthorne did not intend for his Beatrice to be the cause of the eventual fall, as Eve is in the original story. In his take, Beatrice fills the role of Adam. It is she who is originally created by her father, like Adam. Rappaccini desires to find or make a companion for his daughter, just as God does for Adam in the story. Beatrice, not Giovanni, is the original product of Rappaccini's work, and it is Beatrice who is eventually brought down by her companion.

By reversing the sexes of the two protagonists in his take on the Eden tale, Hawthorne seems to be commenting on the historical stigma associated with Eve and womankind as the source of man's fall. By casting a male character in her role, he attempts to create sympathy and show the other side of the tale.