Rappaccini cares more about science than mankind. One reason being is that he experimented on Beatrice and Giovanni. In the poem, Beatrice says “the effect of my father’s fatal love of science, which estranged me from all society of my kind.”(P.289, Para. 5) This quote exposes that Beatrice never got to meet other people because she became poisonous from the plant that her father created. Professor Baglioni talks about Rappaccini saying “His patients are interesting to him only as subjects for some new experiments.”(P.279, Para. 1) This statement portrays that he is only interested in associating with people who he could experiment on. For example, the quote “Nevertheless, there was a peculiar quietness in the look, as if taking merely a speculative, not a human, interest in the young man.”(P.281, Para. 8) This quote reveals that Rappaccini wanted to experiment on Giovanni.
Another reason is that he exposed his own daughter, Beatrice, to a poisonous plant. In the poem, Professor Baglioni says “But as for Rappaccini, it is said of him- and I, who know the man well, can answer for its truth-that he cares infinitely more for science than for mankind.”(P.279, Para. 1) This quote means that he would rather sacrifice human life, his own among the rest, for the sake of adding so much as a grain of mustard seed to the great pile of his accumulated knowledge, as said in the poem. Professor Baglioni states “Her father was not restrained by natural affection from offering up his
