Nathaniel hawthorne young goodman brown

Short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne

"Young Goodman Brown" is a short story published in 1835 by American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Nathaniel hawthorne young goodman brown

The story takes place in 17th-century PuritanNew England, a common setting for Hawthorne's works, and addresses the Calvinist/Puritan belief that all of humanity exists in a state of depravity, but that God has destined some to unconditional election through unmerited grace.

Hawthorne frequently focuses on the tensions within Puritan culture, yet steeps his stories in the Puritan sense of sin. In a symbolic fashion, the story follows Young Goodman Brown's journey into self-scrutiny, which results in his loss of virtue and belief.^[1]

Plot

The story begins at dusk in Salem Village, Massachusetts as young Goodman Brown leaves Faith, his wife of three months, for some unknown errand in the forest.

Faith pleads with her husband to stay with her, but he insists that the journey must be completed that night. In the f