Does "Young Goodman Brown" positively or negatively critique Puritanism?

The story presents a negative critique of Puritanism. Hawthorne shows the Puritans as people who present themselves as pious, sinless, and God-fearing, and yet they are actually quite sinful. The Devil tells Goodman Brown that he has a good relationship with a great many people in town, including church leaders, and even the governor. Soon, Goodman Brown "recognized a very pious and exemplary dame, who had taught him his catechism in youth, and was still his moral and spiritual adviser . . ." Her name is Goody Cloyse, and she clearly has a good relationship with the Devil, calling him "'your worship'" and accepting his staff to help her walk through the woods. Goodman Brown is shocked. Soon after, "he could have sworn . . . that he recognized the voices of the minister and Deacon Gookin, jogging alone quietly . . ." The deacon is heard to say that he is looking forward to tonight's meeting in the woods because so many people are coming, including "'several of the Indian powows, who, after their fashion, know almost as much deviltry as the best of us.'" Thus, Goodman Brown learns that the people in the Puritan village who seem most sinless are actually sinners.

Even Brown's own family is implicated. His father and grandfather never seemed like terrible sinners to him, and yet, the Devil tells him,

"I helped your grandfather, the constable, when he lashed the Quaker woman so smartly through the streets of Salem. And it was I that brought your father a pitch-pine knot, kindled at my own hearth, to set fire to an Indian village, in king Philip's war. They were my good friends, both; and many a pleasant walk have we had along this path, and returned merrily after midnight. I would fain be friends with you, for their sake."

Thus, he learns that even his own family members had good relationships with the Devil and embraced him, accepted help from him, and considered themselves to be friends with him. When Goodman Brown reaches the witches' meeting, he sees many more people, people he's always known to be upstanding and righteous, there.

But, irreverently consorting with these grave, reputable, and pious people, these elders of the church, these chaste dames and dewy virgins, there were men of dissolute lives and women of spotted fame, wretches given over to all mean and filthy vice, and suspected even of horrid crimes. It was strange to see, that the good shrank not from the wicked, nor were the sinners abashed by the saints.

Despite their appearance in town, during the light of day, and even at Sunday services, the Puritans are depicted as being not so "pure." Of course, everyone sins—this is one of Hawthorne's favorite themes across his writings—however, most everyone lies about it, pretending to be sinless and thereby adding another sin to their account. The Puritans, Hawthorne seems to say, were some of the worst on this score: they affected piety and sinlessness, but they were actually as—if not more—sinful than any other group.

Does "Young Goodman Brown" positively or negatively critique Puritanism?

I don't think the story is about Puritanism; it's a coming of age story for a young man who, despite being supported and sheltered by his "faith/Faith" for years, must journey into the world of imperfection/sin.  After all, we are never sure that anything in the story happened, other than the fact that he entered the forest one evening and work up there in the morning.  The story is about how he reacts to what he thinks he knows about the people of his village.  He finds out that they are not as perfect as he always thought they were (or so it seems IF it weren't all a dream), and is destroyed by their failure to live up to his ideal of them.    

I think Brown would have been destroyed by this "knowledge" in a Puritan society or any society.  

 "The enemy of the good is the perfect."

What is the significance of Puritan mores in the culture of "Young Goodman Brown"?

"Mores" refers to acquired customs and manners, and thus a society can have many different kinds of mores. For the Puritans, especially, all unwritten, tacit, rules as well as laws had a great deal in common. In their world, the civil (legal) and the ecclesiastical (religious) were the same, and one's adherence to religious mores was often the same as adhering to social mores as well. In other words, if you properly observed all religious rules, then you were likely also in observance of the community's social rules. You could not be a well-respected member of society, with a good reputation and prospects, unless you were believed to be a spiritually righteous individual.

Furthermore, reputation was terribly important to them as well, and the only way to maintain a positive reputation was to obey all social and religious mores. If you were willing to break one commandment, then who's to say you would not break the other nine? This sinfulness made the rule-breaker a danger and a liability, someone whose licentious behavior could put the entire colony at stake (or so they believed). Thus, such mores were incredibly important to maintaining conformity in their society, and they believed that a great deal more than lawfulness rode on this conformity: the Puritans believed that, without a uniform adherence to all such rules, their souls were at stake.

What were the beliefs and purposes of the Puritans in "Young Goodman Brown"?

The term “Puritan” was originally used as a term to mock deeply committed Protestants who wanted to “purify” the Church of England and move its theology further away from the theology of Roman Catholicism. One reason that so many “Puritans” emigrated from England to New England was that so many people in England found Puritanism difficult to accept. Puritans were strongly influenced by the teachings of the Protestant theologian Jean (or John) Calvin. Calvin taught that a person’s salvation was entirely dependent on God’s grace. There was (he believed) no way to “earn” salvation by doing good deeds or being a “good person.” Only God could decide who would be saved from hell, and since God knows everything that happens at all times, including the future, God knows who will ultimately be saved. The minority of people who will be saved are the “elect” (the chosen). Puritans often believed, after examining their consciences, that there were among the “elect.” Many of them, however, were never entirely sure that they were among this chosen group, although they hoped that they would be. Puritanism thus encouraged a great deal of individual psychological self-examination, and in fact many scholars believe that the rise of Calvinism helped encourage the outburst of autobiographical writing that occurred throughout the seventeenth century.

Puritanism could encourage a sense of superiority in some Puritans.  Puritan beliefs could lead some Puritans to assume that they were among the elect while most other persons were not. Anyone who resisted Puritan doctrines (especially Roman Catholics or conservative Anglicans) might well be among those destined for damnation.  After all, Puritans believed that if God had chosen a person to be saved, that person was more likely than others to be good and to do good.  (Being good and doing good could not obligate an all-powerful God to grant a person salvation, but persons chosen for salvation were likely to be good and do good.) Opponents of Puritanism often considered Puritans to be “holier-than-thou.” They often regarded Puritans as smug and egotistical, and they also often considered Puritans to be hypocrites. Opponents of Puritans believed that Puritans were intolerant and extremely self-assured. In short, opponents of Puritans often felt that Puritans were guilty of spiritual and intellectual pride – an extremely serious failing in any Christian. Opponents of the Puritans oftend considered Puritans to be, in the words of Satan in Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown,"

"more conscious of the secret guilt of others, both in deed and thought, than they could now be of their own."

Of course, not all Puritans deserved the criticism they received from their opponents, but the idea that Puritans were proud, self-righteous hypocrites arose early and lasted long.

What is the problem with the Puritans' morality in "Young Goodman Brown"?

The problem with the Puritans' morality in this story is that they are total hypocrites.  The Devil says to young Goodman Brown, "'I have been as well acquainted with your family as with every a one among the Puritans; and that's no trifle to say.'"  He claims that he helped Brown's grandfather whip a Quaker woman in the street, and that he gave Brown's father a bit of fire with which to set fire to an Indian village.  Moreover, the Devil says that he is just as well acquainted with all the other Puritans as he was with Brown's forebears.  Thus, even though they always seemed pious and God-fearing to Brown, it is now made clear that they only appeared that way but were actually sinful and vicious.

Further, on the path in the woods, Brown sees the Devil speak with Goody Cloyse, the pious old woman who'd taught him catechism.  It turns out that she's good friends with the Devil.  He later sees the deacon and the minister, and they know the Devil well too.  Then, when Brown gets to the witches' Sabbath, he sees infamous sinners sitting with those people known in Salem for their "especial sanctity."  Therefore, the problem with the Puritans' morality is that none of them are, in fact, truly moral.  They all pretend to be righteous and pious, but it turns out that all these people who seem to be so good are really terrible sinners who delight in their sinfulness.