Tuesday, September 3, 2019
The Setting of Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown Essay -- Young Goodman
ââ¬Å"Young Goodman Brownâ⬠ââ¬â the Settingà à à à à à à à à à Clarice Swisher in ââ¬Å"Nathaniel Hawthorne: a Biographyâ⬠states that ââ¬Å"critics of Nathaniel Hawthorne must deal with . . . imagery of light and darkâ⬠(13). There are more dimensions to Hawthorneââ¬â¢s setting in ââ¬Å"Young Goodman Brownâ⬠than light and dark, but these aspects do play a part. It is the purpose of this essay to explore the elements in the setting in this short story: the general locale, the historical time, the social circumstances in which the action occur, and various physical settings in the tale (Abrams 284). à The tale opens at Goodman and Faith Brownââ¬â¢s house in Salem village, a small town in Massachusetts. Regarding the dating of the story: ââ¬Å"Since three Salem women mentioned in the story, of whom two were hanged, were accused in 1692, the scene must be set somewhere before that dateâ⬠(Wagenknecht 60). In the doorway of a small house on a small street in this small town,à the protagonist is telling his wife goodbye; and she is trying to dissuade him from his planned adventure on this particular night. Most of the elements in this setting are positive, bright, hopeful: a sunset; a familiar street and home; pink ribbons on Faithââ¬â¢s cap. The atmosphere is good ââ¬â but night is soon coming. à As Goodman departs and walks down the street past the meeting-house, the environment begins to deteriorate as he turns onto a "dreary road, darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest, which barely stood aside to let the narrow path creep through, and closed immediately behind."â⬠His new setting in the woods is ââ¬Å"lonely,â⬠has ââ¬Å"solitude,â⬠and reflects Goodmanââ¬â¢s footsteps, which are ââ¬Å"lonely.â⬠His suspicion and fear grow as he reflects:à ââ¬Å""There may be a devilish Indian ... ... the general locale, the historical time, the social circumstances in which the action occur, and various physical settings for specific episodes within the tale. à WORKS CITED à Abrams, M. H. A Glossary of Literary Terms, 7th ed. New York: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1999. à Hawthorne, Nathaniel. ââ¬Å"Young Goodman Brown.â⬠1835. http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~daniel/amlit/goodman/goodmantext.html à Leavis, Q.D. ââ¬Å"Hawthorne as Poet.â⬠In Hawthorne ââ¬â A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by A.N. Kaul. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966. à Swisher, Clarice. ââ¬Å"Nathaniel Hawthorne: a Biography.â⬠In Readings on Nathaniel Hawthorne, edited by Clarice Swisher. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1996. à Wagenknecht, Edward. Nathaniel Hawthorne ââ¬â The Man, His Tales and Romances. New York: Continuum Publishing Co., 1989.
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