Romanticism describes an 18th century genre of writing. Hawthorne embodies the Romantic writer through his interest in the supernatural. Nathaniel Hawthorne's “Young Goodman Brown” depicts Romantic characteristics of writing through the topics of distrust of civilization, emphasis on the individual, and concern for hidden truth.
Hawthorne emphasizes Romantic characteristics through Brown’s distrust of the surrounding civilization. Brown escapes civilization by fleeing into the woods. After Brown escapes the town, he has an epiphany that “people are evil by nature ” (“Young Goodman Brown” 298). This detail adds to Hawthorne’s idea that civilization corrupts the individual. In explanation, while talking to the Devil, Brown understands that all …show more content…
In particular, Hawthorne declares that the individual is at the center of all life and experience. An anonymous critic asserts that “evil can take other forms as well” (“Young Goodman Brown” 298). Therefore, the individual understands the different forms of wickedness. Different forms of evilness include killing, adultery, lying, blasphemy, stealing, etc. The world contains many shades of color, and Goodman Brown perceives the different shades of evil when he realizes that his neighbors betray him by lying during the day. In contrast, Romantics concern themselves with depicting the innocent. Hawthorne recognizes the innocence of Faith Brown through “those celebrated pink ribbons on Faith’s cap” (Levy 116). Pink mixes the colors of red and white. Commonly, in literature, red represents temptation; white represents virtue. The two colors combined represent a deadly combination of “pure and poisonous, saint and sinner” (Levy 116). Faith represents the mixture of Goodman Brown. Brown must circumvent in order to overcome the influence of the Witches’ gathering. When Brown enters the gathering, he is innocent, yet he is also a sinner because he chooses to leave his virtuous life to see the Devil. In addition, Hawthorne chooses to focus on the senses in order to further emphasize the individual. Brown describes hearing “hoofs clatter . . . and voices, talking so strangely in the empty air” (Hawthorne 5).
Hawthorne emphasizes Romantic characteristics through Brown’s distrust of the surrounding civilization. Brown escapes civilization by fleeing into the woods. After Brown escapes the town, he has an epiphany that “people are evil by nature ” (“Young Goodman Brown” 298). This detail adds to Hawthorne’s idea that civilization corrupts the individual. In explanation, while talking to the Devil, Brown understands that all …show more content…
In particular, Hawthorne declares that the individual is at the center of all life and experience. An anonymous critic asserts that “evil can take other forms as well” (“Young Goodman Brown” 298). Therefore, the individual understands the different forms of wickedness. Different forms of evilness include killing, adultery, lying, blasphemy, stealing, etc. The world contains many shades of color, and Goodman Brown perceives the different shades of evil when he realizes that his neighbors betray him by lying during the day. In contrast, Romantics concern themselves with depicting the innocent. Hawthorne recognizes the innocence of Faith Brown through “those celebrated pink ribbons on Faith’s cap” (Levy 116). Pink mixes the colors of red and white. Commonly, in literature, red represents temptation; white represents virtue. The two colors combined represent a deadly combination of “pure and poisonous, saint and sinner” (Levy 116). Faith represents the mixture of Goodman Brown. Brown must circumvent in order to overcome the influence of the Witches’ gathering. When Brown enters the gathering, he is innocent, yet he is also a sinner because he chooses to leave his virtuous life to see the Devil. In addition, Hawthorne chooses to focus on the senses in order to further emphasize the individual. Brown describes hearing “hoofs clatter . . . and voices, talking so strangely in the empty air” (Hawthorne 5).