Whether or no Beatrice possessed those terrible attributes—that fatal breath–the affinity with those so beautiful and deadly flowers—which were indicated by what Giovanni had witnessed, she had at least instilled a fierce and subtle poison into his system. It was not love, although her rich beauty was a madness to him; nor horror, even while he fancied her spirit to be imbued with the same baneful essence that seemed to pervade her physical frame; but a wild offspring of both love and horror that had each parent in it, and burned like one and shivered like the other. Giovanni knew not what to dread; still less did he know what to hope; yet hope and dread kept a continual warfare in his breast, alternately vanquishing one another and starting up afresh to renew the contest. Blessed are all simple emotions, be they dark or bright! It is the lurid intermixture of the two that produces the illuminating blaze of the infernal regions.

From “Rappaccini’s Daughter,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Nathaniel Hawthorne describes the tale of a gorgeous woman who becomes poisonous. Can the allure of striking beauty turn a woman toxic? As the Alaskan cow parsnip flower –shown above—causes terrible blisters at the slightest touch, so it is with some attractive women –and men too—who wield their charm to achieve their evil purpose.