Young Goodman
Brown
Study Guide by Course Hero
What's Inside
TENSE
"Young Goodman Brown" is written in the past tense.
ABOUT THE TITLE
j Book Basics ................................................................................................. 1
In the title "Young Goodman Brown" Brown is the character's
family name; Goodman is a form of address, similar to Mister,
d In Context ..................................................................................................... 1
a Author Biography ..................................................................................... 3
and Young differentiates the character from his father and
grandfather, who also were called Goodman Brown.
h Characters .................................................................................................. 4
k Plot Summary ............................................................................................. 6
d In Context
c Plot Analysis ............................................................................................... 8
g Quotes ......................................................................................................... 13
l Symbols ...................................................................................................... 14
m Themes ........................................................................................................ 15
Puritans
Puritanism was a reform movement of the 16th and 17th
centuries meant to purify the Church of England of the effects
of Catholicism. The Puritans' desire to make Puritanism a way
b Motifs ............................................................................................................ 17
e Suggested Reading ............................................................................... 17
of life for all of England led to civil war and unrest. In the 17th
century some Puritans left England for the American colonies,
creating Puritan settlements in towns such as Salem,
Massachusetts.
j Book Basics
Puritans believed they had a covenant with God—they were
chosen through predestination to live a godly life—which
redeemed them from sin. Nathaniel Hawthorne, descended
AUTHOR
from Puritans, also believed in the sinful nature of humans:
Nathaniel Hawthorne
"Young Goodman Brown" is an allegory of the Fall of Man,
which precipitated Original Sin. Although continuing to live a
YEAR PUBLISHED
godly life in spite of his doubts offers no redemption for
1835
Brown—"his dying hour was gloom"—Hester Prynne of The
GENRE
Allegory
PERSPECTIVE AND NARRATOR
"Young Goodman Brown" is narrated from a third-person
limited point of view by a narrator who reveals the thoughts
and perspective of the protagonist.
Scarlet Letter manages a kind of 19th-century
Transcendentalist redemption by fulfilling her human potential.
Hawthorne's indictment of the Puritans, including his
ancestors, has to do with their restrictive and punishing way of
life and their oppression of anyone who did not agree with
them, exactly the manner of oppression they had just escaped.
Young Goodman Brown Study Guide
The Puritans tortured and hanged Quakers in the mid-1600s,
such as Mary Dyer (c. 1611), who dared to set foot in their
In Context 2
Transcendentalism
colonies. They killed thousands of Native Americans in battles
as well as torched settlements occupied by women, children,
A movement of writers and philosophers with its locus in
and elders in King Philip's War (1675–76). In the frenzy created
Concord, Massachusetts, New England transcendentalism
by Cotton Mather (1663–1728), the Puritans convicted 33
rose out of Romanticism and the limitations of Unitarianism in
accused witches, hanging 19 of them and pressing to death
the 19th century. The philosophy emphasized optimism and
elderly Giles Corey. Rejecting this violence as antithetical to
goodness of human nature over logic and reason, values of the
the Puritans' Christian values, Hawthorne includes reference to
Enlightenment.
all of the above in "Young Goodman Brown," knowing his
Hathorne ancestors were identified by name in the torture of
Quakers and conviction of witches.
Descended from a long line of ministers going back to Puritan
days, Ralph Waldo Emerson found his beliefs deviating from
those of the Unitarian establishment: he embraced selfreliance, intuition, and a personal spiritual connection with God,
Romanticism
cutting out the middleman of the typical Church model. After
resigning as a Unitarian minister, Emerson next spoke out
against the scientific cause-and-effect model embraced by the
The Romantic era, beginning in Europe in the late 18th century,
rationalist philosophy taught at his alma mater Harvard
was characterized by a focus on the emotional over the
University. He argued for the influence of free will and human
rational. Pushing against the order and formality of Classicism
potential, both intellectual and spiritual. This philosophy led to
and Neoclassicism and against the emphasis on reason of the
his work Nature (1836) and the magazine The Dial, both
Enlightenment, Romanticism embraces the exceptional
spearheading the Transcendentalist movement. Humans could
individual moved by spirit, insight, and a connection to nature
transcend the rationalist world of facts and materialism
set against the backdrop of national pride. Hawthorne, for
through intellect, intuition, and a connection to nature.
example, wrote about the common man (rather than the
exceptional) in the newly formed nation, focusing on New
Emerson became the anchor and centerpiece of the
England, his native setting. In addition to Hawthorne, James
Transcendentalist enclave of Concord, often financially
Fenimore Cooper (1789–1851), Edgar Allan Poe (1809–49),
supporting Henry David Thoreau, Bronson Alcott, and
Walt Whitman (1819–92), Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Hawthorne (and their families) with wealth obtained from his
(1807–82), Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82), and Henry David
late wife and speaking fees. Along with frequent visitor
Thoreau (1817–62) are among the American writers of the
Margaret Fuller, early feminist and editor of The Dial, they lived
Romantic movement.
and worked in close proximity, constantly conversing and
influencing each other. Dedicated to social reform and
The American Renaissance, an outgrowth of Romanticism
abolition, many of these same philosophers were involved in
starting in the late 1830s, included the aristocratic Boston
the Brook Farm commune, a Utopian experiment embracing
"Brahmins" Longfellow and Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809–94),
the dual nature of humans: the worker and the thinker.
the Transcendentalists Emerson and Thoreau, and the darker
Although immune to Utopian optimism, Hawthorne participated
Romantic writers Hawthorne, Poe, and Herman Melville
in the Brook Farm project to save money for his marriage to
(1819–91). Also called the New England Renaissance, all but
Sophia Peabody.
Poe hailed from the Northeast. This group laid the foundation
for subsequent American writers, establishing the young
Although Hawthorne was closely involved with his neighbors in
nation's presence and status among the literary traditions of
the community—his wife and her sisters were also
history and the world.
Transcendentalists—he never adopted their optimistic
philosophies. Instead, his darker vision was ruled by the
inevitability of guilt, sin, and evil. For example,
Transcendentalists believed in the inherent goodness of man,
whereas Young Goodman Brown learns "evil is the nature of
mankind." Bear in mind that "Young Goodman Brown" was
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Young Goodman Brown Study Guide
Author Biography 3
written in 1835 just as Transcendentalism was starting and
and other early tales he said, "These stories were published ...
before Hawthorne had even met Emerson or Thoreau. In
without making ... the slightest impression on the public." Over
Hawthorne's 1850 masterpiece The Scarlet Letter, Hester
the years praise from the literary lights of his time did nothing
Prynne may show the self-reliance Emerson valued, but her
to diminish his modesty; perhaps this was partly due to the
outcast status and the shunning of the community is in stark
small income his work generated.
contrast to Emerson's concept of the "Over-soul," the shared
consciousness uniting all living beings. A Hawthorne character
Hawthorne himself admitted that he did not always know the
might aspire to perfection, but the flawed nature of humanity
meaning behind all the elements of the stories he wrote. As he
falls short of attaining it.
wrote in 1854 to a friend: "Upon my honor, I am not quite sure
that I entirely comprehend my own meaning, in some of these
blasted allegories; but I remember that I always had a meaning,
a Author Biography
or at least thought I had."
Today Hawthorne continues to be universally respected and is
Nathaniel Hawthorne is known for dark allegories set in New
considered a father of American literature. Tastes may change,
England, often in the 17th century. Writing in the Romantic era,
but Hawthorne's work has remained popular. Beloved
which is characterized by a focus on intense emotions and
contemporary writer Stephen King wrote "The Man in the
individualism, Hawthorne focused on the evil, flawed, and sinful
Black Suit" as an homage to "Young Goodman Brown," his
aspects of human nature. In particular he unveiled the
favorite Hawthorne tale, which he called "one of the ten best
hypocrisy behind the moral rigor of the "godly" Puritans, many
stories ever written by an American."
of whom immigrated to New England in the 1600s and
promoted a strict adherence to religious principles.
In 1836 Hawthorne was hired as the editor of a Boston
magazine called the American Magazine of Useful and
Born July 4, 1804, in Salem, Massachusetts, to a family with
Entertaining Knowledge. This position did not last long as the
roots going back to the 17th century, Hawthorne was raised by
magazine's office was almost destroyed by a fire. In 1837 he
his mother and her brothers' families after his father died when
published his first collection of short stories, Twice Told Tales,
Nathaniel was four years old. He attended Bowdoin College
which brought him some fame as a writer. He had some
and then decided to pursue writing.
success publishing his stories but couldn't make a living at it,
so he spent a year working in the Boston Custom House,
Hawthorne allegedly added a "w" to his family's original name,
weighing salt and coal. Later he lived at the Brook Farm
Hathorne, to separate himself from his ancestors. Hawthorne
commune of West Roxbury, Massachusetts, a Utopian
felt guilty about his family's past and wondered whether these
experiment aimed at preparing its residents for a simpler life of
sins caused the family's subsequent decline. One was a
intellectual freedom. In 1842 he married Sophia Peabody, with
magistrate who sentenced a Quaker woman to public
whom he would have three children. The couple rented the Old
whipping, as did the protagonist's grandfather in "Young
Manse in Concord, Massachusetts, the center of the
Goodman Brown": "I helped your grandfather, the constable,
transcendentalist movement headed by Ralph Waldo Emerson,
when he lashed the Quaker woman so smartly through the
Henry David Thoreau, and Bronson Alcott.
streets of Salem." Another ancestor was a judge during the
1692 Salem witch trials who sentenced numerous women to
In 1846 Hawthorne returned to Salem and worked in the
death. With this in mind Hawthorne wrote the short story
Custom House as a politically appointed surveyor. After a
"Young Goodman Brown" after college, during 12 years of
change in power relieved him of his duties, Hawthorne quickly
relative seclusion in his mother's attic where he devoted
wrote The Scarlet Letter, published in 1850, about a woman
himself to reading and learning the craft of writing. The tale of
who is shamed for committing adultery. The novel was a
a young Puritan witnessing witchcraft and a satanic ritual was
success, as was The House of the Seven Gables, published in
first published in New England Magazine in 1835 and later in
1851, about a New England family and their ancestral home. In
the collection Mosses from an Old Manse in 1846.
1852 he published The Blithedale Romance, set in a
fictionalized version of Brook Farm, which was not as well
From the start Hawthorne's work was critically well received,
though he remained circumspect; of "Young Goodman Brown"
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received or lucrative as Hawthorne had hoped. He then wrote a
Young Goodman Brown Study Guide
Characters 4
campaign biography for Franklin Pierce, a friend from Bowdoin,
fears nightmares will plague her. Later Young Goodman Brown
who was running for president of the United States. After
hears her voice coming from the traveling cloud. Faith is
winning the election Pierce reciprocated by giving Hawthorne a
brought to the pulpit for baptism by the Dark Figure, but Young
political appointment. Hawthorne worked in the consulate in
Goodman Brown never knows whether or not she resisted.
England during Pierce's presidency and then traveled in Italy. In
Appearing unchanged, Faith rushes to kiss Young Goodman
1860 he published The Marble Faun, a Gothic romance set in
Brown when he returns to the village, but he never trusts her
Rome. When his family returned to the Wayside, their home in
again.
Concord, Hawthorne's health was in decline. He died on May
19, 1864, in Plymouth, New Hampshire, while on a trip to
restore his health.
h Characters
Young Goodman Brown
Young Goodman Brown is a young, recently married Puritan
man in Salem village. Leaving his faithful wife for a night to
secretly attend a witches' Sabbath, Young Goodman Brown
believes he can return to his devout Christian life the next day.
He meets the Dark Figure on the road and tries to back out of
the plan, but his experiences along the way erode his trust in
his wife and neighbors and leads to his ultimate loss of faith.
Young Goodman Brown acknowledges guilt, evil, and sin as
human nature, which resides in him as well.
The Dark Figure
The Dark Figure, who resembles Old Goodman Brown, waits
for Young Goodman Brown on the road outside Salem village
to take him to a witches' Sabbath for the night. When Young
Goodman Brown wishes to turn back, the Dark Figure is
confident he will wind up there eventually and gives him a
magic staff to guide him to the meeting. As he presides over
the meeting, the Dark Figure claims human nature is evil and
tries to baptize Brown and his wife, Faith. He promises them
the ability to see the secret sins of others. When Brown resists,
the Dark Figure and the entire meeting disappear.
Faith
Affectionate and pure, young Faith kisses her husband
goodbye, begging him not to leave her alone for the night. She
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Young Goodman Brown Study Guide
Characters 5
Character Map
The Dark Figure
Older man; lures Brown
into the forest
Guides journey
Goody Cloyse
Pious woman
Faith
Spiritual
mentor
Brown's devoted wife
Young Goodman
Brown
Spouses
Devoted Christian man
Spiritual
role model
Spiritual leader
Minister
Deacon Gookin
Respected church elder
Main Character
Other Major Character
Minor Character
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Salem's Puritan minister;
might have something
to hide
Young Goodman Brown Study Guide
Full Character List
Plot Summary 6
The Journey
Brown takes a dark and lonely road, so deeply wooded it could
Character
Description
Young
Goodman
Brown
Young Goodman Brown is a faithful
Puritan in 17th-​century Salem,
Massachusetts.
conceal hordes of beings hiding just off the path—or even the
devil. Just past a bend in the road Brown observes the Dark
Figure seated beneath a tree. The Dark Figure tells Brown he
is late and begins walking with him. Brown shakes a bit even
though his meeting with the Dark Figure is no surprise—this
The Dark Figure
The Dark Figure is a personification
of the devil.
meeting is his intended destination. The Dark Figure is about
50 years old, and he resembles Brown's father in looks and
dress. His walking stick looks like a wriggling black serpent;
Faith
Faith is Young Goodman Brown's
wife of three months.
perhaps this is an optical illusion in the darkening woods.
Brown wants to turn back, but the Dark Figure says Brown can
Goody Cloyse
Goody Cloyse, a pious old woman,
taught Young Goodman Brown his
catechism when he was a child.
always turn back later. Brown worries he is the first of his
family to attempt such an errand and keep such company. The
Dark Figure corrects him: in fact Brown's father and
grandfather were his good friends. Brown says his relatives
Deacon Gookin
Deacon Gookin is an elder of the
Church.
never mentioned the Dark Figure and would not tolerate
wickedness, but he starts dropping the names of all his highlevel friends, including churchmen. Brown notes that powerful
Minister
The minister is the leader of Young
Goodman Brown's church and
community.
people may live by different standards; he is just a simple man.
If he keeps going on this journey, he wonders how he will ever
face his minister again. This query causes the older man to
laugh uncontrollably.
k Plot Summary
Brown still wants to turn back; he's afraid if he keeps going he'll
break Faith's heart. The Dark Figure draws his attention to the
hobbling old woman ahead in the road; it's pious mentor Goody
Young Goodman Brown Leaves
Cloyse, who taught Brown catechism or principles of the
Salem Village
Dark Figure, Brown takes a shortcut through the woods, but he
Puritan Young Goodman Brown kisses his wife, Faith, goodbye
at sunset as he sets out from Salem village on a journey. His
"aptly named" wife entreats her husband to stay home with her
"this night ... of all nights in the year." Brown says his journey
must be accomplished on this specific night before sunrise and
asks if she doubts him already, after just three months of
marriage. He tells her to say her prayers and go to sleep to
keep from being frightened. When he looks back he sees Faith
watching him walk away. He wonders if her dreams revealed
the intent of his journey, and he vows to never leave her again
after this one night.
Christian religion. Afraid Goody Cloyse will see him with the
watches the Dark Figure approach Goody Cloyse. She yells,
"The devil!" and the Dark Figure says she recognizes him. She
says yes, even though he appears as Old Goodman Brown,
Young Goodman Brown's grandfather. She complains her
broomstick was stolen and she already used the concoction
meant to make it fly, but she doesn't want to miss the meeting
at which "a nice young man" is to be inducted. Therefore, she
suggests taking the Dark Figure's arm to get there faster. He
offers his walking stick instead. Brown sees the Dark Figure
throw the serpent staff at the woman's feet, and then she is
gone.
The two men walk on; the Dark Figure is so persuasive Brown
believes it's his own idea to continue. The Dark Figure takes a
piece of new wood for his walking stick, and as he strips away
twigs and leaves, the stick dries out and ages. When Brown
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Young Goodman Brown Study Guide
sits down suddenly and refuses to proceed, the Dark Figure
Plot Summary 7
the sound.
says he will change Brown's mind and gives him the new
walking stick to help him travel faster. Then the Dark Figure
A clearing in the woods reveals a stone pulpit and a huge
disappears. Brown congratulates himself on turning away from
congregation illuminated by fire. Brown catalogs the attendees:
wickedness, relieved that now he can meet the eyes of his
council board members, church leaders, the governor's wife
spiritual leaders and pass the night with his pure and innocent
and her friends, honorable wives, widows, spinsters, virgins,
wife, Faith. When he hears horses approaching Brown hides,
Deacon Gookin, and the minister. To his surprise they are
still ashamed of his earlier plans for the evening.
joined by the least reputable people of the village, known for
their vices and crimes. Neither group avoids the other—they
Brown hears two serious voices and sees branches move as if
are united. Even Indian priests, considered the most terrifying,
people are passing on horseback, but he can't see anyone. He
are among their number. Brown doesn't see Faith and hopes
believes he recognizes the voices of the minister and Deacon
she isn't there.
Gookin. Deacon Gookin's voice says community members from
far and wide are coming to tonight's meeting, including Indians
Through a fiery arch on the pulpit, the Dark Figure calls for the
who "know almost as much deviltry as the best of us."
converts. Brown steps forward in admission of his own
Additionally "a goodly young woman" will join their ranks
wickedness. He perceives his father's ghost calling him
tonight. The minister's voice says to hurry.
forward and his mother's ghost halting him. The minister and
Deacon Gookin grab him and hurry him to the pulpit. A slender,
As the hooves clatter away Brown tries not to faint. He looks
veiled woman is brought forward. The Dark Figure details the
up, by now doubting heaven even exists, but the sky and the
crowd's sins: old men seducing young maids, wives poisoning
stars look the same as ever. He vows, "With heaven above and
their husbands, young men hastening their inheritances, and
Faith below, I will yet stand firm against the devil!"
new mothers killing their newborn babies. Brown and Faith,
now present, soon will perceive sins everywhere; the world is
A cloud passes over the stars, carrying with it voices of pious
stained with guilt. The Dark Figure says Brown and Faith relied
churchgoers and ungodly tavern patrons alike. Brown doubts
on each other in the hope of some goodness in the world but
what he hears—maybe it is all just the sounds of the forest.
now they will know better: "Evil is the nature of mankind."
Now he hears a young woman's voice begging for something.
"Faith!" Brown yells, and his cry's echoes seem to mock him.
The congregation says welcome, and the Dark Figure prepares
He listens for a reply but hears a scream. Voices get louder
a baptism. Brown and Faith tremble as they hesitate on the
again and trail off into laughter. The cloud moves into the
brink of evil; soon they will see all the sins and wretchedness
distance, and the sky is clear again. A pink ribbon flutters
around them. Brown cries out to Faith to resist.
down. "My Faith is gone!" he says. The world already belongs
to the devil.
Suddenly Brown is alone; all is quiet. The rock pulpit is cold,
and the formerly fiery branches are wet with dew.
The Meeting
Brown grabs the walking stick, which flies him down the road
until the path closes up and he is in wilderness, "still rushing
onward with the instinct that guides mortal man to evil."
Although the forest is filled with terrifying sounds, Brown is as
frightening as anything else out there. He summons all the
evildoers, saying they should fear him.
Gesturing wildly, shouting in laughter, and blaspheming, Brown
flies on through the dark forest until he sees a red light like a
bonfire. He thinks he hears church hymns, but the sounds
morph into sounds of the wilderness, and his cries are lost in
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Young Goodman Brown Returns to
Salem Village
The next morning Brown staggers back to Salem village and
sees the minister, Deacon Gookin, and Goody Cloyse at their
usual holy tasks. Faith, with her pink ribbons, runs to him
joyfully and almost kisses him in the street, but Brown walks by
sternly.
Throughout his life Brown never escapes the effects of his
experience. He hears the evil song in place of psalms, expects
the roof to cave in on all the hypocrites in church, and scowls
Young Goodman Brown Study Guide
Plot Analysis 8
at his wife and family when they pray. Although his wife,
about it, Faith is fearful of being left alone with her nightmares,
children, grandchildren, and neighbors attend his funeral,
and she is concerned that he is leaving on this night in
Young Goodman Brown's death is as miserable as his life.
particular: "Pray tarry with me this night, dear husband, of all
nights in the year." What is so worrisome about this night?
Clearly Brown and Faith know something readers do not.
c Plot Analysis
Hawthorne never explicitly states what the "journey" is about;
he simply shows events unfolding as Brown experiences them.
For his part Brown keeps the purpose of his mission secret
Historical Setting
from Faith, contributing to her "melancholy air."
Later in the story readers may infer the meeting in the clearing
The setting of "Young Goodman Brown" is Salem village, a
is a witches' Sabbath, often held on specific nights: solstices,
Puritan settlement, and not coincidentally Nathaniel
equinoxes, the eve of May Day, and All Hallows Eve. Like the
Hawthorne's birthplace and ancestral home. The story takes
rest of the 17th-century world, the Salem Puritans believed in
place around the time of the infamous witch trials of 1692, a
and feared witches. Surely a pious young Puritan couple would
dark era in American history and one in which Hawthorne's
stay in when witches are flying to their Sabbath. Hawthorne
own ancestor participated as a judge. Although Hawthorne
foreshadows that Brown will pay dearly for rejecting such
does not explicitly state a date in "Young Goodman Brown," he
wisdom; as Brown looks at his wife, Hawthorne writes,
orients the reader by saying the Dark Figure wouldn't be out of
"Methought as she spoke there was trouble in her face, as if a
place in King William's court: "He had an indescribable air of
dream had warned her what work is to be done tonight." Brown
one who knew the world, and who would not have felt abashed
thinks his wife may have premonitions of his true plans,
at the governor's dinner table or in King William's court, were it
whatever they may be. Does he set off on this journey to
possible that his affairs should call him thither." Hawthorne is
satisfy his curiosity? Does he want to prove his own goodness
referring to King William III, who ruled England, Ireland, and
to himself? Does he hope to defeat evil? Whatever he hopes to
Scotland from 1689 until his death in 1702. This is the present
gain the prospect is irresistible, but Brown already looks ahead
day in the story, and the witch trials fit within the span of those
to when his journey ends. He says of Faith, "After this one night
dates.
I'll cling to her skirts and follow her to heaven."
A generation earlier the Dark Figure helped Goodman Brown,
the protagonist's father, burn an Indian village during King
Phillip's War of 1675–76. Two generations back, the Dark
Allegory
Figure helped Old Goodman Brown, the protagonist's
With the first instance of rising action, Brown's fate is sealed,
grandfather, whip a Quaker woman in the streets of Salem,
though he does not know it yet. He has arranged a meeting
another detail taken from Hawthorne's own ancestry. The
with the Dark Figure, and keeping the appointment puts him on
Quakers arrived in Puritan territory in the 1650s. These setting
a course from which he can no longer deviate, try as he might.
details reveal not only when the story takes place but also the
Brown wants to turn around, go home, and avoid breaking
backstory of generation after generation of evil Browns.
Faith's heart as the Dark Figure exposes his affiliation with
generations of Browns and other prominent people in politics
The Problem
and the Church. Brown's illusions of Puritan piety begin to fall
away—an important theme in the story. As the Dark Figure
later says, "Evil is the nature of mankind." Hypocrisy is another
At first Young Goodman Brown's problem seems a simple one:
He must leave home for the night, and his sweet, perhaps
petulant, young wife begs him not to go. One unusual detail is
the time of his departure—why would he begin a "journey" at
important theme: Brown is disgusted by the hypocrisy of
seemingly pious Goody Cloyse, Deacon Gookin, and the
minister, but he witnesses this hypocrisy only because of the
wickedness growing within him.
sunset? Brown says he can accomplish his aim only between
sunset and sunrise. There are other odd details: Faith refers to
The story is an allegory of the devil leading man to
Brown's "journey" but neither she nor Brown is more specific
acknowledge the evil within himself and the inevitability of sin:
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Young Goodman Brown Study Guide
the Dark Figure is the devil, and Brown is the good man who
has every reason to stay good, including a devoted wife. The
serpent staff, akin to the biblical snake in the Garden of Eden,
represents the irresistible impulses or temptations in every
human's heart. Brown, the everyman, cannot help but turn the
corner on that Salem road and see what the devil has in store.
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Plot Analysis 9
Young Goodman Brown Study Guide
Plot Analysis 10
Plot Diagram
Climax
7
Falling Action
6
Rising Action
8
5
4
9
3
Resolution
2
1
Introduction
Climax
Introduction
7. The Dark Figure almost inducts Brown and Faith; they resist.
1. Brown leaves Salem at sunset on an unnamed errand.
Falling Action
Rising Action
8. Brown, suddenly alone, staggers back to Salem.
2. Brown meets the Dark Figure in the road, and they walk on.
3. The Dark Figure makes Goody Cloyse disappear with his
staff.
4. Brown overhears Deacon Gookin and the minister.
5. A cloud passes above carrying voices, including Faith's.
6. Brown flies to the meeting.
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Resolution
9. Suspicious of the pious, Brown lives sadly, dies in gloom.
Young Goodman Brown Study Guide
Plot Analysis 11
Timeline of Events
Late 1600s, dusk
Faith begs Young Goodman Brown not to leave her for
the night on his errand.
Around sunset
Brown meets the Dark Figure in the road.
Deep dusk
Brown and the Dark Figure walk and discuss the moral
standing of friends and family.
Later
The men see Goody Cloyse; the Dark Figure makes her
disappear with his serpent staff.
Minutes later
Brown refuses to continue, and the Dark Figure
disappears.
Minutes later
Brown recognizes the voices of Deacon Gookin and the
minister but cannot see them.
Later
A cloud overhead carries voices, including Faith's
lamentations.
Minutes later
Brown cries out in a loss of faith and declares the world
belongs to the devil.
Minutes later
Brown uses the Dark Figure's staff to fly through the
woods to the fiery meeting.
Later
The Dark Figure welcomes Brown and Faith to the
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Young Goodman Brown Study Guide
Plot Analysis 12
community and prepares to baptize them.
Minutes later
Brown cries out to Faith to resist.
Immediately after
Brown is suddenly alone in a clearing.
Next morning
Brown returns to Salem, suspicious of the minister,
Deacon Gookin, and Goody Cloyse.
Morning
Faith greets her husband joyfully, but he scowls and
walks off.
Remainder of life
Brown is now forever changed; he is sad, fearful, and
distrustful.
End of life
Although Brown has family and friends to mourn him, "his
dying hour was gloom."
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Young Goodman Brown Study Guide
g Quotes
"Pray tarry with me this night, dear
Quotes 13
on; but, prithee, don't kill me with
laughing.'"
— The Dark Figure
husband, of all nights in the year."
The Dark Figure cannot stop laughing when Brown compares
— Faith
himself to his ancestors, saying they could not abide
wickedness. The Brown family was not as pure and godly as
Not only is Faith concerned about being left alone for the night
Brown believes.
but also there is something unusual, perhaps dangerous, about
this particular night.
"What, my sweet, pretty wife, dost
thou doubt me already, and we but
three months married?"
— Young Goodman Brown
"With heaven above and Faith
below, I will yet stand firm against
the devil!"
— Young Goodman Brown
When he hears but does not see Deacon Gookin and the
minister, Brown doubts all he held sacred. The blue sky and
Brown is posing a question of faith to his new wife—an
important theme in the story.
stars reassure him heaven exists. Heaven and his wife's
holiness bolster him against evil.
"She's a blessed angel on earth;
"'My Faith is gone!' cried he, after
and after this one night I'll cling to
one stupefied moment. 'There is
her skirts and follow her to
no good on earth; and sin is but a
heaven."
name. Come, devil; for to thee is
this world given.'"
— Young Goodman Brown
— Young Goodman Brown
Brown is devoted to his wife, whom he considers pure and
godly, and he seems aware that he is about to do something
After Faith appears to be taken away in an ominous cloud,
unworthy of her, so he tells himself he'll be faithful to her
Brown reaches the limit of his existential crisis, acknowledging
forever after.
the inevitability of evil and the rule of the devil.
"'Ha! ha! ha!' shouted he again and
"Come witch, come wizard, come
again; then composing himself,
Indian powwow, come devil
'Well, go on, Goodman Brown, go
himself, and here comes Goodman
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Young Goodman Brown Study Guide
Brown. You may as well fear him
Symbols 14
your only happiness."
as he fear you."
— The Dark Figure
— Young Goodman Brown
The Dark Figure says Brown and Faith's love for and belief in
Brown summons all the leaders of supernatural evil; in his
emotional state, feeling evil within himself rising, they have as
much to fear from him as he does from them.
"This night it shall be granted you
to know their secret deeds ... It
shall be yours to penetrate, in
every bosom, the deep mystery of
sin, the fountain of all wicked arts,
and which inexhaustibly supplies
one another justified their belief in goodness, but in truth evil is
their true nature and will supersede love as their source of
happiness.
"And when he had lived long, and
was borne to his grave a hoary
corpse ... they carved no hopeful
verse upon his tombstone, for his
dying hour was gloom."
— Narrator
more evil impulses than human
power—than my power at its
Young Goodman Brown lives a long life of shattered beliefs,
utmost—can make manifest in
minute reconciliation with God or hope for a heavenly reward.
deeds."
without faith, and dies a gray-haired old man. He has no lastThe repercussions of his reversal of faith carry through to the
grave.
— The Dark Figure
When Brown and Faith are about to be inducted into the evil
l Symbols
congregation, the Dark Figure says they will know the secret
evildoings of all people and they will see more evil intent exists
than people can act on. Even the full power of the devil
working nonstop cannot keep up with the demands of human
The Forest
evil.
Dark, wild, and unpredictable, the forest is frequently
"Depending upon one another's
associated with fear, menace, and evil. When one stays on the
hearts, ye had still hoped that
traveled that way. On the other hand the woods are full of
virtue were not all a dream. Now
are ye undeceived. Evil is the
nature of mankind. Evil must be
path the way is clear, safe, and known; many others have
uncertainty and surprises. The farther into the wilderness one
goes, the further one is from the safety of town and neighbors.
Young Goodman Brown takes a last look at the village and the
forsaken expression on his wife's face before he turns the
corner and begins his journey into the woods: "He had taken a
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Young Goodman Brown Study Guide
Themes 15
dreary road, darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest,
disappear. Later he begins work on a new walking stick; when
which barely stood aside to let the narrow path creep through,
he touches the wood of a branch it dries out instantly, as if his
and closed immediately behind." The trees encroach ominously
touch can convey the heat of hell. The devil's serpent-shaped
and surround him, trapping him and blocking his retreat and
staff is both a symbol and an instrument of evil.
perhaps concealing enemies: "The traveller knows not who
may be concealed by the innumerable trunks and the thick
boughs overhead; so that with lonely footsteps he may yet be
passing through an unseen multitude." Even the devil could be
Pink Ribbons
hiding in the forest, Brown thinks—and then he sees the Dark
Figure.
Brown hides in the forest's gloom when he doesn't want Goody
Cloyse to see him. When he claims a tree stump and refuses to
continue with the Dark Figure, he is out in the open and
thinking clearly; he plans to return home to Faith and resume
his pious life. But when he hears riders approach Brown
conceals himself again in the treacherous woods and is pulled
back into the evil atmosphere. The supernatural events
The pink ribbons on Faith's cap stand out from the brown and
gray of Puritan attire and the austere New England landscape
and simple wooden houses of Salem. One Puritan ideal was to
purify the Church of Catholicism's gilded influence. Similarly
the New England Puritans disdained the ornate fashions
popular in Europe, believing clothing should reflect one's
station in life.
confuse and terrify him: first he hears but can't see Deacon
On the surface Faith's pink ribbons reflect her girlishness,
Gookin and the minister, and then he hears voices from the
youth, and beauty. On a deeper level the pink ribbons
speeding cloud.
represent Faith's innocence, goodness, and moral purity. Just
With his faith and his Faith lost, Brown is swallowed up by the
forest: "The road grew wilder and drearier and more faintly
traced, and vanished at length, leaving him in the heart of the
dark wilderness." When he reaches the clearing where the
meeting takes place he gains a corresponding clarity. Several
trees are on fire, and the illumination relieves the woods'
obscuring darkness. When the meeting ends Brown is alone in
the dark forest again. He returns to the order and "safety" of
his village in the light of day, but the chaos and darkness are
as Young Goodman Brown can see Faith's pink ribbons from a
distance, she represents a beacon of good faith and trust in a
moral order. Nathaniel Hawthorne has a clear purpose in
ensuring the reader identifies the ribbons with Faith. Later one
wafts down from the mysterious cloud carrying townspeople to
the meeting. Brown thinks he hears Faith's voice in the cloud,
and her presence is confirmed by the tangible proof of a pink
ribbon in his hand. All that sweetness and innocence is about
to be corrupted, and Brown is distraught.
now forever within him.
Serpent-Shaped Staff
m Themes
Disillusionment
The serpent is a symbol of evil and temptation, especially in the
context of Christianity. The devil appeared as a serpent to
tempt Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The Dark Figure's
Young Goodman Brown is first disillusioned when the Dark
staff is black, a color also associated with evil, and wriggles like
Figure reveals he was close friends with Brown's father and
a snake. Young Goodman Brown doubts his eyes, assuming it
grandfather. Then Brown observes pious Church members and
is a trick of the light until the stick moves again; the Dark
leaders proceeding to the mysterious meeting: Goody Cloyse,
Figure laughs so hard "his snake-like staff actually seemed to
who taught Brown his catechism, is revealed to be a potion-
wriggle in sympathy." The Dark Figure also uses the staff like a
mixing, broomstick-riding witch, and Deacon Gookin and the
magic wand, throwing it at Goody Cloyse's feet to make her
minister have corresponding leadership positions in an evil
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Young Goodman Brown Study Guide
Themes 16
community. Everything Brown believed about these individuals
supernaturally irresistible: "The elder traveller exhorted his
proves illusory; this discovery makes him question all aspects
companion to make good speed and persevere in the path,
of his faith.
discoursing so aptly that his arguments seemed rather to
spring up in the bosom of his auditor than to be suggested by
Brown also is disillusioned when he witnesses the close
himself." The Dark Figure so skillfully plants ideas in Brown's
association of the godly and the ungodly; first he hears them
head that Brown believes them to be his own.
laughing together on the cloud, and later he sees them rubbing
elbows at the meeting. He expects them to be mutually
Like Adam and Eve, Brown and Faith are blissful in their
repelled and disgusted, but instead they worship in communion
innocence. Nathaniel Hawthorne never states exactly what
as equals. This mixing of the godly and the ungodly is a stark
"fruit" the devil offers Brown to start The Fall, but later he
contrast to the Puritan notion of being chosen by God. As a
promises Brown and Faith that baptism will give them
Puritan, Brown was raised to believe he must live a holy life and
knowledge of good and evil, allowing them to see all their
banish sin. He might not have been startled to find non-
neighbors' sins. Brown and Faith are on the brink as Adam and
Puritans worshipping the devil, but he is shocked and
Eve once were, about to "eat the fruit"; but they're filled with
disillusioned to see Faith at the meeting. Even his pure, angelic
dread, not longing. They stop just short of the baptism, but the
wife has evil hidden somewhere in her soul.
end result is similar. Brown, instead of gaining knowledge of
good and evil, sees only evil. He is forever doomed to see
These revelations dismantle Brown's ordered Puritanical
everyone he knows as evil behind a mask of piety. His shame is
worldview. The illusions of godliness, holiness, and purity fall
for his own sinfulness; his suffering is a life without faith,
away. When Brown's disillusionment is complete and his faith
expecting the vengeance of God every minute; and his death is
lost, evil rushes to fill the void. Without his illusions Brown sees
without reconciliation.
humanity's true nature: evil and sinfulness.
Sin
Hypocrisy
Hypocrisy is a kind of lie. When someone's actions contradict
Sin is first suggested when Young Goodman Brown won't tell
professed beliefs, the actions make the words into lies. Goody
his wife where he's going or why; it's not a lie but an omission.
Cloyse, for example, the hobbling old lady who teaches
He even puts the blame on her: "Dost thou doubt me already?"
innocent children to reject Satan and all his works, flies on a
Readers never learn of his plans, but it seems he is about to
broomstick to rub elbows with criminals and worship the devil.
stray from his usual goodness; he tells himself that after this
The Dark Figure offers more extreme examples: old men
one night he will resume his pious life with his pure, faithful wife
seducing young maids, goodwives poisoning their husbands,
and be assured a place in heaven.
sons killing their fathers for money, and new mothers killing
When Brown meets the Dark Figure, the theme of sin deepens,
begging comparison between Brown's crisis of faith and the
fall of man in the Garden of Eden. The devil, taking the form of
a serpent in the garden, tempted Adam and Eve to eat fruit
from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Until that
moment they had been blissfully ignorant, their lives perfect,
but they fell to the devil's persuasion and their new knowledge
brought them shame, suffering, and death. It also brought a
legacy of original sin for the future of mankind.
The Dark Figure with his serpent staff is no less the devil than
the snake in the Garden of Eden, and he is just as
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their babies. These men and women are the upstanding,
devout pillars of the Puritan community Young Goodman
Brown has known all his life; now unmasked they're revealed to
be more sinful than he could ever have imagined. Other sinners
include widely respected local politicians and leaders. Brown is
distressed to learn of their hypocrisy, but as his faith shatters a
worse realization takes over: his own life has been a lie. He
questions his own goodness and piety and finds himself
wanting. His self-recrimination at his own hypocrisy shuts out
his remaining faith. To Brown's mind the smallest portion of evil
wipes out all goodness in the world.
Young Goodman Brown Study Guide
Motifs 17
Through the theme of hypocrisy, Hawthorne denounces his
When Brown says, "My love and my Faith ... this one night must
Puritan ancestors and Salem heritage for the wrongs done to
I tarry away from thee," he is not only physically leaving his wife
Quakers, Native Americans, and accused witches. The
for the night but also putting some distance between himself
contradiction he perceived between Puritans' pious standards
and his religious convictions. He expects "no harm will come"
and their violent behavior was reflected in many of his major
after his night away, meaning Faith will be safe and his beliefs
works.
will be intact. When he is late meeting the Dark Figure, Brown
says, "Faith kept me back awhile"; if not for his religious
devotion Brown would have experimented with evil sooner. "My
b Motifs
Faith is gone!" Brown says when his wife is whisked away on a
cloud, and then he acknowledges the world belongs to the
devil. Both his wife Faith and his spiritual faith are gone. In the
morning Faith is ready to pick up where she and her husband
Light versus Dark
left off the night before, but Brown doesn't embrace his wife or
his religion ever again.
Typically light offers clarity and safety; darkness obscures
vision and allows villains to hide in the shadows. Young
Goodman Brown leaves home at sunset, when light and
e Suggested Reading
goodness are receding. Dusk and then darkness falls, and the
woods are dense and ominous: the Dark Figure—the
Cheever, Susan. American Bloomsbury: Louisa May Alcott,
devil—appears. Is the Dark Figure's staff really a wriggling
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Nathaniel Hawthorne,
serpent, or is it a trick of the light? When Brown hears riders
and Henry David Thoreau: Their Lives, Their Loves, Their Work.
approaching, he struggles to see them in the dark. His
New York: Simon, 2006. Print.
uncertainty adds tension to the story. Are they truly invisible or
just concealed by the night?
Brown looks to the sky for reassurance, and he sees the stars,
pinpoints of light, representing the goodness of heaven; then
James, Henry. Hawthorne. New York: Harper, 1879. Print.
Marshall, Megan. The Peabody Sisters: Three Women Who
Ignited American Romanticism. Boston: Houghton, 2005. Print.
evil blots them out in the form of a cloud bearing Satan
McFarland, Philip James. Hawthorne in Concord. New York:
worshippers. It grows even darker as Brown flies into the
Grove, 2004. Print.
deepest wilds of the forest, among "black pines" heading
straight for the evil gathering. He finds "a grave and dark-clad
Wineapple, Brenda. Hawthorne: A Life. New York: Knopf, 2003.
company" in communion with the devil.
Print.
In the morning, "in the early sunshine," goodness appears to
rule once again. The pious community leaders are praying,
blessing, and teaching as usual, but now Brown is imbued with
darkness, so he perceives it all as a lie. At the end of his life
even "his dying hour was gloom."
Faith
It's not happenstance that Young Goodman Brown's wife is
named Faith; Nathaniel Hawthorne intends readers to consider
the meaning of the word at every mention of her name.
Hawthorne even says she is "aptly named."
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