Provide a detailed and thoughtful response to the following question. Your post is due before 6 a.m. Tuesday, September 15th. Late posts or failure to post will result in significant participation point loss:
Is Baglioni good or evil?
In order to respond, click on the "Comments" section of this blog post. Be sure that your GOOGLE account user name is your first name and first letter of your last name only.
I believe that Professor Baglioni is evil. When he was introduced he had strong opinions about Rappaccini telling Giovanni, "he cares more for science than mankind and he would sacrifice human life, his own also, or whatever else was dearest to him, for the sake of adding to his knowledge". This showed his dislike and hatred for Rappaccini and perhaps his jealously for another scientist. Baglioni's last words were in a tone of triumph mixed with horror, "Rappaccini! Rappaccini! and is this the upshot of your experiment!"
ReplyDeleteI feel that Baglioni was both good and evil. He was evil because he knew that he wanted to kill Beatrice from the beginning because he knew that she was poisionous to both Giovanni and others.He also did not like Rappaccini. He was good because he actually tried to forewarn Gioveanni about Baglioni thinking that he should protect him because he was friends with Giovanni's father.
ReplyDelete**Mr. Morgan, I know you wanted one or another but I could pick one or the other I feel that he was BOTH! :)
Personally i believe that Professor Baglioni is evil. When Baglioni visit's Giovanni he knows that Giovanni like's Beatrice and he talk's to Giovanni as he is a close friend when he is the opposite. Also Baglioni talk's to Giovanni as he can save Beatrice "be of good cheer, son of my friend. it is not too late for the rescue" (Hawthorne 848) but Baglioni knows that the antidote he give's Giovanni will kill Beatrice. Baglioni does not care for Giovanni at all because if he did he would realize that it would hurt Giovanni to kill Beatrice. Also Baglioni dislikes Rappaccini so anything that would hurt him Baglioni would appreciate. As Beatrice is dying Baglioni looked out "the window, and called loudly, at in a tone of triumph mixed with horror, to the thunderstricken man of science,-- 'Rappaccini! Rappaccini! and is this the upshot of your experiemnt!'". Baglioni is excited for the loss of Beatrice becasue of his dislike for Rappaccini.
ReplyDeleteI think Pietro Baglioni is evil. He was a professor of medicine at the University, with an elderly personage of genial nature, habits that could be called jovial, and lively conversation. Giovanni's father and Baglioni grew up together. This means Baglioni had to have known Giovanni for a long time. From my interpretation of the story Baglioni gave Giovanni the silver vial leading Giovanni to believe it was medicine to cure the poisoned Beatrice. It really turned out to be poison, which ended Beatrice's life. Since Baglioni was a professor of medicine, he knew exactly what to put in the vial to have the affect he wanted it to have on Beatrice. Basically, Baglioni tricked Giovanni into killing Beatrice. I believed Baglioni's motivation for this cruel act was his hate for Rappaccini. He figured it he killed Rappccini's daughter he could make Rappaccini suffer for life. In my opnion, this was a pretty evil act to commit.
ReplyDeleteI think that Baglioni was evil. Even though he knew that Giovanni liked Beatrice, Baglioni still continued to bad-mouth her and her father. On the other hand, he did give Giovanni some important information through a story about Alexander the Great and a girl he fell in love with. I think in that regard, Baglioni might just be looking out for Giovanni, since he is the son of an old friend. At first, I figured that when Baglioni gave Giovanni the antidote for Beatrice, he wanted to sincerely help Giovanni and the girl he loves. Although his actions may have seemed heroic on the surface, I think Baglioni had a secret agenda on his mind. I think that he wanted to see Rappachini's experiment with Giovanni fail, so he gave Beatrice an "antidote" that he knew would kill her because she lived off of poison. This even shows after Beatrice dies and Baglioni shouts with joy from the window to rub it in Rappachini's face that his plan didn't work.
ReplyDeleteI think that Professor Baglioni was evil. At first, he seemed like he was actually trying to help out Beatrice by giving her the 'antidote'. What Giovanni did not know, however, was the fact that Rappaccini and Baglioni had long since been enemies in the scientific world. As things progressed, I came to realize that Baglioni was using Giovanni to get to Beatrice, which would get to Rappaccini. When he gave the vial to Giovanni, he knew that it would cause harm. Giovanni was taken in; since Baglioni was the son of an old friend of his fathers, he would never have known what harm the man was trying to inflict. I think that he was trying to hurt Rappaccini by killing off his daughter. When Beatrice dies, Baglioni is ecstatic because Rappaccinis experiment is ruined.
ReplyDeleteWhile he criticized Rappaccini for using a human being as an experiment, I think that Baglioni is the one at fault. Killing a human being just to get back at another person is never acceptable. I think that this evil action puts Baglioni more in the wrong than Rappaccini ever was.
In my opinion I feel that Professor Pietro Baglioni was an evil man. Pietro used multiple things to his advantage.I think that he had some type of grudge against Dr. Rappaccini and took it out on his daughter Beatrice because he could not get to Dr. Rappaccini. Professor Baglioni was very good at his profession, so he also used his skills in medicine to his advantage. The person that Baglioni took advantage of the most was Giovanni. From the beginning of the story Baglioni would make comments about Dr. Rappaccini that he wanted Giovanni to catch. Baglioni would also try to make Giovanni think that his liking of Beatrice was very wrong. He eventually won Giovanni over by giving him " medicine" which was really poison. By him killing Beatrice daughter of the man he despised is very evil.
ReplyDeleteI personally believed that Baglioni was truly evil. Not just because he tricked Giovanni into killing Beatrice with a supposed antidote. But because he hides his evil in the beginning. At first, he seemed to be kind and honest by caring about Giovanni. But later, his true nature is revealed when he gives Giovanni an antidote to give to Beatrice which is actually poisoned, thus making him think he killed her. In the end, he mocks Rappaccini and his failed experiment, because he had finally proved that he was the better scientist. But at what cost? A lost life, a man with a broken heart, and a scientist who had lost everything.
ReplyDeleteI believe that he was a truly evil man.
I think the word "evil" is a little strong, since throughout the story, it is Baglioni's intent to keep Giovanni out of harm's way. Still, I do believe that Baglioni's actions regarding Rappaccini come from a malicious place. Baglioni seems to envy and resent Dr. Rappiccini for his status as a more distinguished physician than himself. Thus, he is willing to go to great lengths to prove that Rappaccini's experiments involving his garden of poisonous flowers are harmful and unethical. Ironically, it is Baglioni that is the one to cause the most harm in the story, as he deliberately provides Beatrice with the antidote that kills her. When reading that part of the story, I was sure that her death was accidental and that Baglioni hadn't anticipated this result; but then I read Baglioni's exclamation at the end, which implies that he purposely harmed Beatrice in order to discredit Rappaccini's work.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Baglioni's efforts fell short of positive results, the man should be considered good, not evil. When Giovanni first asked about the famous doctor, Baglioni mentioned what a person of honor Rappacini was, but also warned Giovanni about the man's questionable medicinal uses. Baglioni and Rappacini may have had different opinions on how research should be conducted, and just because Baglioni was critical of Rappacini's procedures, does not make him evil.
ReplyDeleteBecause Giovanni's father was an old friend of Baglioni's, the professor looked out for Giovanni, and his best interests.
The gift of the antidote vial toward the end of the short story I believe was done with the purest of intentions to help Beatrice. As the author states, because poison was Beatrice's life, the antidote was death. Baglioni had Beatrice's best intentions at heart, as well as those of Giovanni.
Even though he has an interest in Giovanni before he knows Giovanni has any affiliation with Rappaccini and may have wanted to help Giovanni be with Beatrice, I believe Professor Baglioni is evil. He is very public about his dislike of Rappaccini and his daughter's part in science. He still continued this after Giovanni showed his interest in them. Despite the fact that he warned Giovanni of the poisonous Beatrice, he had ulterior movtives when he gave Giovanni the medicine for her. He gave his the medicine just to thwart Rappaccini's experiment. After Beatrice dies he yells out to Rappaccini in triumph "Rappiccini! Rappiccini! and is this the upshot of your experiment!" (Hawthorne 853). He wanted to ruin Rappiccini's experiment and did not care if someone was hurt in the process.
ReplyDeleteI think that Baglioni showed ways of good and evil throughout the story. I think that his intentions towards Rappaccini were evil. I think the from the beginning Baglioni resented Rappaccini. He resented him most I think due to the reputation he had as such a "great and amazing" doctor of science and medicine. However, although is intentions to Rappaccini were not the best, I do think that his intentions toward Beatrice and Giovanni were those of good intentions with no hidden agendas involved. He tried to warn Giovanni throughout the whole story. He tried to tell him what would happen if he went into the garden or get involved with Beatrice. Baglioni tried to forewarn Giovanni of what would happen to him. I also think that his intentions with giving Giovanni the vile to give to Beatrice was also all in good intentions. He was trying to help her. Yes maybe he was trying to prove he was just as scientific and as an amazing doctor of science as Rappaccini, but, he truly did want to help Beatrice save herself from the poison that consumed her.
ReplyDeleteWhile evil is a harsh characterization by any standards, I believe that Baglioni was. While he did caution Giovanni against consorting with Beatrice, he did not take measures to protect Giovanni from her. He repeatedly told Giovanni of his disdain for Rappacini, his garden, and his daughter, even when he was aware of Giovanni’s love for Beatrice. Like others, I at first believed that Baglioni sincerely wanted to help Giovanni and Beatrice, but by the end of the story it was clear to me that he did not. He waited until he knew Giovanni was an experiment of Rappcini’s to offer any help, and his story of the woman Alexander the Great fell in love with only worsened Giovanni’s resolve to look for the best in Beatrice. Baglioni used Giovanni to act out his rivalry between himself and Rappacini, giving Giovanni the vial of "antitode" for Beatrice while certainly knowing what effects the liquid would have once Beatrice had swallowed it. Crueler still was his exultation at the very end—“So this is the upshot of your experiment!”—ignoring Giovanni’s pain and only celebrating what he deemed to be Rappacini’s failure.
ReplyDeleteI personally do not believe Baglioni is evil. It is he, who gives Giovanni crucial information about the doctor, his practices, and his daughter. He is the one who warns the young man of the maiden's poisonous being, and creates the idea of possibly even "curing" her. If he was evil, he would not have warned Giovanni about the dangers of Beatrice, or even taken note of the "amazing" doctors brilliance. He was an old friend of the young man's father, so I have no doubt he had only the best intentions for him. This is why I believe he was good. Mk:)
ReplyDeleteI believe that Professor Baglioni is evil. Even though Beatrice is poisonous, she is not harmful to those around her because she is always alone in her fathers garden. Baglioni made Giovanni believe that he was on his side by giving him the antidote. Giovanni did not realize that Baglioni just wanted to kill Beatrice because of his hatred towards Rappaccini. After Beatrie drank the antidote she died. Baglioni was filled with excitement by his accomplishment that he yelled down to Rappaccini and mocked his experiment. Even though what Rappaccini does is wrong, killing his daughter hurt Giovanni, a innocent man who was only looking out for the one he loved.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Professor Baglioni is both good and evil. He is good because I think he had good intentions for trying to save Giovanni from this poisonous woman. He always tried to take care of and look out for Giovanni because he was old friends with his father. I do not think he would ever harm Giovanni but therefore felt the need to protect him by eliminating Beatrice from his life, making him an evil monster to both Beatrice and Dr. Rappaccini. He is evil for the obvious fact that his "medicine" was actually a poison that killed Beatrice. Also, he did not speak much good of the doctor. At the beginning of the story, he said that he would sacrifice human life for the good of an experiment. Therefore, I believe he poisoned Beatrice not only to protect Giovanni, but also to spite Dr. Rappaccini and teach him a lesson. I don't know if it is possible to be both good and evil but I feel Professor Baglioni was a mix of both.
ReplyDeleteI honestly do believe that Baglioni was evil. I think that he has ways of persuading people to do bad things, without them seeming harmful. Baglioni, I feel was very jealous of Rapaccini because of the fact that Rapaccini was so smart. Telling Giovanni such things like, "he cares more for science than mankind ", made Giovanni question how good of a man Rapaccini really was. To me, Baglioni's plan the whole time was to kill Beatrice so that Rapaccini would get so distracted and maybe quite working the garden so that way more people would pay attention and talk more about someone new.(Baglioni) If Baglioni was nice, then I honestly do not think that he would even consider killing Beatrice because he would have known how much she meant to Giovanni. Considering the fact that Giovanni's father and Baglioni were such great friends back in the day.
ReplyDeleteAt first, i thought Baglioni tried to help Beatrice and do the 'right' thing to keep the world of science with just and peace. Since she was used by her father as a subject of an experiment, Baglioni's approach with the 'powerful antidote' seemed good.However, as i read through, especially at the end of the story, it showed that Baglioni is evil. Baglioni is criticizing Rappaccini becuase he is doing his experiment (even with human being) without any guilt even though he has to sacrifice that individual. However he was doing the same thing he hated, using people to succeed in what he has intended to do. The silver vile proves this. Baglioni wanted to stop the immoral process of experiment that Rappaccini was using, but Baglioni himself used the same way to stop Rappaccini. Thus it makes Baglioni the killer of Beatrice, and lied to Giovani to get that vile to Beatrice. The tragedy here, is that Baglioni might have thought it would be over when Rappaccini's daughter was killed, but it did not stop. Rather, Rappaccini was satisfied to see his success of the experiment though his daughter was dying in front of him. Baglioni could have been the hero, but he applied a wrong method and became an evil.
ReplyDeleteI think Professor Baglioni was both. The good side of him tries to look out for Giovanni and save him. He also informs him about the crucial secrets of the women he loves. He also gives Beatrice the anticdote. There are two reasons why he may have done this. One reason he may have done this was to try and save her and give Giovanni the woman he loves. The other reason is that he may have wanted to see one of Rappaccini's expiriments fail while protecting Giovanni from her at the same time. This is why i believe he can be either good or bad.
ReplyDeleteI feel that Professor Baglioni was not evil. However, I feel that he had evil ententions and was a jealous person of Dr.Rappaccini and his accomplistments. Baglioni said that, "he should recieve little credit for such instances of success,-they being probalby the work of chance,-but should be held strictly accountable for his failures, which may justly be considered his own work". I do not believe that Bagolini believes that this is true and is just expressing his hatred out of jealousy to Giovanni. When his antidote kills Dr.Rappaccini's most precious experiment, his daughter, he feels victory over him and for that reason cannot help but to yell out, "Rappaccini! Rappaccini! and is this the upshot of your experiment!" I believe that these words are not spoken out of evil, but of the joy of victory over the accomplished Dr.Rappacchini by fouling his experiment.
ReplyDeleteI do not deem Professor Baglioni as an evil soul, but I do believe that his intentions were nothing short of evil. An introduction of Professor Baglioni refers to him as a person of "genial nature" and describes his actions as "jovial" which allows the reader to understand he is a well liked man. Despite this positive characterization, the Professor's tone quickly changes when Giovanni asks of Professor Rappacinni and his garden. Baglioni only worships the man's scientific ability and even refers to him as "worshipful" but later discredits his own description by saying that Rappaccini is "an awful man indeed." Not only did Baglioni insist that Rappacinni is a man that puts science first even before the love of his own daughter, but he also describes Beatrice as a monster. Baglioni continues his jealous plot by making Giovanni a playing piece in his long battle against Professor Rappaccini. Professor Baglioni lets Giovanni fall victim to Rappaccini's science experiment that turns him into a poisonous creature like Rappaccini's daughter. Baglioni does not tell Giovanni what fate may come of him if he continues to see Beatrice, but only hints that their is a deadly perfume in his chambers, therefore making it obvious that Baglioni does not have Giovanni's best interest in mind. Baglioni's evil intent is made more apparent when he gives the antidote to Giovanni. He is fully aware of what Rappaccini is doing to Giovani, as he hinted at earlier, and is allowing Giovanni to kill off the only other being like his new self. Baglioni's only concern was himself, even though he was hurting three others in the process.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of the story I thought that Baglioni was honest and kind to Giovanni, but as the story progressed Baglioni became more deceitful and evil. He wanted to be helpful to Giovanni but because of his hatred toward Rappacinni he only thought of himself and his evil side over powered his kind and generous side. When Giovanni came to Baglioni for advice about Dr. Rappacinni and his beautiful daughter Baglioni could only put down the two. He told Giovanni that many young men love Beatrice and Giovanni basically did not have a chance because of all of the men in Pauda seeking her love. Also, I believe Baglioni purposely gave Giovanni the antidote to kill Beatrice because he knew that it would kill her and crush Giovanni’s dreams of being with her. So overall I believe that Baglioni built trust with Giovanni in the beginning of the story just so he could lure Giovanni in to kill Beatrice and ruin Rappacinni’s plans.
ReplyDeleteI think that Professor Baglioni was truly not an evil man, although he did portray a few evil qualities. Professor Baglioni was not cordial when he talked about Dr. Rappaccini with Giovanni but, i think he was just putting the information out there so Giovanni would know. Professor Baglioni states that Rappacini cares more about science than mankind, that he would sacrafice life for sake of adding knowledge, and that he has many harmful poisons that he loves. I believe that Professor Baglioni may have said this because he was jealous but also because he was watching out for his friends son, Giovanni. Towards the end of the story when Baglioni is visiting Giovanni and notices the strange smell of flowers in his chamber shows us that Baglioni had no idea what the Rappaccini's were capable of; if he knew that smell ment that the poison was in Giovanni he obviously would have said something. When Baglioni gives the flask of "medicine" to Giovanni it is a sign that he wants to help him capture the 'girl of his dreams', he does not give it to Giovanni to make him become the only othe person like himself in the world. In all the cases we are shown in the story they all lead us to believe that Professor Baglioni was only doing those things to protect Giovanni, not corupte his life.
ReplyDeleteIn Rappaccini’s Daughter I saw Baglioni is evil. Baglioni was a professor of medicine at the University and tricked Giovanni in the end to kill his love interest, Beatrice. He gave Giovanni the tools to kill Beatrice without him even aware of what he was about to do to his one true love. This ‘antidote’ would kill Beatrice and leave him heartbroken. Baglioni was just using Giovanni to get through to Rappaccini’s dark and mysterious secrets. Baglioni tells many lies to Giovanni making him believe that he only wants the best for him. When Beatrice dies Baglioni’s experiment is solved because Rappaccini’s manipulations of science are proven to the world. I believe Baglioni held a grudge against Dr. Rappaccini and didn’t like his methods and practices of medicine; maybe in the past he did something to Baglioni or someone he loved and wanted to get back at Dr. Rappaccini or even teach him a lesson.
ReplyDeleteI think that the professor had a little of both in him. I think at first he seemed kind but as Giovannie started talking about Dr. Rappaccini he started to explain what he thought of the Dr. As time went on he showed just how much he really did not like Rappaccini and did not care for how he did science. I do think that for the most part he was evil but that he also did have some good in him.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I believe that Baglioni is evil. While at the beginning of the story he seemed like a kind guy just offering some advice to Giovanni, as the story progressed you could see more and more his personal opinion of Rappiccini influence his desicions in a bad way. One can see Baglioni's personal opinion of Rppiccini affect his actions after he has given advice to Giovanni. The story says, "The youth might have taken Baglioni's opinions with many grains of allowance had he known that there was a professional warfare of long continuance between him and Dr. Rappiccinni, in which the latter was generally thought to have gained the advantage"(839). This quote lets the reader know that due to some professional competition, in which Baglioni generally lost, his words could have been untrue. We next see Baglioni's evil side after his discussion with Giovanni regarding Rappiccinni's scientific interest in him, when Baglioni says, "Perchance, most learned Rappaccinni, I may foil you where you little dream of it!' (843). This statement proves the Baglioni is plotting something. You see one last example of Baglioni's evil nature at the very closing of the story, when he says "Rappiccinni! Rappaccinni! and is this the upshot of you experiment?" (853). This final statement proves that all along he had planned this evil deed, thus demonstrating his inner evil nature.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Baglioni is evil. From the begining of the story he acts suspicious twords Beatrice and Doctor Rappaccini. He knew that Giovanni was falling in love with Beatrice and out of kindness did try and warn him over her poison. Instead of telling Giovanni exactly what the doctor had done to her from the start he waited until they had been seeing each other on a daily basis. If the professor truely cared from Giovanni he would have told him not to see her from the start. Also the professor gave Giovanni a vase of medicine that was suppose to save Beatrice from her posionous life and renew her. Instead the medicine killed her. It seems that the professor knew how the outcome was really going to be but tried to seem as if he cared for the young womens life. This is why I believe Baglioni was evil.
ReplyDeleteAt first when I was going through the book I thought that Baglioni was a good, honest man, but as I went through his actions I saw the true evil behind them. Baglioni from the start had it out for Rappacciniand seemed like he was jealous of Rappaccini because Rappaccini was a more well known and possibly more talented doctor. Baglioni did not understand Rappaccini's ways of living life, which was that he "cares infinitely for science than for mankind" (838)and Baglioni punished Rappaccini for it. When Giovanni talked to Baglioni about Rappaccini for the first time, Baglioni never gave Rappaccini any credit for his good work as a scientist. Though it looked like Baglioni's efforts were sincere to warn Giovanni that Rappaccini was using him as "a scientific experiment" (842), Baglioni seemed to have something up his sleeve. This was especially eminent when Baglioni stated that he "may foil [Rappaccini] where [he] little dream of it" (843). Most of Baglioni's actions were selfish. It may have been that Baglioni killed Rappaccini's daughter, Beatrice, to teach him a lesson, but it was purely evil and unnecessary of him to do so. And for a man to rub a death into another man's face, well that, to me, is the final deciding factor that Baglioni was a truly evil man.
ReplyDeleteI think Baglioni is good. He made an honest attempt to warn Giovanni about the doctor's evil experiments. He told Giovanni from the beginning how odd and suspicious Dr. Rappacini and his daughter were. When he visited Giovanni when it was too late, he is the one who made him realize that he had been poisoned. He could have done more to save Giovanni from becoming another experiment for Dr. Rappacini, but he seemed much to scared and timid. If Giovanni had listened to him and had not gotten involved with Beatrice he most likely would not have gotten poisoned. I think Baglioni is intimidated by Dr. Rappacini and that is why he did not do more to save Giovanni.
ReplyDeleteI feel that Professor Baglioni was evil. Baglioni had competition with Rappicini and was open to admit his disgust of Rappicini's experiments.In the beginning of the story, he warns Giovanni of Rappicini's experiments but later when the story unfolds I find that these things were nothing but helpful hints to his own evil plan. Baglioni instructs Giovanni to give the silver vial to Beatrice, for it was to reverse the poison in her breath. The results of this Vial left a dead Beatrice and a heartbroken Giovanni. " Rappiccinni! Rappiccinni! and this the upshot of your experiment?" (853). This was his plan all along.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I believe Baglioni is a man of evil. Although, I did not think this at first. The beginning of the story shows Baglioni as an old family friend of Giovanni's and "apparently of good nature, and habits that might most call jovial" (Hawthorne 838). But, when Giovanni asks him about another man of medicine and science-Rappaccini-Baglioni does not try to hide his personal dislikes for the man and the way Rappaccini is willing to sacrafice the human life of his daughter, Beatrice, for science. As Giovanni becomes closer with Beatrice, Baglioni sees their relationship as a lesson to Rappaccini to show how sacrificing human life for the success of science experiments is too extreme. Baglioni convinces Giovanni that he has a way to rid Beatrice of all the poisons in her body, and Giovanni, being in love with Beatrice, is willing to accept this proposal. Since Baglioni is also a man of medicine, he is able to produce an antidote that actually will kill Beatrice without Giovanni or Beatrice knowing until the deed is done. When Beatrice falls to the ground, Baglioni "looked forth from the window, and called loudly, in a tone of triumph mixed with horror...'Rappaccini! Rappaccini! and is this the upshot of your experiment!'"(853). Baglioni's tone of triumph shows this deceitful action was his plan all along.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Professor Baglioni was not evil but his actions displayed as though he was. He was described to have a "genial" personality. I believe that these words describe him well. I think that he was truly looking for the best intrest of Giovanni. He warned Giovanni at the very beggining of the story saying that Rappachini would "sacrafice human life, his own among the rest, or whaterelse was dearest to him. Bagoloni wanted Giovanni to be aware of the evil that Rappachini possesed. However, it seemed as though Bagaloni was jelous of Rappachin. Perhaps his way of getting back at Rappachini and saving his friends son was to kill Beatrice.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion,Baglioni is a good man but he just handles the situation badly. Baglioni is always complaining about how Rappacini is more interested in science than people. This shows that Baglioni actually cares about the feelings of the people around him. Baglioni also warns Giovanni about Beatrice's "situation". This means that he is caring enough to help out Giovanni when he had no idea of Beatrice's little problem. At the ending, Baglioni could have handled the situation better, but I think he truly was looking out for the well- being of Beatrice. He feels immensely sorry for her because he thinks that she is treated like just another experiment instead of Rappacini's only daughter. All in all, I do think that Baglioni has a warm heart but I think he just went to extreme of the situation when killing Beatrice. He should of thought about the consequences before he went through with his plan.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this short story, i have concluded that Baglioni is indeed evil. As i read, i could suspect that Baglioni was trying to kill Beatrice from the start. Yes, i do believe that he was a good person for warning Giovanni about her conditions; but in the end Baglioni just ends up looking bad when he shouts out to Rappaccini " Rappaccini! Rappaccini! and this is the upshot of your experiment!" when i read this, i came to me as mockery and thats not what good people do to others.
ReplyDeleteIt is difficult to describe Baglioni's nature as wholly evil, however Baglioni's plan to give Beatrice the antidote is irrefutably rooted in evil. While I believe that Baglioni was fully aware that the antidote he provided Giovanni with would harm Beatrice, it is hard to ignore completely his constant attitude of protection and care for his deceased friend's son. Though Baglioni intended to prove Rappaccini's radical experiments to be inhumane and dangerous, he did so by playing the part of an inhumane scientist himself; killing Beatrice in order to push his theory. So Baglioni's motives were honorable, but his plan was evil.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I feel that Baglioni is evil. At the end of the story the reader finds that it was his plan all along to destory Rappacchini and his experiment. When we first met Baglioni there was foreshadowing that talked about the professor "warfare" between himself and Rappacchini, within the University of Padua. As the story unfolded it seemed as though Baglioni was concerned for Giovanni's well-being. However, with the end result we find he was truly only concerned about ruining Rappacchini'sexperiment. I believe that this was an evil act and makes Baglioni an evil man.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I do not think that Baglioni was an evil man. Throughout the story he truly seemed to care about Giovanni considering the fact that he was extremely close to his father. I feel as though he looked at Giovanni as his own son and felt the need to be a father figure for him. Since Baglioni did not know Beatrice for who she was but rather for what he heard about her he did not want Giovanni around her. Baglioni feeling this way was not his fault. He was going off what he knew. He thought Beatrice was harmful to be around and did not want Giovanni around her. Overall, i felt as though his intentions for Giovanni were sincere.
ReplyDeleteI think that in this story yes, Baglioni was evil. There isnt enough facts to prove hes an evil person in general (because evil is a really strong word). But in this story i felt that he had a plot. A plan from the beggining to get Giovanni to give that antidote or medicine to Beatrice and i also believe he knew it would kill her. His jealousy also shown through especially at the end when he yelled down "Rappiccinni! Rappaccinni! and is this the upshot of you experiment?" (853). Though i also feel that he had good intentions because Rappacini himself displays evil qualities just by how he raised his daughter keeping her secluded from society and making her poisonous(though he also felt he had good intentions)and i could understand wanting to stop or revenge himself from the evil of Rappicini. He did warn Giovonni but for all anyone knows it was part of his plan knowing no one would deprive themselves of Beatrice if they could. Beatrice did get what she wanted at the end and was probably grateful so his actions may have served a good purpose. But even so in my opinion he was still protrayed as an evil person.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe Baglioni is a truly evil man. First, Rappaccini and Baglioni have different opinions in the matters of science, whereas Baglioni is against sacrificing it all for the pure gain of scientific knowledge, and Rappaccini will risk it all. This shows Baglioni is capable of being caring. Second, Baglioni's attempts to talk Giovanni out of seeing Beatrice is out of the goodness of his heart; Baglioni cares for Giovanni and I believe he always knew something was odd about Beatrice. He speaks out of genuine concern for Giovanni. However, the actions taken to protect Giovanni are like a double-edged sword. It appears that Baglioni was attempting to save Giovanni, yet he knew Giovanni had already been affected by the poison. Baglioni killed Beatrice to prove a point to Rappaccini, and the end result shows a different side of Baglioni. He seemed to contradict his views of sacrifice by killing Beatrice. Despite this, Baglioni did not have evil intentions throughout the entire story, so i do not believe him to be evil.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think that Baglioni is neither. It seems that he thinks he knows what is best for Giovanni since he has known Rappaccini, though it also seems as Giovanni's well-being is not always his first interest. Baglioni does appear to be jealous of Rappaccini and he tries to right this by explain to Giovanni why Rappaccini's cares more for science than mankind. When he notices that Giovanni's room has the same scent as the flowers from Rappaccini's garden, he tries to help him because Giovanni is the son of his best friend. Though as he gave the antidote to Giovanni, there might be a second reason why he helps. We can see there is when he "called loudly, in a tone of triumph mixed with horror... 'Rappaccini! Rappaccini! and is this the upshot of your experiment!'"(853). If he was trying to be good, he would have noticed that Giovanni, though at first just interest in Beatrice, was now starting to fall in love. He made a bad judgment in giving Giovanni the antidote in what also seems to be a way to prove Rappaccini wrong. I believe with this his jealousy might have took him so far as to kill Beatrice but he was probably thinking as how to help Giovanni.
ReplyDeleteI also believe that Baglioni is evil. At the beginning of the story, readers learn that Baglioni believes Rappaccini "cares infinitely more about science than mankind" (Hawthorne 838). Readers also learn that Baglioni is not a fan of Rappaccini, and this foreshadows what happens at the end of the novel. However, at first I thought that Baglioni encouraged Giovanni to give the antidote to Beatrice to counteract the poison because he cared about their close relationship. The way he told the story of the Indian prince and the ways he encouraged Giovanni to give Beatrice the antidote convinced me that he was a good person. However, when I got to the end, I was proven wrong when I came to the part where Beatrice dies after she drinks the vial. After she dies, Baglioni says, "Rappaccini, Rappaccini, and is this the upshot of your experiment!" (853). I learned that Baglioni didn't care about the close relationship between Giovanni and Beatrice; he wanted Rappaccini to get angry about an experiment of his failing and also losing his daughter. As Kamille also mentioned, if Baglioni is a professor of medicine, he had to have known ahead of time what was in the vial and that Beatrice was going to die after drinking the vial. Because of the way Baglioni killed Beatrice, I also agree that he is an evil man.
ReplyDeleteBaglioni is not fully evil, at least not at first. In the beginning it seems like Professor Baglioni wants to take Giovanni under his wing and let him know what kind of person Dr. Rappaccini is. He told Giovanni that Dr. Rappaccini only cares for science. He treats people like lab experiments and only cares about the knowledge gained from the way he treats them. Later in the story Baglioni becomes fully evil when he lies to Giovanni, telling him if he gives a vile to Beatrice, Rappaccini’s daughter and the love of Giovanni’s life, she will be cured of the poison that she gives off. Giovanni believes him and gives her the antidote. Soon after taking the vile she dies and his feet. Giovanni is very upset and sad that this happened to Beatrice. After Beatrice died Professor Baglioni showed his true colors and said death was the cure.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I find evil to be a bit strong worded to describe Baglioni I would have to say that he is of bad nature. Deception is something that is harsh and wrong to put someone through and in this case have it be paired with such a harsh pain for Giovanni. He killed Beatrice, the woman that Giovanni loved, and the precious science experiment and daughter of Rappacinni. Not only did he kill her but he made Giovanni believe that it was he who killed her, and he will have to live with that guilt forever. He may have had intentions of good at some point in the story but in the the end of the story it is proven to the readers that his good intentions no longer exsist.
ReplyDeleteI think Professor Baglioni was a good guy. He knew of what Rappacinni was doing to Beatrice and other people. So he was being a true friend to Giovanni by telling him what was going on. A good friend gives you their advice and take on a situation and thats what Baglioni was doing. Sometimes the adivce you want to hear is not the adive you always do recive.
ReplyDeleteAt first I believe Baglioni to be good but as I read further and further into the story it became clear to me that Baglioni was not good. While I believe evil is a harsh word to use Baglioni only worsened the situation with Giovanni and Beatrice. Although he did warn Giovanni about Rappaccini's idea to use Giovanni as a scientific test he did not do anything to help Giovanni. Just because you do a good deed does not make you a good person. baglioni only did half a good deed. By letting Giovanni suffer and let his love for Beatrice worsen and let him become Rappiccini's lab experiment shows the horrible side of him. Baglioni used Giovanni to carry out his anger with Rappaccini he used him to get to Rappaccini and that makes Baglioni just as evil as Rappaccini. But to me the question should not be is Baglioni good or evil it should be what character do his actions portray him to be. My answer to that question is a vengeful person without any feelings. He is just as bad as Rappaccini. Rappaccini may be using Giovanni as an experiment but at the same time at least Giovanni knows his intentions. With Banglioni Giovanni has no idea what his intentions are and that makes Banglioni even more of a bad character. All you get from him are short answers nothing to help Giovanni out nothing to aid him, to help keep him safe. In conclusion although I do not agree with the word evil, I believe banglioni is more evil than good.
ReplyDeleteSooooo many blogging rules violations here, ladies. We have quite a bit to talk about. Ugh...
ReplyDeleteI believe that Baglioni is evil. I feel like he only wants to beat Rappaccini and prove to him that he is wrong, and therefore he is ALSO willing to sacrifice human life just as Rappaccini is. I believe that he actually knew that the "antidote" that he gave to Giovanni to give to Beatrice was actually an even more powerful poison than she was, thus killing her. The reason I feel this way is because at the end of the story, he blames Rappaccini, in a sense, for the death of his daughter, when it was actually Baglioni's fault. I believe Baglioni was only trying to get back at Rappaccini for being more well-known than he, even though his way of science was "immoral". Baglioni's reaction was no better than how Rappaccini goes about science.
ReplyDeleteSorry for getting this in so late. I wasn't home for most of the day yesterday, and when I was, my internet was down. I just got my internet fixed on my computer this morning.