1. Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)
Young Goodman Brown
Nathaniel Hawthorne
( )

2. Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)

3. Nathaniel Hawthorne
Novelist and short story writer, a central figure in the American Renaissance
best-known works include The Scarlet Letter (1850) and The House of Seven Gables (1851)
Obsessed with the effects of Puritanism in New England, with the dark side of human nature, with themes of sin, guilt and secrecy, and intellectual and moral pride.
( )

4. Hawthorne’s life (1) Born in Salem, Mass.
Descendant of prominent New England Puritans
William – passed sentence on Quakers
William’s son – a judge in the Salem witchcraft trial of 1692
Grandfather – a Revolutionary War hero
Father – a sea captain who died of yellow fever when Hawthorne was four years old

5. Hawthorne’s life (2)
Mother lived a secluded life after his father’s death, which influenced her son’s solitary attitude
Hawthorne spent most of his early years in Salem in a solitary fashion, starting to write here after college graduation
In 1842 Hawthorne became friends with the Transcendentalists in Concord, Emerson and Thoreau, who also drew on the Puritan legacy.

6. Hawthorne’s life (3)
At the Bowdoin College ( ), among his friends were Longfellow and Franklin Pierce, who became the 14th president of the United States.
Hawthorne was unable to earn a living as a writer and in 1846 he was appointed surveyor of the Port of Salem.
Hawthorne died on May 19, 1864, in Plymouth, New Hampshire on a trip to the mountains with his friend Franklin Pierce.

7. Twice-Told Tales (1837)《重述的故事》 Mosses from an Old Manse (1846) 《古宅青苔》
Major short stories
Among Hawthorne's most widely anthologized stories are
'Young Goodman Brown' (1835)
‘The Black Minister’s Veil’ (1836)
'The Birthmark' (1843)
'Rappaccini's Daughter' (1844)
Twice-Told Tales (1837)《重述的故事》
Mosses from an Old Manse (1846) 《古宅青苔》

8. Major long fictions The Scarlet Letter (1850)《红字》
The House of Seven Gables (1851)《带有七个尖角阁的房子》
The Blithedale Romance (1852)《福谷传奇》
The Marble Faun (1860)《玉石雕像》

9. Features of Hawthorne’s Stories
Romantic elements
- sensibility: feelings vs. rationality
- mysticism: unseen forces, spirits
- adventure in the past to an ideal place or in quest of enemies
- melancholy / morbid
- individual feelings vs. the society
Obsession with the dark side of human nature: repressing effect of Puritanism on people, guilt, sin, secrecy
Hate / Fear of intolerance, hypocrisy, incapacity for human sympathy as the pride-ridden scientist is inclined to
Ambiguity: optional readings; uncertainty

10. Young Goodman Brown Setting
- Salem, MA around 1690s; night in the forest
Character
- Goodman Brown; elder traveler, Faith
Narration
- Omniscient narrator, more telling than showing
Conflict
- man and nature? man and society? man and him/herself?
Theme
- An exploration of human nature? Mental disease as a result of the suppression of the society? Problem of one’s personality?
Atmosphere
- gloomy
Language: formal

11. Setting New England colonies - Puritans
Plymouth Mayflower Compact
Massachusetts Bay Colony
Boston, Charlestown
Puritanism – Calvinistic doctrines
- Original Sin
- Predestination
- God's unconditional election

12. Historical-biographical considerations (1)
Puritan New England:
- King William’s reign ( ) (p.26)
- persecution of the Quakers by Brown’s grandfather (the 1660s) (p.27)
- King Philip’s War ( ), in which Brown’s father participated (p.27)
- Salem, Boston, Connecticut, and Rhode Island
- ministers, elders, meetinghouses, communion tables, saints, selectmen (p.28), and lecture days

14. Historical-biographical considerations (2)
Puritanism - Calvinism
- God’s supremacy
- man’s helplessness and sinfulness
- distinction between the elect and the damned
- predestination

15. Historical-biographical considerations (3)
Witchcraft and Satanism
Witches, witchcraft and an incarnate Devil were realities to New Englanders of this period.
- dialogue between Goodly Cloyse and the Devil (ll.16-32, p.29)
- a satanic worship / witches’ Sabbath attended by witches, devils, and lost souls (ll.12-20, p.31; ll.21-19, pp.33-36)
- Hawthorne’s great-grandfather was a judge in the Salem witch trials of 1692

16. Historical-biographical considerations (4)
Suppression and Intolerance of Puritanism
- lashing of the Quakers
- slaughtering of the Indians
- persecution of the “witches”
Goody Cloyse (p.28)
Goody Cory (p.29)

17. Discussion Questions for Young Goodman Brown

18. Questions What is the significance of the setting?
What dramatic change happens to Goodman Brown? Why the change?
What is the theme of the story?
What are some of the major symbols?

19. Goodman Brown’s Change
From a good man to a bad man
- from a faithful Christian who loves his wife and his neighbour to a person who becomes disgusted with everybody in his doubts about his own faith as well as his fellow townspeople’s faith
From happy to unhappy
- anxious about man’s salvation in general if sin is so prevalent in human nature; human hypocrisy
- unbalanced in mind
Why the change?
- losing faith in God, losing hope for salvation
- intolerance of the Puritan society: hypocrisy; losing balance of the mind

20. Significance of the Setting
Explains why Brown is so curious about and concerned with the hidden sin in people
Intolerance of Puritanism is largely responsible for the hypocrisy of the townspeople
Suppression of the Puritanism leads to Brown’s unbalanced mentality

21. Structuralist approach: Plot prototype
Gothic tale: supernaturalism and horror
- spirit-haunted habitations, diabolical villains, secret doors and passageways, terrifying and mysterious sounds and happenings
- workings of the evil in a person
Faust legend:
- a bargain with the Devil for some desirable thing
- man’s courage to challenge the limit and explore the unknown world

22. Moral-philosophical considerations
An allegory: a narrative in which each character represents an abstract moral quality of human beings at large.
Brown is Everyman.
Faith is religious belief.
Brown’s fellow traveler and his Staff represents Satan / the evil force in general.
Brown’s story is every man’s experience. His contemplation or exploration of human nature reveals our common problem in life.

23. The Psychological approach
“Young Goodman Brown”: Id versus Superego
Superego (Conscience)
- village: A place of light and order (social and moral / spiritual order)
- Faith: Projection of a part of Brown’s psyche
Ego - Brown Id
- Forest: A place of darkness and unknown terrors
- Satan: Projection of another part of Brown’s psyche

24. Imbalance in Brown’s Psyche
Brown’s id gains the upper hand. He yields to the wild evil in the heart of darkness and becomes “himself the chief horror of the scene” (p.32). “In truth, all through the haunted forest there could be nothing more frightful than the figure of Goodman Brown …” (p.32-33)
Cf. resemblance between the elder traveler and Goodman Brown (p.26)

25. Themes: symbolic meanings of the journey to the forest
A journey bravely taken for more knowledge of the unknown / dark world
A journey of discovery of the evil nature of human beings:
- Brown becomes a misanthrope
- Brown is anxious about people’s salvation
The inner workings of an imbalanced mind under the suppression of the Puritanical society

26. Assignments for Walt Whitman
Read Whitman’s poems in the textbook.
Which poem do you like better? And why?
Identify amazing / unique images, metaphors, lines, etc. and explain why you think they are amazing.
Imitate one of the poems to write a poem of your own.
Paraphrase a stanza of the poems and compare in detail the different effects between the original stanza and your paraphrase, such as the sound, rhythm, image, tone, style, theme, etc.
Think about the questions in the textbook.

27. 67 Success is counted sweetest By those who ne’er succeed.
To comprehend a nectar
Requires sorest need.
Not one of all the purple Host
Who took the Flag today
Can tell the definition
So clear of Victory
As he defeated – dying –
On whose forbidden ear
The distant strains of triumph
Burst agonized and clear!

28. 288 I’m Nobody! Who are you? Are you – Nobody – Too?
Then there’s a pair of us?
Don’t tell! they’d advertise – you know!
How dreary – to be – Somebody!
How public – like a Frog –
To tell one’s name – the livelong June –
To an admiring Bog!