Hawthorne Critiques Puritan Society in His Works, Young Goodman Brown and The Scarlet Letter

Nathaniel Hawthorne, in his bold novel, The Scarlet Letter tackles a variety of themes that include: sin, guilt, redemption, postfeminism, and organized religion's abuse of power. Hawthorne spoke in a somber and grim tone, designed to arouse a sense of suspense for his readers. The audience in which he was addressing would have been conservative Christians and women suffragettes, all of whom reflected the ideologies during this time period. By instilling clever diction, Hawthorne exposes hypocrisy in Puritanism and objects against the religion's superfluous punishments; which force individuals to endure unnecessary and extreme suffering.

Rummel gives an analysis of the history and development of Puritanism in New England during the 1600s. In simple words how the people had formed a society in order to reform England and separate church from government. Puritans had God as an almighty, they were known as people with strict education, solitary environment, and own beliefs such as their obsession with the devil, evil and good. Rummel states that even if Hawthorne mentions religion in his short stories most of it Puritanism, he still never recommended any particular opinion. The story is focused on Puritan elements and Hawthorne’s approach to it. Hawthorne uses religious phrases and elements that makes the reader analyze each several object, action, figure, and scenario in the story. That’s why Goodman Brown has too much conflict going on and is very detailed on what he feels and sees. The article is one great piece of information that supports the understanding of the Puritan religious mindset and Hawthorne’s attitude towards it. Of course into the interpretation of what might had happened in the story.

Young Goodman Brown is a short story where the main purpose is to show the social issue of religion during the Puritan time. Although the author Nathaniel Hawthorne had not being living in that time, he came from a long line of Puritans. He wrote Young Goodman Brown to show the flaws of the Puritans’ view of religion. They made God seem heartless and mean spirited, someone who just used humans for entertainment. The short story Young Goodman Brown demonstrates that people should test their faith of their religious beliefs and even people considered upright can fall short of their own religious faiths from temptations and imperfections. In addition, the story shows that there is some degree of evil nature in everyone because of the freewill

Young Goodman Brown is a short narrative written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Just like many of his other works, the story is set in the 17th century Puritan New England, and the author primarily addresses the puritan beliefs at the time which state that humanity exists in a state of degradation and God holds some unconditional love to humans by giving them unmerited grace. “The author mainly focuses on underlying tensions within the puritan way of life” (Jaynes, 2006). He thus uses symbolism to showcase the story of Young Goodman Brown’s journey. The main character delves deep into self-scrutiny and ends up losing his beliefs and virtue.

Nathaniel Hawthorne comes from a bloodline that is associated with the Salem witch trials in 1692. His great-great-grandfather was a puritan that took part in the executions during the witch trilas, explaining Hawthorne’s fondness with the religion. Nathaniel Hawthorne is known for his interest in the News England Puritan past. Most of Hawthorne’s writings implement the Puritan ways and faith in which most of the characters act upon or main faith is revolved around. “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Scarlet Letter” are both one of Hawthorne’s many pieces that are prime examples of the Puritan religion affecting his writing. Through the story Hawthorne uses many allegories representing Christian, but also puritan faith and many symbols relating to them also.

Hawthorne writes puritanical allegories. "The Minister's black veil" and "young goodman brown", are religious allegories where the main

Brown believes that his wife should be excluded from the meeting so she will remain pure, yet somehow believes that his presence is mandatory and gives no thought to his own purity. He believes that Faith's immediate acceptance into heaven will pull him along with her, regardless of his sinful actions. Brown's nervousness about his journey shows that he is conscious of the risks, yet he refuses the possibility of remaining home because he believes in his own ability to resist corruption, even if he does not believe in Faith's. Brown's willingness to make an exception for his own actions while refusing the same exception for Faith is one of Hawthorne's first scornful examples of hypocrisy. Similarly, Hawthorne highlights the hypocritical juxtaposition of Brown's actions during and after the ritual. When Brown discovers Faith's pink hair ribbon and realizes the Devil has taken her, he is terrified and continuously searches for her as the Devil speaks. However, upon finding her and waking up from his dream, he treats her differently because of her attendance: "Often, awaking suddenly at midnight, he shrank from the bosom of Faith; and at morning or eventide, when the family knelt down

Influenced by his Puritan background, Hawthorne focused on individuals and their relationships within their community. Works by Nathaniel Hawthorne such as The Scarlet Letter and Young Goodman Brown focus on the issues and hypocrisies of a Puritan society. Hawthorne explores the view that many fundamentalist religious groups have in regard to the alienation of members of a society who have been judged as sinful, while also uncovering the hidden evil in everyone, including the most honorable of preachers. He accomplishes this by developing plot lines, which focus on interactions of ignorant but wicked religious characters with sinful but relatable protagonists.

   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

In Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown, the conflict of man versus himself is mirrored throughout the story as the protagonist Goodman Brown struggle internally with the concept of morality. During 1690’s, a group of zealots known as ‘Puritans,’ persecuted, convicted and passed judgement of over a dozen trials of females in Salem Massacheutts that were accused of practicing witchcraft. Among these zealots, Hawthorne’s descendants were judges that were brutal in their final judgement. Similarly, Brown battles his personal demons and reality waivers in what seems to be a dream or revelation of human nature, he is left to generalize that human beings are innately flawed which is portrayed through hypocrisy of Puritanism (religion).

Frederick William Robertson once said, “There are three things in the world that deserve -- no mercy, hypocrisy, fraud, and tyranny.” Ushering in the Romantic era in literature, this quote stood as the foundation for many transcendental pessimists; Nathaniel Hawthorne was no exception. As described in The Custom House, the introduction to The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne heavily disapproves of his own extreme Puritan past and, in fact, heavily critiques it throughout the entire novel. However, while not directly, Hawthorne criticizes Puritan culture and ideals by exposing their sin in the community. He does this in a number of ways, but readers can plainly see that he chastises the Puritans by portraying them as religious extremists, intelligently

In the 1600’s, in The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne writes about a woman who committed adultery (something she could have been killed for) and battles the devil. In “Young Goodman Brown,” Hawthorne writes about a man who almost gives in to temptation with the devil, loses his faith, and becomes suspicious of everyone.

Young Goodman Brown was published in 1835 by Nathaniel Hawthorne, a man who was a descendent of the Puritans who lived in the Massachusetts Bay Colonies generations before. Hawthorne developed a fascination of Puritan culture from learning about his ancestors, but he did not want to associate himself with his family name in the world of literature as his grandfather had been a judge during the religiously biased Salem Witch trials of 1692-1693. The protagonist of Young Goodman Brown is none other than a man named Goodman Brown, whom appeared to be an average person in all aspects of his being. Furthermore the reader can infer Brown’s righteous personality from his reaction to being

The short story Young Goodman Brown reflects Nathaniel Hawthorne’s beliefs concerning the Puritan religion. During the latter half of the seventeenth century, Puritans living in England fled their home country to escape religious persecution and conformity. These individuals sought freedom; as a result, the Puritans made America their new home. Here, in the New World, Puritans created a repressive society very similar to the one they left behind in Europe. Young Goodman Brown follows Goodman Brown, the protagonist, in his journey into the forest. It is here, in the dreary woods, where Puritan hypocrisy and sin are displayed. Through his characters, Nathaniel Hawthorne reveals how evil triumphs good; he demonstrates this theme through Young

Throughout this course I have learned that many of the American literature classics have a common theme. That theme is the puritan ideology, which is the strong belief in the puritan religion, one that was a very strict form of christianity very prominent in New England during the 17th century. In this religion you are demanded to have strict morals as well as a strong faith. God comes before everything to these people and your sole pupose is to serve him. One of these classic pieces that takes on this theme is Young Goodman Brown, a short story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. This masterpiece repeadeatly takes on the theme of puritan religion in New England life.