| "Rappaccini's Daughter" | |
|---|---|
| Short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne | |
 | |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Short story, Gothic fiction |
| Publication | |
| Published in | The United States Magazine and Democratic Review in 1844. Reprinted in Mosses from an Old Manse in 1846 |
| Publication type | Anthology |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Publication date | December 1844 |
"Rappaccini's Daughter" is a Gothic short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne first published in the December 1844 issue of The United States Magazine and Democratic Review in New York, and later in various collections. It is about Giacomo Rappaccini, a medical researcher in Padua who grows a garden of poisonous plants. He brings up his daughter to tend the plants, and she becomes resistant to the poisons, but in the process she herself becomes poisonous to others. The traditional story of a poisonous maiden has been traced back to India, and Hawthorne's version has been adopted in contemporary works.