The Development of Plot in Young Goodman Brown
Young Goodman Brown came forth at sunset into the street at Salem village; but put his head back, after crossing the threshold, to exchange a parting kiss with his young wife. And Faith, as the wife was aptly named, thrust her own pretty head into the street, letting the wind play with the pink ribbons of her cap while she called to Goodman Brown.
“Dearest heart,” whispered she, softly and rather sadly, when her lips were close to his ear, “prithee put off your journey until sunrise and sleep in your own bed to–night. A lone woman is troubled with such dreams and such thoughts that she's afeared of herself sometimes. Pray tarry with me this night, dear husband, of all nights in the year.”
“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, must needs be done 'twixt now and sunrise. What, my sweet, pretty wife, dost thou doubt me already, and we but three months married?”
“Then God bless you!” said Faith, with the pink ribbons; “and may you find all well when you come back.”
“Amen!” cried Goodman Brown. “Say thy prayers, dear Faith, and go to bed at dusk, and no harm will come to thee.”
So they parted; and the young man pursued his way until, being about to turn the corner by the meeting–house, he looked back and saw the head of Faith still peeping after him with a melancholy air, in spite of her pink ribbons.
“Poor little Faith!“ thought he, for his heart smote him. “What a wretch am I to leave her on such an errand! She talks of dreams, too. Methought as she spoke there was trouble in her face, as if a dream had warned her what work is to be done to–night. But no, no; 'twould kill her to think it. Well, she's a blessed angel on earth; and after this one night I'll cling to her skirts and follow her to heaven.”
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, which barely stood aside to let the narrow path creep through, and closed immediately behind.
The main character, Goodman Brown is introduced as a well-mannered man who is happily married to Faith. Initially, the language such as "sunset" and "pink ribbons" symbolizes light and a positive environment in Salem Village, where the story takes place. Then, as Goodman Brown journeys through the woods, changes in the environment make him change the way in which he sees the world and people around him.
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In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “Young Goodman Brown,” Hawthorne expresses his true feelings about the negative beliefs of the puritan religion through usage of expressive styles and themes, various characters, and objects within the story. Because the puritan religion was in affect during a very complicated and chaotic time known as the Salem Witch Trials many people, including Young Goodman Brown, would be shocked to discover that the pure puritan society they knew was in fact contaminated with evil.
The ambiguity surrounding Young Goodman Brown's wife, Faith, immediately becomes apparent at the story's beginning. As Young Goodman Brown is leaving his comfortable and reverent Puritan home to embark upon this mysterious journey, Faith unexpectedly plunges her "pretty head into the street" allowing the wind to tousle and "play with the pink ribbons of her cap"(1199). Hawthorne uses natural imagery, such as the image of the wind "playing" with Faith's pink ribbons, to convey Faith's attachment to nature; the dark and mysterious part of life that is somewhere outside the constraints of Puritan society. In fact, the image...
“It was a large, beautiful room, rich and picturesque in the soft, dim light which the maid had turned low. She went and stood at an open window and looked out upon the deep tangle of the garden below. All the mystery and witchery of the night seemed to have gathered there amid the perfumes and the dusky and tortuous outlines of flowers and foliage. She was seeking herself and finding herself in just such sweet half-darkness which met her moods. But the voices were not soothing that came to her from the darkness and the sky above and the stars. They jeered and sounded mourning notes without promise, devoid even of hope. She turned back into the room and began to walk to and fro, down its whole length, without stopping, without resting. She carried in her hands a thin handkerchief, which she tore into ribbons, rolled into a ball, and flung from her. Once she stopped, and taking off her wedding ring, flung it upon the carpet. When she saw it lying there she stamped her heel upon it, striving to crush it. But her small boot heel did not make an indenture, not a mark upon the glittering circlet.
In the opening lines of the tale there is a compulsion, representing internal conflict, indicated on the part of both the protagonist and his wife Faith:
“Methought, as she spoke, there was trouble in her face, as if a dream had warned her what work is to be done to-night. But, no, no! 'twould kill her to think it. Well; she's a blessed angel on earth; and after this one night, I'll cling to her skirts and follow her to Heaven”
Young Goodman Brown embarks on a midnight journey through a dark and foreboding forest, on his way to fulfill his “present evil purpose.” He leaves his wife Faith behind, this being the type of errand he doesn’t wish to expose her to. Faith in Goodman Brown’s eyes is a good woman and “a blessed angel on Earth.” (Hawthorne, 1835) Although she wishes for him to stay, and he too feels guilty for leaving her to attend to this errand, he knows he must complete this task and knows that to mar her with the evil of it would taint her pureness of heart forever. He leaves Faith behind, to trudge through a dark, deep, and dense forest to his destination; a witch meeting. Along the way he meets several of his townspeople and, at the pinnacle of
"Young Goodman Brown" begins in the street at Salem village where Goodman Brown will soon leave to begin his journey. Faith, Brown's wife, does not want him to go on this journey as she says to him, “ ‘prithee put off your journey until sunrise and sleep in your own bed tonight’ ” (Hawthorne 310-311). Goodman Brown replies, “ ‘of all
In reading Nathaniel Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown, many issues come up that arouse interest in topics of knowledge, evil, reality, amongst other things. During my experience reading this text, how Goodman Brown's outlook changed based on information revealed to him that may not even be the "reality" of the people he knows was fascinating. That knowledge gained outside traditional and physical realms can affect the mind and the perception of the world is a fascinating subject. I also found this interesting in conjunction with some of the concepts of literary critics we reviewed this week, as the question of what literature is and what it should do becomes important in the discussion of what happens to Goodman Brown, but subsequently what happens to the reader of his story.
"Had Goodman Brown fallen asleep in the forest and only dreamed a wild dream of a witch-meeting? (387)" The story "Young Goodman Brown" is portrayed as a straight forward tale of a man on a venture. It is not overly difficult to comprehend or interpret, however it does have several great ambiguities. As Hawthorne's tale has a great deal of symbolism, it is all in retrospect to the ambiguous entities within the tale. The formalistic approach will be used to analyze the ambiguities in the story, mainly focusing upon the use of dark and light contrasts. The questions of why did Goodman Brown leave his wife Faith and venture into the forest and was his journey into the forest a reality or a dream bring a grand weight of ambiguity upon the shoulders of this tale.
In several of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short stories, “Young Goodman Brown” in particular, the female character seems to be the occasion for the disillusionment of the protagonist. Young Goodman Brown desires order and predictability because he wants control over his existence. However, intangibles such as emotions, the future and especially his mortality provoke anxiety in Brown, because they are unpredictable and not concrete. If Brown could control the intangible, he could establish order and predictability in his world. Woman is the ideal substitute for the intangible, for she is mysterious, and yet she is concrete and subject to control particularly because of the conventions of the marriage relationship. For Brown, then, to master woman is to master the intangible.
Goodman is very certain of his wife, what she likes and what she loves. He thinks the world of faith, Goodman Brown says, “What, my sweet, pretty wife, dost thou doubt me already, and we but three months married!” (Hawthorne 1). He has only been with his faith for 3 months and he thinks highly of her. When Goodman had to leave, his wife was worried, the narrator says, “he looked back and saw the head of Faith still peeping after him, with a melancholy air, in spite of her pink ribbons” (Hawthorne 1). She didn’t want him to leave and this makes Goodman think she loves and cares about him. Brown loves her and believes she loves him, Goodman Brown says, “Well; she’s a blessed angel on earth; and after this one night, I’ll cling to her skirts and follow her to Heaven” (Hawthorne 1). Brown will be with his wife forever he thinks, because he thinks he is in love with a faithful woman. His life, his wife, his family – all of these are thought to be seen clearly by Goodman Br...
"Poor little Faith!" thought he, for his heart smote him. "What a wretch am I, to leave her on such an errand! She talks of dreams, too. Methought, as she spoke, there was trouble in her face, as if a dream had warned her what work is to be done tonight. But, no, no! 'twould kill her to think it. Well; she's a blessed angel on earth; and after this one night, I'll cling to h...
In the story of "Young Goodman Brown" setting plays an important role. It provides symbolism to certain events and provokes emotions amongst the characters, especially those of Goodman Brown. The story of "Young Goodman Brown" is that of a man on an adventure to feed his curiosity and to visit the dark side of his Puritan town. Once he arrives at the destination of his adventure, he realizes that many of his elders have followed in the paths of evil and that holiness and innocence has been vanquished from his once thought to be holy Puritan town. The central idea of "Young Goodman Brown," is the conflict in Goodman Brown between joining the devil and remaining "good." It is a very difficult journey for Brown, as he travels through the woods, all the while thinking of the "good" things (like his wife Faith) he would be leaving behind. This internal conflict ultimately destroys the Young Goodman Brown and creates a new man.