Characterization in Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown Essay -- Young Goo

  Ã‚  Ã‚   This essay will demonstrate the types of characters present in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s â€Å"Young Goodman Brown,† whether static or dynamic, whether flat or round, and whether protrayed through showing or telling.    R. W. B. Lewis in â€Å"The Return into Rime: Hawthorne† states: â€Å"†¦ there is always more to the world in which Hawthorne’s characters move than any one of them can see at a glance† (77). This is especially true with such flat or two-dimensional characters as are generally found in â€Å"Young Goodman Brown.† These type characters are built on a â€Å"single idea or quality† and are presented without much â€Å"individualizing detail† (Abrams 33). Faith, of course, represents or symbolizes the theological virtue of faith; Goody Cloyse, as a catechism teacher, represents â€Å"goodness†; the unnamed fellow-traveller in the woods is symbolic of â€Å"evil.† Q. D. Leavis explains this symbolic use of characters: â€Å"The first batch of works I specified [including ‘Young Goodman Brown’] is essentially dramatic, its use of language is poetic, and it is symbolic, and richly so, as is the dramatic poet’ s. . . Where the â€Å"symbol† is the thing itself, with no separable paraphrasable meaning as in an allegory: the language is directly evocative (27).    The flat character Faith is not developed like her husband; her dialogue is restricted to the opening few paragraphs. She speaks only four sentences in the entire story:    "Dearest heart," whispered she, softly and rather sadly, when her lips were close to his ear, "pr'ythee, put off your journey until sunrise, and sleep in your own bed tonight. A lone woman is troubled with such dreams and such thoughts, that she's afeard of herself, sometimes. Pray, tarry with me this night, dear husb... ...ng Goodman Brown.† 1835. http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~daniel/amlit/goodman/goodmantext.html    Kaul, A.N. â€Å"Introduction.† In Hawthorne – A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by A.N. Kaul. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966.    Leavis, Q.D. â€Å"Hawthorne as Poet.† In Hawthorne – A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by A.N. Kaul. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966.    Lewis, R. W. B. â€Å"The Return into Time: Hawthorne.† In Hawthorne – A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by A.N. Kaul. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966.    Swisher, Clarice. â€Å"Nathaniel Hawthorne: a Biography.† In Readings on Nathaniel Hawthorne, edited by Clarice Swisher. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1996.    Wagenknecht, Edward. Nathaniel Hawthorne – The Man, His Tales and Romances. New York: Continuum Publishing Co., 1989.