1. Giovanni Guasconti - He is a man who came from the southern part of Italy to pursue his studies at the University of Padua. While he is there, he falls in love with a woman named Beatrice Rappaccini, the daughter of a famed scientist.
2. Dame Lisabetta - She is the woman who lets Giovanni into the apartments where he is to live.
3. Giacomo Rappaccini - He is a scientist whose garden of many different plants and flowers is right outside the window where Giovanni stayed.
4. Beatrice Rappaccini - She is the daughter of Giacomo Rappaccini, a famed scientist. Her breath and touch are poisonous because her father raised her on the poison and scent of a purple flower from the day she was born until it became part of her very being.
5. Professor Pietro Baglioni - He is another scientist in Padua who does not agree with Rappaccini’s practices. He tries to tell Giovanni to stay away from Beatrice, but Giovanni decides that he is too much in love to leave her alone.
6. The Purple Flower - This is a flower that Dr. Rappaccini created that makes whoever touches or smells it have poisonous breath that can kill any living creature.

A man named Giovanni Guasconti came from southern Italy to study at the University of Padua. When he got to the place where he would be staying, he thought it looked pretty nice on the outside but rather drab on the inside. Lisabetta, the woman who let him in, told him to go look outside because the bright sunshine would make him feel better.

When he looked outside, he saw a garden filled with a huge variety of all kinds of plants and flowers. Lisabetta told him that was the garden of Giacomo Rappaccini, the famous doctor.

Giovanni could also see the garden from the window of his room and before long he was looking down into it all the time. He thought it was very beautiful and found no better pastime than that. One day, he was looking down on it when he saw a skinny, sickly-looking man appear. He examined every shrub with extreme intentness, but seemed to avoid actually touching them or inhaling their odors. To see a man look so insecure while cultivating a garden kind of frightened Giovanni. He thought maybe this was the Eden of the present world. Giovanni noticed that Dr. Rappaccini wore thick gloves while pruning the plants and took a special precaution of putting on a mask to cover his mouth and nose when pruning a certain plant with purple flowers.

Suddenly Dr. Rappaccini called out the name Beatrice twice, and the soft, sweet voice of his daughter replied. When she finally came out where Giovanni could see her, he thought she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

Giovanni soon met Professor Pietro Baglioni who was a friend of Giovanni’s father. When Giovanni mentioned Dr. Rappaccini’s name, Baglioni did not respond with very much cordiality. The professor said that Rappaccini knew much about science and cared for it a great deal, but he did not agree with his practices. He said Rappaccini cared much more for science than for mankind. He told Giovanni that Rappaccini might try to make him his next experiment and toy with his life, but Giovanni didn’t want to believe it. He tried to protect Rappaccini and convince Baglioni that he might be wrong about him, but Baglioni would not budge on his story. He was convinced Rappaccini had evil plans for Giovanni. After the conversation ended, Giovanni left slightly irritated.

Giovanni came back home and was looking down into the garden when he saw Beatrice appear. He had half hoped, half feared that she might come out. Giovanni watched her as she walked over to the purple flower, embraced it, and plucked off a blossom to fasten on her dress. At that moment a chameleon on the ground caught Giovanni’s eye. A drop or two of water from the broken stem of the flower fell on its head, and it stiffened and died. Beatrice did not seem surprised, though. After that, an insect flew over and around her for a second and then suddenly fell to the ground and died. Suddenly, Giovanni felt impulsive and threw a bouquet of flowers that he was holding at the feet of Beatrice. She thanked him, picked up the bouquet, and started to walk away. Even though it was only a few moments from the time she picked up the bouquet to the time she walked away, Giovanni could have sworn that he saw the flowers start to wither.

Giovanni once again saw Professor Baglioni, and Baglioni grabbed his arm to stop him so they could talk. He tried to tell Giovanni that Dr. Rappaccini was making a study of him and was up to no good, but Giovanni would not hear it. He broke free and was away before the professor could grab him again.

When Giovanni got home, Lisabetta showed him a private entrance to the garden. When he got in, he checked to see if Beatrice or Dr. Rappaccini were around, and when he saw he was alone, he started inspecting the plants. He notice that the plants were almost unnatural looking. There was hardly an individual shrub that was not breathtaking. Beatrice suddenly appeared, and Giovanni was not sure whether he should apologize or assume it was okay for him to be there. Beatrice’s manner soothed his mind, though. She was so sweet, she made him feel totally comfortable.

They talked and walked for a while. Beatrice told Giovanni that despite some rumors, she was not skilled in plants like her father. Giovanni decided after he talked to her for a while that Beatrice was nothing but a pure delight and a wonderful person. They walked over to where the plant with the purple flowers was. Giovanni made a step towards it to pick a flower, but Beatrice darted forward and caught his hand. She told him not to touch it because it was fatal. She then ran away and Giovanni saw the thin figure of Dr. Rappaccini. He then returned to his room. When Giovanni awoke the next morning, he was in pain. The place on his hand where Beatrice touched him had turned into a purple print like that of four small fingers on the back of his hand and the likeness of a slender thumb on his wrist.

One day, Giovanni got a surprise visit from Professor Baglioni. He noted that there was a scent in the air that was quite appealing yet seemed to be deceitful. Baglioni said that Beatrice was as poisonous as she was beautiful. He then gave Giovanni an antidote that he said would cure even people afflicted with the worst poisons. He told Giovanni to give the liquid to Beatrice and await the result. Baglioni then left.

Later, Giovanni was in his room and he saw a spider. He thought about what Baglioni had said about the room having a strange smell (like the one Beatrice has), so he blew a breath of air at the spider. It quit what it was doing. Then he blew a deeper and longer breath at the spider. The spider convulsed and died. He then knew that Beatrice’s breath and touch were poisonous, and she had infected him. Giovanni then heard Beatrice calling him from below the window.

Giovanni went down to see her and started yelling harsh words at her. He said he could not believe that she had turned him into the same kind of monster she was. She was hurt by his words, but it didn’t seem to phase him. He kept scolding her for making him a killer like her. He then remembered the antidote that Baglioni had given him. He told her that it could possibly turn them back into regular people. She told him to give it to her and she drank. Suddenly, Dr. Rappaccini appeared. Beatrice asked him why he would put this miserable fate on her and Giovanni. He told her that it was not a bad fate. In fact, he said it was a blessing for them to be that way because no man, no matter how powerful, could combat their breaths. Beatrice said she would have rather been loved than feared. With that, she died.

Professor Baglioni, who had been standing in the window for some time, then called out in a voice of triumph mixed with horror, "Rappaccini! Rappaccini! and is this the upshot of your experiment!"