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hawthorne criticize puritan society
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Nathaniel Hawthorne is a well known 19th century author. One reason he is well known is his view towards Puritanism. Hawthorne would often criticize Puritanism in his short stories and novels. Two short stories that show Hawthorne’s view of Puritanism are “Young Goodman Brown” and “The ministers black veil”.
In “Young Goodman Brown” Hawthorne uses the hypocritical nature of Young Goodman Browns neighbors and friends to show the hypocritical nature of the puritan people. In the story, Young Goodman Brown is led by the devil to a witching party in the woods. At the witching party he sees all the people he thought to be honorable and pious. He sees his minister, and Goody Cloyse, the woman who taught him his catechisms, meeting with the devil. He even sees his wife about to join the commune but doesn’t see whether she does or not because he resists the devil and wakes up by a tree. After witnessing these things in the woods Young Goodman Brown can’t look at the people he loved and looked up to in the same way anymore. He becomes a bitter and distrustful old man because of their hypocr...
McCabe, Michael E. “The Consequences of Puritan Depravity and Distrust as Historical Context for Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown”.”
Young Goodman Brown was a man who was naïve to the world around him. Ever since he was a child, he had always practiced a very Godly life. Not only does he believe that everyone around him follows the same path, but he also believes that it is the only path. This naivety and innocence was taken from him by the Devil, who opened his eyes to the world of evil around him. After the pagan ceremony, which Brown attends, the Devil even states “Now are ye undeceived! Evil is the nature of mankind” (Hawthorne 9). By saying this, Hawthorne is trying to say that it is better to know the whole truth than to live a lie. By not knowing the truth about evil existing in Salem village, Brown has essentially been living a life that is not complete or accurate. This perfect and fair world that was found in the Bible is not the real world that surrounds him. When his innocence is stolen from him so abruptly, he begins to lose both his faith and stability in the world.
Within “Young Goodman Brown”, the naive and malleable character’s intoxication of grief and dread lead him upon the revelation of the town’s hypocrisy. The fact of the initial impact upon Brown’s mentality and changed outlook of the town’s people revolves around the imagined forest meeting which leaves him bitter and spiteful. Satan’s true intent was to make him: “A stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man, did he become, from the night of that fearful dream”. Whether the forestry scene did in fact occur is truly a matter of the readers insight, however the overall impact that the scene had upon the story’s primary thematic detail of hypocrisy does evolve around the secrets of which the townspeople in turn remain to hold to themselves. Hawthorne’s works primarily emphas...
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” is an allegory. Hawthorne’s moral story is told through the perversion of a religious leader, Goodman Brown. Goodman is a Puritan minister who lets his excessive pride interfere with his relations with the community after he meets with the devil. The result is that Goodman lives the rest of his life in exile within his own community.
Nathanial Hawthorne besieged with his ancestral ties to the Salem Witch Trials and his loathe for a Puritan society, lead him to create an allegory of a young man’s quest and his struggle between good and evil. Hawthorne wrote figuratively about Puritanical ideals, beliefs and social appearance in Young Goodman Brown. Also, the short story is centered on New England’s history, mostly inspired by Puritan beliefs.
The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, had a large influence of a very popular religion during the 17th century, known as Puritanism. The Oxford Encyclopedia defines Puritanism as “religious sensibility centered around conservation” (?). The reason behind many people traveling to America during the 1600s from England was only for one specific reason: religious freedom (Joselit). “For leaving England for what would become New England, the Puritans were not seeking economic opportunity and security for themselves and their families. They were on a religious mission or, what later became known in Puritan circle as an “errand into the wilderness””(Joselit, 21). The first set of Puritans came to America in 1620, and started a colony in Plymouth, Massachusetts. By the 1640s, there were over twenty-five thousand English settlers in New England. The group of Puritans that settled in the 1630s lived in an area that they named the Massachusetts Bay Colony, which is present day Boston. This is where the setting of The Scarlet Letter takes place (Joselit).
Hawthorne, born in Salem, had an ancestor who was a judge known for his harsh sentencing, and that man’s son also became a judge, during the infamous Salem Witch Trials. Nathaniel Hawthorne added the ‘w’ to his name to distance himself from these relations. In his story Young Goodman Brown Hawthorne criticized the strictness of the puritan way of life and demonstrated that no one is as perfect and pious as they seem to be. A focus of the story is Goodman Brown’s young wife, named Faith. At First it seems that if anyone at all is a pious and good as they seemed to be, then it must be innocent Faith, his wife, who is waiting for him at home. However, at the end, Goodman Brown finds faith in the forest with the other sinners, and when he calls out to her to resist the Devil, he finds that he is alone. Goodman Brown begins the story associating his wife, Faith, with all things good and pure, and believing that she and many other people are good, and so he should be too. However, the story shows that puritanism is hypocritical and everyone is sinful. This revelation devastates Goodman Brown and makes him question his faith, and his wife, Faith. Goodman Brown’s view of his wife as a perfect and innocent person, the ideal puritan woman, is shattered, and this shatters his worldview entirely, leaving him bitter and mistrustful for the rest of his
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.
Portrayal of Puritan Society in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter In the introductory sketch to Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel the "The Scarlet Letter", the reader is informed that one of the author's ancestors persecuted the Quakers harshly. The latter's son was a high judge in the Salem witch trials, put into literary form in Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" (Judge Hathorne appears there). We learn that Hawthorne feels ashamed for their deeds, and that he sees his ancestors and the Puritan society as a whole with critical eyes. Consequently, both open and subtle criticism of the Puritans' practices is applied throughout the novel.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” is an excellent example of the use of allegories and symbolism as a form of satire on Puritan faith. According to Frank Preston Stearns, author of The Life and Genius of Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Hawthorne may have intended this story as an exposure of the inconsistency, and consequent hypocrisy, of Puritanism” (Stearns 181). Throughout the story of “Young Goodman Brown,” Hawthorne tries to infuse as many symbols and allegories as he can to enhance the overall meaning of his story. He uses the village, Goodman Brown, Faith, the man in the forest, and the time spent in the forest as either a symbol or an allegory to get his point across that Puritans are not always what they seem to be.
The theme being mostly focused on morality, religion, and unknowingness, these three points connect the story “Young Goodman Brown” to the persecution towards the Quakers. Hawthorne reveals Puritan society’s emphasis on public morality where they cannot see right from wrong and only believe in their own righteousness. “An errand into the Wilderness’, a common metaphor for the Puritan undertaking in colonizing New England, and with their strong principles towards their religion they sought to “purify” those who were not the same, just as were the villagers in “Young Goodman Brown”. The fear of unknowingness is a significant factor in Puritans, Quakers, and even the Salem Witch Trials. This xenophobia is common throughout both the 17th century New England and Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown”. Knowing of the persecution of the Quakers during the 1650s by the Puritans helps understand the themes conveyed in Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman
Nathaniel Hawthorne's works are notable for their treatment of guilt and the complexities of moral choices. "Moral and religious concerns, in short, are almost always present in Hawthorne's work"(Foster, 56). Given Hawthorne's background, it is not a stretch of the imagination to say that his novels are critiques of Puritanism. Hawthorne lived in the deeply scarred New England area, separated from Puritanism by only one generation. His grandfather had been one of the judges in the Salem Witch Trials. Personal issues include the various ways Hawthorne's family and specific events in his life influenced his writing. Readers can easily recognize how "Young Goodman Brown" incorporates facts about his Puritan ancestors. Father Hooper in "The Minister's Black Veil" may be symbolically paralleled to Hawthorne's ancestors, trying to hide a sin they have committed. His descendants' remarks on him in The Custom House introduction to The Scarlet Letter mix pride in Hawthorne's prominence and a sense of inherited guilt for his deeds as judge. Hawthorne's guilt of wrongs committed by his ancestors was paramount in the development of his literary career. He investigates human weaknesses through the time period of his ancestors. Generally Hawthorne's writings contained powerful symbolic and psychological effects of pride, guilt, sin and punishment.
Nathaniel Hawthorne's knowledge of Puritanism and his close relationship with the religion has impacted his views on those in the society. Hawthorne is critical of the Puritans and he thinks that they are hypocrites for having rules and morals that they do not follow. He sees the underlying sin that others may not. Through his many writings he makes known to his readers that everyone is guilty of sin. The Puritan's main goal was to save themselves from the sin in the world, but Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays their morals and society as troublesome through his works, "Young Goodman Brown," "The Minister's Black Veil," and The Scarlet Letter.
In "Young Goodman Brown," Hawthorne analyzes the Puritans’ consciousness and the hidden wickedness of their nature. He takes a naïve Puritan man and takes him on a journey into the dark forest to meet an old man whom we presume, is the devil. As the naïve Puritan embarks on his journey, his wife "Faith" kisses him good bye. The Puritan has an overwhelming feeling of guilt as he is entering the forest to meet with the Devil. He realized what he is doing was forbidden and none of his forefathers or fellow Puritans would ever commit such a sin. During his meeting with the Devil his naïveté dissolves. He sees Deacon Gookin, his old catechism teacher, and other upstanding members of the community, whom he looked up to and feared, dancing around the Devil’s fire. He is told that the Devil has helped his father and Grandfather in years past. His innocence is completely destroyed when he sees his own wife Faith dancing around the Devils circle . He screams in agony: "My faith is gone. There is no good on earth; and sin is but a ...
In 'Young Goodman Brown,'; Hawthorne makes the reader believe that Goodman Brown has learned that truth about the world and how evil it really is. In the story the accounts of Goodman Brown let you believe that he has truly seen the evil in the world and knows what lurks behind everybody masks. He makes you realize that even though the person may look holy and religious that evilness is all around us and most people will never ever find out the truth. The character Young Goodman Brown written by Nathaniel Hawthorne finds many issues of evil concerning the town's people in which he lives, about himself, and the reality behind the evil.