Young Goodman Faust

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s version of the Faust Legend in the works of “Young Goodman Brown” is considered to be a significantly different version when compared to the common Faust Legend. The article that I found discussing this subject is, The Rewriting of the Faust Myth in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, “Young Goodman Brown.” By Hubert Zapf. A brief summery as to what this essay is about, Zapf’s entire thesis is filled with information and facts that all leads up to the analyzing of the common use and application of the Faust legend in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s story “Young Goodman Brown”, and how it compares in contrast to other “Faust users”. The points made through out Zapf’s essay consist of what the Faust legend originally is and how Hawthorne used it differently in his story, “Young Goodman Brown”. Zapf is analyzing the similarities, differences, and symbolism of Hawthorne’s version of Faust compared to the traditional out look of the Faust as well as the differences when compared with “Young Goodman Brown”. The comparing of this information is a way for Zapf to show that, “Both the transgression and the price to be paid are symbolically expressed in the central element of the Faust Myth” and to really show that that Hawthorne was using his own version of Faust (19). My own opinion of this essay confides with the fact that I agree the use of the Faust legend in the works of Hawthorne has the foundation of Faust, however there are some differences as well.

At First the article Touches on the questioning of what Faust is. In summery, Faust is the protagonist of an old German story about a guy who is actually really successful, but at the same time is somewhat dissatisfied with his life life. He had a serious lust for earthly happiness, alo...

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...re of the Salem forest but also as a symbol of purity and passion. So in the woods when Young Goodman Brown saw his wife’s bow on the ground, that was a symbol of end of faiths purity, passion, and innocence. Even though at the beginning when Faith seemed so innocent, the information that has been presented in Zapf’s essay has made it clear that she was not the person that she seemed to be (Zapf, 35).

In Conclusion, this article really opened up my view of the entire story. I do agree to the fact that in the rewriting of the Faust legend in “Young Goodman brown” was based off of the legend, it showed a little twist of Hawthorne’s culture compared to Goethe’s version.

Works Cited

Zapf, Hubert. "The Rewriting Of The Faust Myth In Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown." Nathaniel Hawthorne Review 38.1 (2012): 19-40. Literary Reference Center. Web. 13 Feb. 2014.