Nature versus Nurture In Elsie Venner: A Romance of Destiny Oliver Wendell Holmes portrays nature versus nurture. Holmes through his character of Elsie Venner is exploring the idea of inherited evil or learned evil. Is Elsie inherently evil because of her ophidian ways passed to her through her mother’s womb or is Elsie evil because of the way she is treated? Throughout the novel Holmes uses Eden and ophidian imagery to stress “his theory …showed first 75 words of 1619 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1619 total…and dies. Oliver Wendell Holmes in his third preface to Elsie Venner says “I tried to make out a case for my poor Elsie, whom the most hardened theologian would find it hard to blame her for her inherited ophidian tastes and tendencies.” (E.V., xiv) Holmes was successful in that the reader cannot help but sympathize with Elsie Venner and not blame her for her actions, be they natural or nurtured by her upbringing.