Rappicccinni's motives were selfish, he wanted to use science for fame. Because his motives were not good, the results were bad. We can also see that Baglioni can also be blamed. He gives Giovanni the poison that kills Beatrice. Baglioni does this to thwart Rappiccinni. His motives are also wrong, so he is also to blame for the tragic results. .
In "The Birthmark", Hawthorne tries to relay a very similar message. The scientist in the story, Aylmer, is very similar to Rappiccinni. Aylmer is both an observer and a participant and like Rappiccinni he over steps the line. In this story, Aylmer has a very beautiful wife, Georgiana, but he does not appreciate her beauty, because she had a small red birthmark on her face. He decides to try to change what nature had created. Here again we see that there cannot be transcendentalism, because Aylmer is trying to control nature. He felt that he could make her more beautiful by removing the birthmark, saying: .
"No, dearest Georgiana, you came so nearly perfect from the hand of Nature that this slightest defect, which we hesitate to term a defect or a beauty, shocks me, as being the visible mark of earthly imperfection." (Hawthorne 148).
At first, Georgina refuses to allow her husband to remove the birthmark. But then she chooses emotion over intellect. It means so much to her husband, to remove the birthmark, Georgiana allows him to attempt to remove it, despite evident danger:.
"Why did you hesitate to tell me this?" asked she. "Because, Georgiana," said.
Aylmer, in a low voice, "there is danger." "Danger? There is but one danger that his horrible stigma shall be left upon my cheek!" cried Georgiana. "Remove it, .
remove it, whatever be the cost, or we shall both go mad!" "Heaven knows your words are too true," said Aylmer sadly (Hawthorne 161). .
This also shows that Aylmer would stop at nothing to have the birthmark removed. Aylmer performs the experiment to remove the birthmark and was successful.
