Nathanial Hawthorne. "Young Goodman Brown" vs. "Giovanni Guasconti"

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1 ENGL 3060 Modern and Contemporary Literature Spring Semester 2003 Matthias M. Edrich Essay 4 February 2, 2003 Nathanial Hawthorne "Young Goodman Brown" vs. "Giovanni Guasconti" Young Goodman Brown's journey begins with his farewell to Faith, his young wife. He bids her goodbye saying that he has urgent affairs throughout the night and cautions her to stay safely at home to await his return. Hawthorne's description of Faith gives an indication as to the actual meaning of the short story and provides the reader with a perspective from which to evaluate the events. Faith's name lays the groundwork for Brown's struggle as his farewell to her comes equal to abandoning his own religious beliefs. Thus, by leaving his trusted home at such unholy time, he oversteps his boundaries of religious convictions. From that moment on, and throughout his journey, Brown tries to prove to himself that he has nevertheless not given up his faith and is more convinced than ever that he leads a proper life. The journey takes Brown into the forest and leads him to a meeting of the devil where he encounters the townsfolk which he thought were devout Christians. He discovers that all of the people he looked up to and revered were praising the devil and thereby committing sins. When he sees Faith among the crowd, the entire scene breaks up and he finds himself alone in the forest. Upon returning to his town the next morning, he becomes skeptical of the people around him and thinks in scorn of their presence at the devil's forest meeting. The night's events illustrate Brown's true belief in his religion as he condemns his neighbors and friends for being sinners and deflecting to the ranks of the devil. The direct consequence of Brown's

2 experience is this distrust which he suddenly harbors towards those who have been close to him. Hawthorne does not present whether Brown dreamt the story or not. If it had been a dream, Brown's actions would seem tragically ironic: he destroys his life without recognizing that none of what he experienced was true. However, the story would have ended in a similarly tragic and ironic way if the events had actually happened: Brown's religious convictions would have offered him no other choice but to isolate and separate himself from society. "Rappaccini's Daughter", another mysterious and tragic work by Hawthorne shows many parallels to the conflict and ambiguity displayed within the story of Goodman Brown. This time, the main character is Giovanni Guasconti, a university student who moves to the Italian city of Padua to continue his studies. He resides in an old and gloomy palace with a window overlooking a fabulously maintained garden containing flowers of which he does not know the names but whose beauty surpass what he has ever seen. Despite Giovanni's longing for his home town in southern Italy, he finds that the garden makes up for the otherwise less stimulating surroundings. Throughout the remainder of the story, this is also where nearly all events occur. Giovanni falls in love with the beauty of the vegetation in the garden but is taken aback when he discovers Rappaccini the cultivator and renowned scientist. Giovanni learns from an acquaintance that the professor has raised extremely poisonous plants which have the power to kill humans and animals alike. However, what surprises Giovanni is the way in which the professor's daughter, Beatrice, goes about handling these legumes: she caresses them, touching them as if they were harmless all the while speaking to the plants as if they were her sisters. Her character confuses Giovanni and even shocks him when he witnesses her powers: birds and insects fall prey to her deadly breath while her touches produce itching and burning sensations. From the moment Giovanni witnesses these characteristics, he is caught up in a conflict between these terrifying powers and Beatrice's youthful beauty. He does not know what to make of this unreal circumstance much in the same way as Brown, in the prior story, does not know what to make of his Christian acquaintances dancing with the Devil during the night. As a reader, one thinks of these contrasts in the

3 same way: how can Beatrice be so beautiful yet so evil? It is this duality with which Giovanni cannot come to terms. After Giovanni's and Beatrice's first meeting, they continuously see each other in the garden to talk and amuse themselves. Despite warnings by Professor Baglioni, a family friend of the Guascontis, to avoid the garden, Giovanni cannot resist Beatrice's beauty. As a result, he falls victim to the powers of the garden and becomes poisonous as well. Similarly to Young Goodman Brown's inability to accept the townsfolk around him, Giovanni is confronted with the decision of what to do with Beatrice. On one hand, she is the reason for his new and horrid powers. On the other hand, he seems to be deeply in love with her. Instead of accepting both her innocence and her special skills, Giovanni gives her a potion which, according to Baglioni, should rid her of the evil within her system. This would allow Giovanni to accept her without having to deal with her evil side. However, instead of healing Beatrice, the potion kills her: "- so radically had her earthly part been wrought upon by Rappucini's skill as poison had been life, so the power antidote was death" (Hawthorne, Rappaccini's Daughter 307). Nathaniel Hawthorne's moral to this story describes the constant of how man tries to give singular labels to everything he encounters. In cases like Giovanni's love to Beatrice, this flaw leads to the tragic ending. Giovanni should have simply accepted her for what she was thereby avoiding the tragic irony involved in his fatal decision. As mentioned earlier, and contrasted with "Young Goodman Brown", this irony appears in both stories. Brown and Giovanni both exemplify Hawthorne's moral lesson that man should learn to accept even those individuals who seem to offer conflicts within themselves. Upon having brought about the death of Beatrice, Giovanni has lost his true love and must now come to odds with his newly received powers. Similar to the way with which Brown proceeds to live in a world of distrust, Giovanni will remain in conflict between good and evil, characteristics which have become part of his life. If written by any other author apart from Hawthorne, Giovanni would possibly find a way to address his problems. However, since Hawthorne is well known for the ambiguity and mysticalness which he incorporates into his works, I believe the story will end suddenly and on a tragic note: nothing which Giovanni does will ever free him from his new destiny nor will it bring back Beatrice.

4 "The Birthmark" The devoted scientist Aylmer, in a hurried pause from his studies and experimentation, marries a beautiful young woman by the name of Georgiana. Not long after their wedding, Aylmer discovers a birthmark on his wife's otherwise perfect body. According to the scientist, this mark is a blemish which seems entirely foreign on an otherwise flawless character and individual such as Georgiana. Over time, his obsession for this "crimson hand" turns into a paranoia which he believes must be dealt with if he is to be happy with his wife. Resorting to his love of science and scientific skills, Aylmer decides to brew a potion which will relieve himself and free his wife from the seemingly threatening red mark. As the ultimate goal, he wants to prove his scientific know-how by developing his wife into the purest form of perfection. Georgiana, who has been influenced by her husband's paranoia, is enthusiastic about his decision because she, too, has learned to feel disgusted by her blemish. The resulting action turns into an experiment in which Aylmer connects his love for his wife with his lifelong love for the power of science. In the end, however, it turns out that the potion's strength proved too much for Georgiana to handle. Thus, the story ends with her tragic and fatal death incurred by Aylmer's unrelenting love for science. As both feminist writer Judith Fetterley and writers James Quinn and Ross Baldessarini point out, Hawthorne's "The Birthmark" comprises of both psychological as well as gender-determined issues. At the height of the discussion between the writers is the paranoia ascribed to Aylmer and the resulting death of his faithful wife. Fetterley on one hand denies that the psychological instability and conflict within Aylmer is the driving force of the destruction he causes his wife. Moreover, she argues that the culprit is the male gender as well as the disrespect owed to women during that period in history. As she notes in her Feminist Reading of "The Birthmark": "It is, of course, possible to read [the story] as a story of misguided idealism, a tale of the unhappy consequences of man's nevertheless worthy passion for perfecting and transcending nature" (Fetterley 313). However, according to her, this is a misinterpretation of the idea of idealism "The Birthmark" deals specifically with a "man's desire to perfect his wife" (Fetterley 313) in a way which gives the impression that this is a brilliant and noble deed. In reality, however,

5 man is absorbed only in the physical imperfections of a woman not their character or personality. He reduces the female race to an object of experimentation whose purpose lies in the sole search for and creation of pure outer perfection. We can observe this phenomenon not only in past centuries but also in today's societies: Women still must live up to certain "ideals" of appearance if they are to become successful in their careers and must suffer indescribable criticism regarding their outward physical appearances. From the moment they are born, women experience how perfection is defined by their society: for instance, seemingly perfect dimensions of toy dolls teach young girls the standards which they must mold their bodies. Often, these early childhood impressions are so severe and pervasive that women don't even recognize this false sense of idealism which has existed for centuries. Strictly seen, this early impression on an innocent, young mind comes equal to a sophisticated process of brainwashing which hinders a woman to realize the tragic values by which she must live. While women can often keep up with this standard and thus assist in passing on these ideals to their daughters, it cannot be denied that failure to meet society's expectations had lead to the demise of many. According to Fetterley, this interpretation of idealism displays the "sexual politics of idealization and a brilliant exposure of the mechanisms whereby hatred can be disguised as love, neurosis can be disguised as science, murder can be disguised as idealism, and success can be disguised as failure." (Fetterley 313) James Quinn and Ross Baldessarini on the other hand do not specifically mention the issue of gender in their analysis of "The Birthmark". Moreover, they observe the psychologically determined scenario created by a twisted and neurotic Aylmer. His love for science as well as the simultaneous adoration for his wife have torn him apart. Thus, ever since his marriage, Aylmer must bring balance between his life-long pursuit of scientific excellence and the love he feels for Georgiana. The result leads to his obsession with the imperfection of human life. He experiences an increasing need to evaluate his wife and becomes paranoid with her only blemish, the birthmark, which he believes hinders her from attaining pure perfection. Quinn and Baldessarini attribute this obsession to what modern day psychology calls "obsessive-compulsive neurosis" (Quinn 315). Aylmer deals with his inner conflicts in a why which is typical for someone with this condition: he tries "to use external objects for the solution or relief of [his] inner

6 conflicts" (Quinn 315). Aylmer becomes so obsessed with the idea of perfection that his efforts have the opposite effects: "imperfection and destruction" (Quinn 316). Not only does he destroy Georgiana's self-respect, but he also leads her towards her tragic death. Further, it is Aylmer's inability to accept Georgiana the way she is, which influences not only her character but also her persuasions. She demonstrates this towards the end of the story when she states that she now hates her birthmark even more than her husband does. This comes as a surprise as she had not been critical of it before he had mentioned the mark. Finally, her faith and admiration for her husband makes her blind towards the fatal end. As is the case with Young Goodman Brown, the tragic infested within Aylmer is this inability, prompted by the obsessive neurosis, to combine and accept both good and bad. Several of Hawthorne's works emphasize this tragic vision and irony. Giovanni, for instance, cannot come to terms with the duality of Beatrice which leads to an inevitable conflict. Brown will not accept the love of his wife since he has difficulties accepting that she may not be a perfect Christian. "The Birthmark" further displays many other scenes and styles which are typical for Hawthorne's works. Among these are the mysticalness as well as the detailed description of each setting. The way he describes Aylmer's laboratory thus invokes a feeling of suspense and awe as well as ambiguity. "The scene around her looked like enchantment [...] not unfit to be the abode of a lovely woman. [...] in might be a pavilion among the clouds" (Hawthorn, The Birthmark 281). No less mystical is Georgiana's recount of Aylmer's actual workroom: the furnace, "that hot and feverish worker"(hawthorne, The Birthmark 285) which seemed to have been burning for ages; the various scientific devices of which we do not know their purposes; the gaseous odors. Furthermore, the story exhibits Hawthorne's "NO! in thunder" (Melville 312). Both Aylmer as well as Georgiana stand firm on what they want regardless of whether it will bring them harm. They have more or less made up their minds independently and follow the path they have set for themselves. Neither can affect the other's wish to do so.

7 Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "Young Goodman Brown" The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Michael Meyer. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, "The Birthmark" The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Michael Meyer. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, "Rappaccini's Daughter" The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Michael Meyer. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, Fetterley, Judith. "Feminist Reading of 'The Birthmark'" The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Michael Meyer. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, Quinn, James & Baldessarini, Ross. "A Psychological Reading of 'The Birthmark'" The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Michael Meyer. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, Melville, Herman. "On Nathaniel Hawthorne's Tragic Vision" The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Michael Meyer. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's,