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Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” and Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death” both deal with the main character’s belief in being able to conquer a situation. Hawthorne’s story centers on Brown’s journey into the forest to have a meeting with an older man, which tests Brown’s faith. Poe’s story focuses on Prince Prospero’s attempt to escape the Red Death by locking himself in his castellated abbey together with friends, and hosting a masquerade ball. Essentially, both stories deal with different scenarios by Brown believing he can overcome evil, and Prince Prospero believing he can overcome death. However, despite the different circumstances, both stories have significant similarities. Both “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Masque of the Red Death” …show more content…
deal with the belief of being able to overcome a situation, which ultimately leads to a bad outcome.
In “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Masque of the Red Death”, both Hawthorne and Poe have incorporated symbolism and irony into their characters’ names. In “Young Goodman Brown”, the name young Goodman Brown can be broken apart. First, young suggests that Brown has not fully developed who he is as a person, and is inexperienced, leading to poor decision making. Carlson says, “like a child, he thinks he can return from his escapade in the forest and take up his previous life in Salem with Faith” (Carlson). This statement shows that Brown was naive enough to think he could overcome evil. Next, the use of Goodman Brown is ironic since it indicates that Brown has good intentions, but he goes on a journey that tests his faith, resulting in the questioning of his faith for the remainder of his life. According to Carlson, “Brown withdraws into the egocentricity of isolation, lives a life of frustration, and dies in gloom because he …show more content…
never accepts the fact that man lives in the forest as well as in the town” (Carlson). Brown’s negative thoughts and actions after his journey should not be typical characteristics of a good man, supporting the irony in his name. In comparison, in “The Masque of the Red Death” the name Prince Prospero has symbolic meaning and irony in it. Prospero “that is, “prosperous” (516), implies that the prince will have good fortune and be well off in his lifetime. The prince unquestionably represents his name by trying to cheat death through locking himself and friends “to the deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys” (516) to escape the Red Death. However, it is ironic that he locks himself inside the castle attempting to escape the Red Death, but the Red Death still appears inside ultimately killing him, making the Prince’s name Prospero ironic. Moreover, both of these stories can be compared based on their settings that contain symbolism. In “Young Goodman Brown”, the setting is in the village and in the forest. The village represents the light and good, since that is where the church members live, along with young Goodman Brown and his wife Faith, who wears pink ribbons in her hair symbolizing purity. On the other hand, the forest represents the dark and evil, since that is where the Devil and his group of evil people gather. Brown is confident in his journey from the start, “with this excellent resolve for the future, Goodman Brown felt himself justified in making more haste on his present evil purpose. He had taken a dreary road, darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest” (390). From the last line it can be understood that the forest is a dark place, but Brown believes that he will return to the village unaffected, when in fact his journey leads to a bad outcome since “the next morning, Goodman Brown came slowly into the street of Salem village staring around him like a bewildered man” (397). Brown acted this way because he saw good people from the village in the evil forest. Equally, in “The Masque of the Red Death”, the setting is in a castellated abbey, and in the abbey are seven colored rooms, in order blue, purple, green, orange, white, violet, and black. The castellated abbey itself is a religious place representing good. On the other hand, the last of the colored rooms, black represents death and a sense of darkness. “Joseph Roppolo finds the colors to be reminiscent of a life cycle: blue in the first chamber indicating birth and life, and black and red in the last apartment signifying death” (du Plessis). The idea of death can be understood more clearly from the description of the room: The seventh apartment was closely shrouded in black velvet tapestries that hung all over the ceiling and down the walls, falling in heavy folds upon a carpet of the same material and hue. But in this chamber only, the color of the windows failed to correspond with the decorations. The panes here were scarlet - a deep blood color. (517) Additionally, in the seventh room there was “a gigantic clock of ebony” (517). This clock is symbolic of time passing and death approaching. Essentially, both of these short stories share the fact that there is a good light part and a bad dark part within each setting. Likewise, both settings construct a sense of detachment from reality and fear. Furthermore, the antagonist in “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Masque of the Red Death” can be compared considerably. In “Young Goodman Brown”, the antagonist is the Devil. Similar, in “The Masque of the Red Death”, the antagonist is the Red Death. Both of these short stories have an opposing force that is of a supernatural form. In “Young Goodman Brown”, Brown starts his journey believing he can overcome anything his journey brings upon him, but as he ventures deeper into the forest, Brown wants to return to the village. However, the Devil urges him to continue by saying, “Let us walk on . . . We are but a little way in the forest yet” (391). Brown first questions his faith when the Devil claims to know Brown’s father and grandfather. Next he realizes that Goody Cloyse, “a very pious and exemplary dame, who had taught him his catechism in youth, and was still his moral and spiritual adviser, jointly with the minister and Deacon Gookin” (392) were all three in the dark evil forest as well. Questioning why these good people from the village are in the forest, Brown understands that they are all acquaintances with the Devil, headed to the communion in the forest. According to Lawson: However, he remains defiant and maintains that he still has Faith, whereupon the pink ribbons of his wife flutter down from the sky. As if struck by a blow, at this instant Brown is overwhelmed by disillusionment: Even his Faith has gone the way of Satan. Despairing and hysterical, he now believes that there is no goodness and the world is wholly evil (Lawson). From this point, “a stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man did he become” (397) due to witnessing good Christians having an association with the Devil in the forest.
Similarly, in “The Masque of the Red Death”, Prince Prospero is confident he can cheat death, but he is in disbelief when a masque figure resembling the Red Death shows up to his masquerade ball in his protected castellated abbey. “The mummer had gone so far as to assume the type of the Red Death. His venture was dabbled in blood and his broad brow, with all the features of the face, was besprinkled with the scarlet horror” (518). Prince Prospero angered attempts to defeat the masked figure, but “there was a sharp cry and the dagger dropped gleaming upon the sable carpet, upon which, instantly afterward, fell prostrate in death the Prince Prospero” (519). After Prince Prospero’s death, “was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death. He had come like a thief in the night” (519). Comparably both Brown and Prince Prospero believed they could overpower the antagonist, which did not occur in either
incident. While these stories seem different upfront, Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” and Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death” are similar based on symbolism and irony in character names, symbolism in the settings, and the antagonists. Primarily, both Protagonists young Goodman Brown and Prince Prospero believed they could overcome the situation they were in, but they could not, which lead to a bad outcome for the two characters. In young Goodman Brown’s situation, he was left questioning the existence of God, and lost faith in himself and the village people since he saw good people in the evil forest due to the Devil. As for Prince Prospero, he could not cheat death, resulting in his killing by the Red Death.
But, was Goodman Brown just dreaming or did these events actually happen. These events could not have happened so he had to be dreaming this whole time. Goodman Brown had been questioning his faith for some time and had a very realistic dream. In the story, Goodman Brown is confronted with much more evilness rather than good which ultimately causes him to question his faith. Nathaniel Hawthorne is believed to be the author with the most symbolic messages and the symbols that he uses in "Young Goodman Brown" are strong with great meaning behind them. Symbols are a prominent part of nearly every story, they help improve the story by branching out on the main idea with other meanings in the
The use of symbolism in "young Goodman Brown" shows that evil is everywhere, which becomes evident in the conclusion of this short story. Hawthorne's works are filled with symbolic elements and allegorical elements. "Young Goodman Brown" deals mostly with conventional allegorical elements, such as Young Goodman Brown and Faith. In writing his short stories or novels he based their depiction of sin on the fact that he feels like his father and grandfather committed great sins. There are two main characters in this short story, Faith and Young Goodman Brown. "Young Goodman Brown is everyman seventeenth-century New England the title as usual giving the clue. He is the son of the Old Adam, and recently wedded to Faith. We must note that every word is significant in the opening sentence: "Young Goodman Brown came forth at sunset into the street of Sale, Village; but put his head back, after crossing the threshold, to exchange a parting kiss with his young w2ife.
While the “Masque of the Red Death” features it’s main character, Prospero, doing everything in his power to avoid death, to which it inevitably claims him, The Night Circus however accepts death by the end of the story, and is therefore able to successfully avoid it through the circus’s fascination with the past. Prince Prospero, in the “Masque of the Red Death” met an untimely death as “There was a sharp cry… death the Prince Prospero” (Poe 452), whom was killed by his own futile attempts to subvert the inevitable. The rippling effect led the Red Death, who “Had come… posture of his fall” to also end the lives of everyone else hiding away with Prospero. Unlike the “Masque of the Red Death”, in the Night Circus, Celia and Marco are able to avoid death, even though “A game is completed only when there is a single player left” ( Morgenstern 398). Ironically, it was through the acceptance of the fact that one of the two of them had to suffer through and experience death in order for the game to be complete, that they were able to live. Both works portray death as inevitable, which it was, but in regards to it be unavoidable is where the two works differ, between a larger theme of denial and
First, we will start with Goodman Brown. He is the main character in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story titled “Young Goodman Brown”. “Hawthorne could not escape the influence of Puritan society” (McCabe). I think that Hawthorne’s own past is and complications are reveled in his story about Goodman Brown. I believe that Goodman Brown has had a rough past and is trying to reach beyond his past in order to reach heaven. Goodman has some major problems with his wife, Faith, and everyone else in his community. I think that he is seeing everyone as perfect people, but he is having impure thoughts about himself and his past. In order to deal with these problems within himself, he is making up that everyone has this awful bad side. When he goes into the forest, he believes he is talking to the devil with looks much like his grandfather. The devil is feeding him bad thoughts about everyone he knows, even his own father and his wife Faith. Next, I believe that Goodman Brown has had a rough past and in order for him to overcome this within himself he must search for attention. This attention may not be needed from his wife or community members, I believe it is needed from him. He is feeling overwhelmed with obligations from his wife and peers that he has no time to decide whether this type of life is right for him. So, in search for the answer to his questions about life, he turns to the devil and takes his...
Hawthorne and Poe showcase a theme of darkness but differ in their approach to the setting. In Young Goodman Brown, the story primarily
'Young Goodman Brown,' by Hawthorne, and 'The Tell Tale Heart,' by Poe, offer readers the chance to embark on figurative and literal journeys, through our minds and our hearts. Hawthorne is interested in developing a sense of guilt in his story, an allegory warning against losing one's faith. The point of view and the shift in point of view are symbolic of the darkening, increasingly isolated heart of the main character, Goodman Brown, an everyman figure in an everyman tale. Poe, however, is concerned with capturing a sense of dread in his work, taking a look at the motivations behind the perverseness of human nature. Identifying and understanding the point of view is essential, since it affects a reader's relationship to the protagonist, but also offers perspective in situations where characters are blinded and deceived by their own faults. The main character of Poe?s story embarks on an emotional roller coaster, experiencing everything from terror to triumph. Both authors offer an interpretation of humans as sinful, through the use of foreshadowing, repetition, symbolism and, most importantly, point of view. Hawthorne teaches the reader an explicit moral lesson through the third person omniscient point of view, whereas Poe sidesteps morality in favor of thoroughly developing his characters in the first person point of view.
The biggest symbol in Young Goodman Brown is the idea of faith. Before he goes on his “errand,” he is talking to his wife, promising he will come back, but in actuality he is talking to his faith, as in religion. He subconsciously knows he is going against his faith on this errand, but will return. “My love and my Faith,” replied young Goodman Brown, “of all nights in the year, this one night must I tarry away from thee. My journey, as thou callest it, forth and back again…” When Brown says later in the story “I am losing my Faith”, he is not only about his wife, (which is shown through her pink ribbon in the tree), but more about his religion, which is flashing before his eyes. This errand was a test of Goodman Brown’s faith. When Brown hears people singing hymns in swears, it is a symbol of the corruption of the church. The name Goodman Brown I think is very ironic. Is he a good man after this errand?
Hawthorne skillfully uses Goodman Brown’s wife’s name, Faith, as a symbol of Goodman Brown’s strong faith when Brown’s reassuring response to Faith imply that his faith cannot be weakened: “Amen!’ cried Goodman Brown, “Say thy prayers, dear Faith, and go to bed at dusk, and no harm will come to thee” (Hawthorne 22). Brown leaves Faith; whom he describes as a “blessed angel on earth,” and journeys to the forest (Hawthorne 22). Taking the dark, dreary road into the forest symbolizes his act of jumping into the path leading to despair. The forest represents sin, and the evil grows stronger and stronger as Goodman walks further into the
In "Young Goodman Brown," Nathaniel Hawthorne, through the use of deceptive imagery, creates a sense of uncertainty that illuminates the theme of man's inability to operate within a framework of moral absolutism. Within every man there is an innate difference between good and evil and Hawthorne's deliberate use of ambiguity mirrors this complexity of human nature. Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown, is misled by believing in the perfectibility of humanity and in the existence of moral absolutes. According to Nancy Bunge, Hawthorne naturally centers his story upon a Puritan protagonist to convey the "self-righteous" that he regards as the "antithesis of wisdom"(4). Consequently, Young Goodman Brown is unable to accept the indefinable vision of betrayal and evil that he encounters in the forest. The uncertainty of this vision, enhanced by Hawthorne's deliberate, yet effective, use of ambiguity, is also seen in the character of Faith, the shadows and darkness of the forest, and the undetectable boundaries that separate nightmarish dreams from reality.
Nathaniel Hawthorne uses different people as symbols throughout "Young Goodman Brown." The largest symbolic roles in the story are goodman Brown and his wife Faith. Both of the characters' names are symbolic and representative of their personalities. "'With Heaven above and Faith below, I will stand firm against the devil!' cried goodman Brown," is just one of many quotes that directly relates goodman Brown's personality with his name (189). Goodman Brown is truly a good man. Faith, goodman Brown's wife, also has a name that is indicative of her nature. The story directly supports this point in the phrase "Faith, as the wife was aptly named . . . " (184). Faith is persistent in trying to keep goodman Brown off the path of sin in the first part of the story: " . . . pr'y thee, put off your journey until sunrise, and sleep in your own bed to-night" (184). Hawthorne does an excellent job of turning the main characters into symbols that are prominent throughout the story.
His name also becomes a multilayered metaphor. Being known as “young” represents Goodman Browns innocence and virtue. He is also condensed to represent his own consciousness. But, by leaving his wife, Faith, Young Goodman Brown is giving into the unconscious. " He had taken a dreary road, darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest, which barely stood aside to let the narrow path creep through, and closed immediately behind" (Kelly, 191).
Nathaniel Hawthorne utilizes symbolism throughout his short story Young Goodman Brown to impact and clarify the theme of good people sometimes doing bad things. Hawthorne uses a variety of light and dark imagery, names, and people to illustrate irony and different translations. Young Goodman Brown is a story about a man who comes to terms with the reality that people are imperfect and flawed and then dies a bitter death from the enlightenment of his journey through the woods. Images of darkness, symbolic representations of names and people and the journey through the woods all attribute to Hawthorne's theme of good people sometimes doing bad things.
Nathaniel Hawthorne was an extraordinary writer who sought to describe the Puritan values he felt was lost. Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Young Goodman Brown" is shown as an allegory of the threat essential in forsaking one's Christian conviction, even for one night. As one would assume, the story is infatuated with characters going through the endless trial of sin and guilt. There is a lack of subtlety in this theme, as the main character, Goodman Brown, hopes to accomplish something revolutionary in his travels. Hawthorne uses the theme of sin and guilt, the theme of the psychology of sin, and a nightly quest in order to display the controversies that overwhelmed Goodman Brown.
Goodman Brown, a young man who was only married for three months, left his home and his wife, Faith, to go into the forest and spend the night on some mission that he will not explain. Even though Faith has strong feelings about his journey and begs him not to leave, Brown has made his decision and leaves everything behind. Faith is appropriately named, because she represents Browns faith and what he believes in. The name is genuine, religious and hopeful. It represents the good side of Brown and his hope for life. He feels bad for leaving her because he knows what he is about to do is evil and goes against his faith. Brown swears that after this night he will be good and not do anything evil again and vow his life to Faith. Brown is upset about leaving her because he knows that what he is about to do in the forest is evil and goes against his Faith. Hawthorne describes Browns journey as "crossing the threshold", meaning that he is going from one part of his life to another, he is leaving the genuine good side to go to the bad evil side.
To truly comprehend the themes in "Young Goodman Brown" you must first understand the influences on Nathaniel Hawthorne's writing. According to the website Hawthorneinsalem.org, Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts, son of also a Nathaniel Hawthorne, was actually a descendant of John Hathorne, one of the judges who oversaw the Salem Witch Trials. Because of Hawthorne's Puritan upbringing, much of writings are moral allegories set in colonial New England. Hawthorne returns again to Salem in "Young Goodman Brown" and deals with the theme of the loss of innocence. This theme works to argue the benefits and consequences of Goodman Brown's beliefs before and after his encounter with the devil as well as the beliefs of the Puritans as a whole.