I enjoyed this short story. So much so that I've been digging in the archives for more of Nathaniel Hawthorne's work. It never ceases to amaze me just how vast the world of literature is. Onwards with this review....

Scientific exploration and Ethics have had a contentious relationship throughout history and although the premise of Dr Rappacini's study is impossible - I like to think of this as a Shakespearian science fiction tragedy at best. Capulets with a bunsen burner.

Our characters: poisonous girl, normal boy, mad scientist father and nosy-potentially-dangerous adversarial scientist. Having just read a novel wherein the characters of this story are featured heavily and expanded upon, I thought I'd take a quick gander at the short story. What I find most interesting here is that the main character, Giovani was already a part of the experiment even before physically meeting with Rappacini's daughter. Seniora Lisbetta was much too accommodating.

Without going to deep into the details of this story, science has come a long way from the days when empirical data far outweighed any allegiance to ethical inquiry.