Ethan Brand

How would the story change if written from Ethan Brand’s first-person perspective? How would the story change if written from Bartram’s point of view?

Nathaniel Hawthorne explored the idea of the moral implications of amoral intellectualism and the pursuit of knowledge in his 1834 short story “Rappaccini’s Daughter.” Compare the application of the theme in the story with the application of the theme in “Rappaccini’s Daughter.”

Nathaniel Hawthorne often sets his stories in Massachusetts. How does the setting of Mount Greylock in Massachusetts fit into the story? How does Nathaniel Hawthorne’s biographical history affect the story’s character and themes?

Why has the Unpardonable Sin become such an obsession for Ethan Brand? Why is he willing to go to such terrible lengths to find it? And why does he choose Humphrey’s daughter Esther as one of his subjects?

How does Ethan Brand know the German Jew? Who is the German Jew supposed to be? Do you think the German Jew has the Unpardonable Sin as he claims? Why or why not?

The narrator dedicates two detailed paragraphs to describe a few of Ethan Brand’s old acquaintances from the village. What is the significance of these villagers’ descriptions? How do they relate to Ethan Brand and the characterization and themes in the story?

What is Esther’s significance and role in the story? Why does Ethan Brand believe he destroyed her soul? Write a feminist analysis that examines Esther’s narrative role and how the story depicts and describes women.

How is personification significant in the story? Why does the story give nature such a major role in Ethan Brand’s quest and in the setting and themes of the story? How does Dark Romanticism use nature imagery and personification?