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   teacherscribe Teacher
   High School - 12th Grade

   eNotes Editor

   I have never really thought of Young Goodman Brown as such, but when I think about it, he does share some qualities of the romantic hero (see the first link below).

   Brown enters the wilderness to test his faith.  The Romantics valued the wilderness and saw it as a place to test themselves (think of Thoreau here) and tap into the power of nature.  They rebelled against the order and structure of the cities.  Certainly, when Brown leaves Salem, he is leaving the order and structure of the traditional world behind.

   The whole black mass could be a dream.  As the link states, the Romantic Hero often suffers from hallucinations.  Brown's experience in the woods fits that quite well.

   Also the Romantic Hero is a man of extremes.  Brown, in the beginning of the story, is extremely religious.  In typical Puritan fashion, he believes he (and his wife) is destined for heaven.  However, as he ventures deeper into the forest, and his faith is in doubt, he certainly becomes obsessed with his rage and goes to the opposite extreme, raging through the wilderness, challenging all things evil to stop him.

   Finally, the Romantic Hero is often seems to suffer from melancholy.  This fits perfectly with the story's resolution, where Brown ultimately dies a very bitter and sad man.

   Sources:

   http://global.cscc.edu/engl/265/RomanticHeroLex.htm

   http://www.enotes.com/young-goodman

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   Posted by teacherscribe on Wednesday November 26, 2008 at 8:13 PM