“Rappaccini’s Daughter” is very much like the book of Genesis in the Bible. Rappaccini’s garden is, of course, a representation of the Garden of Eden. There was a tree in the middle of the Garden of Eden that was not to be touched. Hawthorne writes, "There was one shrub in particular…that bore a profusion of purple blossoms, each of which had the luster and richness of a gem…seemed enough to illuminate the garden, even had there been no sunshine…some crept serpent-like along the ground or climbed on high…" Serpent-like in the description causes us to think about the serpent in the Garden of Eden. The lizard who is killed by Beatrice’s flower also reminds us of