Young Goodman Brown

Cultural Context During the five months of the Salem witch trials of 1692, nineteen women and men accused of being witches were put to death by hanging. The accusations began when a few young girls claimed they were possessed by the devil and subsequently accused three Salem women of witchcraft. As the hysteria grew throughout Massachusetts, the list of the accused grew as well. Eventually, 150 people were imprisoned before the governor dismissed the special witchcraft court and released the remaining prisoners. It is in this historical setting that “Young Goodman Brown” takes place.

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, "pray thee 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 afeard of herself sometimes. Pray tarry with me this night, dear husband, of all nights in the year." Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864), American author wrote the Gothic Romance The Scarlet Letter (1850);

Questions Who is the narrator of “Young Goodman Brown”? What advantage does the narrator point of view give the author? What does young Goodman Brown mean when he says “of all nights in the year, this one night must I tarry away from thee” (para. 3)? What is important about this night, and why does Goodman Brown believe he must journey “’twist now and sunrise”? Is Goodman Brown surprised to encounter the second traveler on the road, or does he seem to expect him? What is the significance of their encounter? What do you make of the fact that the stranger bears a strong resemblance to young Goodman Brown?

Questions What sins are the various characters Goodman Brown meets in the woods guilty of committing? “Young Goodman Brown” has two distinct settings: Salem and the woods. What are the differences between these settings? What significance does each setting have in the story? Why do people gather in the woods? Why do they attend the ceremony? Explain the change that takes place in young Goodman Brown at the end of the story. Why can he not listen to the singing of holy psalms or to the minister’s sermons? What causes him to turn away from Faith and die in gloom?

Young Goodman Brown At the end of story, the narrator suggests that Goodman Brown might have fallen asleep and imagined his encounter with the witches. Do you think the events in the story are all a dream? In The Power of Blackness, his classic study of nineteenth-century American writers, Harry Levin observes that Hawthorne had doubts about conventional religion. This, Levin believes, is why all efforts to read an enlightening theological message into Hawthorne’s works are “doomed to failure.” What comment do you think Hawthorne is making in “Young Goodman Brown” about religious faith?

A Comparison: Eyes Wide Shut Arthur Schnitzler (novel) Stanley Kubrick (screenplay) A doctor (Tom Cruise) becomes obsessed with having a sexual encounter after his wife (Nicole Kidman) admits to having sexual fantasies about a man she met and chastising him for dishonesty in not admitting to his own fantasies. This sets him off into unfulfilled encounters with a dead patient's daughter and a hooker. But when he visits a nightclub, where a pianist friend Nick Nightingale (Todd Field) is playing, he learns about a secret sexual group and decides to attend one of their congregations. However, he quickly learns he is in well over his head and finds he and his family are threatened.

Are we evil in nature? Is there “moral violence”?

Assignments Read Chapter 7 Symbol (pp. 229-234), and The Lottery (pp. 235-246).