Comparison between The Birthmark and Young Goodman Brown
Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of the famous American writers of the nineteenth century, whose works belong to the genre of dark romanticism. In both the stories, namely The Birthmark and Young Goodman Brown, Hawthorne portrays the protagonists as idealistic. While Young Goodman Brown analyzes various themes, such as loss of faith in religion, proximity of temptation and societal ills performed by Puritan communities, The Birthmark emphasizes on the themes of science vs. nature (Heilman; Hansen). In both the stories, the female characters are responsible for bringing out the good and bad of the male protagonists. The tales are not only ambiguous, but also puzzling and earned appraisal from …show more content…
The major theme of the story is that science can either reverse or eradicate the natural flaws with impurity. On the other hand, Young Goodman Brown is a tale that initiates Brown into the true nature of the villagers he assumes he knows and into the existence of evil (Carpenter). The common theme between both the tales is good vs. evil. In The Birthmark and Young Goodman Brown, the protagonists are faced with a conflict fall in a situation, in which they have to choose among staying virtuous or turning towards evil. In Young Goodman Brown, evil appears as a devil, taking the form of Brown’s grandfather as he commands over the Sabbath of the witch in the forest (Carpenter). On the other hand, in The Birthmark, perfection takes the form of a desire for perfection, which not only takes the life of Georgiana, but also destroys her husband as he fails to see the good characteristics of his wife. The evil portrayed in the tales suggests that it is a two-faced symbolic of man. In The Birthmark, the arrogance of Alymer provokes him to rectify all the imperfections that nature has left in his wife (Wright). In Young Goodman Brown, Brown’s arrogance inspires him to meet the devil in the forest, assuming that he is stronger enough to tackle the devil. The idealistic dreams of both the protagonists ultimately lead them to a tragic
Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of the famous American writers of the nineteenth century, whose works belong to the genre of dark romanticism. In both the stories, namely The Birthmark and Young Goodman Brown, Hawthorne portrays the protagonists as idealistic. While Young Goodman Brown analyzes various themes, such as loss of faith in religion, proximity of temptation and societal ills performed by Puritan communities, The Birthmark emphasizes on the themes of science vs. nature (Heilman; Hansen). In both the stories, the female characters are responsible for bringing out the good and bad of the male protagonists. The tales are not only ambiguous, but also puzzling and earned appraisal from …show more content…
The major theme of the story is that science can either reverse or eradicate the natural flaws with impurity. On the other hand, Young Goodman Brown is a tale that initiates Brown into the true nature of the villagers he assumes he knows and into the existence of evil (Carpenter). The common theme between both the tales is good vs. evil. In The Birthmark and Young Goodman Brown, the protagonists are faced with a conflict fall in a situation, in which they have to choose among staying virtuous or turning towards evil. In Young Goodman Brown, evil appears as a devil, taking the form of Brown’s grandfather as he commands over the Sabbath of the witch in the forest (Carpenter). On the other hand, in The Birthmark, perfection takes the form of a desire for perfection, which not only takes the life of Georgiana, but also destroys her husband as he fails to see the good characteristics of his wife. The evil portrayed in the tales suggests that it is a two-faced symbolic of man. In The Birthmark, the arrogance of Alymer provokes him to rectify all the imperfections that nature has left in his wife (Wright). In Young Goodman Brown, Brown’s arrogance inspires him to meet the devil in the forest, assuming that he is stronger enough to tackle the devil. The idealistic dreams of both the protagonists ultimately lead them to a tragic