Rappaccini’s Daughter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Part One - February 20, 2025

This podcast episode is the first part of a story called "Rappaccini's Daughter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, adapted for Special English. It introduces Giovanni Guasconti, a young man studying in Padua, who rents a room overlooking Dr. Giacomo Rappaccini's mysterious garden. Giovanni observes Dr. Rappaccini, a scientist known for creating poisons from his plants, and his beautiful daughter, Beatrice, who seems immune to the plants' toxic nature. Professor Baglioni, a friend of Giovanni's father, warns Giovanni about Rappaccini's dangerous experiments. Giovanni witnesses a lizard and a butterfly die after contact with Beatrice's favorite purple flower, and his own health begins to decline. The episode concludes with Giovanni being offered a secret entrance to Rappaccini's garden, despite Professor Baglioni's warning that Giovanni might be the subject of one of Rappaccini's experiments.