A Woman s Reading of Young Goodman Brown : Blaming Faith for Goodman Brown s Loss of Faith and Innocence

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1 Marissa Kleckner Dr. Pennington Engl A Literary Theory & Writing Reader Response Criticism Essay Essay Proposal 11/28/14 Reader Response Essay Overview: A Woman s Reading of Young Goodman Brown : Blaming Faith for Goodman Brown s Loss of Faith and Innocence As a woman who has taken a couple of college classes about the study of feminism and gender, I was taught and trained to read as a feminist critic in a predominantly patriarchal world. According to Stanley Fish, a well-known reader response critic, he used the term interpretive community to define a group of readers who share common beliefs that cause them to read a text in a similar way. For example, feminist critics are trained to identify and analyze gender issues, so it s likely that two feminist critics who read the same text will have similar interpretations (Pennington, Cordell, 150). Depending on one s interpretive community, one can see either Goodman Brown himself or his wife as the one to blame for his loss of faith and innocence. After reading the definition of interpretive community, considering what it meant, and talking with my professor, I realized that I would consider myself to be in the feminist interpretive community. Because I am a woman and due to my feminist beliefs, this can affect and possibly even determine how I read Hawthorne s short story of Young Goodman Brown. According to Hawthorne, it seems that Young Goodman Brown s fall of faith and innocence is a result of his

2 wife. Brown s wife Faith not only loses her pink ribbon, but also loses her faith and innocence, when she goes to the Devil s evil mass ceremony. It seems that Hawthorne is trying to make some sort of statement. For some reason he seems to be blaming Faith, for Goodman Brown s loss of faith and innocence and saying it is her fault, or at least part of the reason. When in reality, Goodman Brown s loss of faith and innocence is not his wife s fault at all, but his own. Hawthorne seems to place all of the responsibility of being faithful, pure, and innocent on the wife, or the woman, while disregarding these qualities in the husband, or the man. seems there s two ways you could do this: you could argue that depending on one s interpretive community one can see either goodman brown himself or his wife as the one at blame, or you could look at the idea of, if you think hawthorne clearly and incontrovertibly blames the wife and holds up a sexist ideal vision of woman, then as a feminist, the story goes against your ethical system and you do not have to stand by hawthorne s thematic conclusions or soemthing. it s the wayne booth ethics of fiction version of reader-response, wher eyou can part company with the author Evaluation of Thesis: I think this is a good thesis to write my paper on because it demonstrates how reader response theory aids in our understanding of literary and other textual interpretation. It analyzes the feminist interpretive community that influences the response and interpretation of the short story from the more common patriarchal interpretation. Reader Response Essay Outline: Added Introduction: Definition/Explanation of Reader Response My initial reading of Young Goodman Brown

3 Feminist Theory & Focus on Faith Topic Sentence #1: It is important to note that though Faith is one of the main characters in the story, we don t really learn about who she really is, her personality, or what she is actually like. The things the reader does learn about her is mostly through the her husband, Goodman Brown. As I reread the short story, I focused on the character of Faith as a woman character and analyzed the ways she is portrayed by the main character of Goodman Brown. Relation to Thesis: Introduction to the character of Faith. Hawthorne seems to place all of the responsibility of being faithful, pure, and innocent on the wife, or the woman, while disregarding these qualities in the husband, or the man. Character Analysis of Faith Ideal woman/wife Stereotypical roles as woman & wife Women = responsible, pure, & innocent Names: Young Goodman Brown & Faith - What they represent Issues of Faith Brown originally believes that Faith is religous & has faith in God Faith also represents Brown s faith in God The lack of concreteness to Faith s character reflect Goodman s eventual loss of sense of certainty in his spiritual faith Faith almost doesn t even seem like a real woman, much less an actual character

4 Topic Sentence # 2: Goodman Brown seems to be blaming his wife Faith for his loss of faith and innocence and saying it is her fault, or at least part of the reason. The story also parallels the story of Adam and Eve, which is ironically also known as the fall of man. It is important to note these connections because... Relation to Thesis: For some reason he seems to be blaming Faith, for Goodman Brown s loss of faith and innocence and saying it is her fault, or at least part of the reason. How & why it seems to blame Faith - Connection to Bible While I was reading, I connected the story to the story of Adam & Eve Fall of Man - story of Adam & Eve - How loss of faith & innocence is seen as the woman s fault - temptation of the woman Topic Sentence #3: Goodman Brown s loss of faith and innocence is not his wife s fault at all, but his own fault. He was the one who was curious, questioned his faith, and made his own choices. Relation to Thesis: When in reality, Goodman Brown s loss of faith and innocence is not his wife s fault at all, but his own. Brown made his own choice to go into the forest and to continue to walk with the devil Brown relies on the faith of other people, especially his wife - not very religous he cares more about his repuation Does not believe strongly in God - His belief in God is weak Pre- Conclusion: What is Hawthorne trying to say/get at? So what is Hawthorne trying to say about women?

5 Loss of faith & innocence = woman s fault Abstract of at Least 3 Outside Sources: Source 1 Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "Young Goodman Brown." Literature A Portable Anthology. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, Print. Abstract: The short story Young Goodman Brown Source 2 Cordell, Ryan and Pennington, John. "Chapter 6: Writing about Readers: Applying Reader- Response Theory." Writing about Literature through Theory. Washington, DC: Flat World Knowledge, Print. Abstract: This chapter gives an introduction and an overview of Reader Response Criticism. A reader-response critic focuses on the reader as a central figure in literary interpretation. There are five categories of Reader Response theory: textual, experiential, psychological, social, and cultural. Evaluation of Source: This is a good source for giving an overview of Reader Criticism and explaining what it is. I plan to use this source in the beginning of my essay either in the introduction or the added introduction Source 3:

6 Lawson, Benjamin S. "Young Goodman Brown." Masterplots, Fourth Edition(2010): 1-3. Literary Reference Center. Web. 28 Nov Abstract A brief synopsis and critical analysis of the short story Young Goodman Brown. This article gives a brief summary and evaluation of the short story. Evaluation of Source I like the evaluation of the story and how at times it focuses on Faith & her view of the situation. I also see the section about gender conscious readers being useful in my essay. I could see using this source when talking about Faith as a character. Source 4: Ellis, Robert P. "Young Goodman Brown." Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition (2004): 1-3. Literary Reference Center. Web. 28 Nov Abstract: A summary & analysis of the story Young Goodman Brown. It also discusses themes, meanings, style, and techniques. Evaluation of Source: I could see using this section to talk about the section about Faith. The author of the article also talks about what he thinks the story means, Hawthorne s styles, and techniques. Source 5:

7 Keil, James C. "Hawthorne's 'Young Goodman Brown': Early Nineteenth-Century And Puritan Constructions Of Gender." New England Quarterly: A Historical Review Of New England Life And Letters 69.1 (1996): MLA International Bibliography. Web. 28 Nov Abstract: This article focuses on the treatment of gender and focuses on Puritanism. It focuses on the character of Faith as a woman of the time period and Goodman Brown as a man of the time period. Evaluation of Source: This article seems like it would be a really good source. It would be helpful when talking about gender roles and when focusing on the character of Faith. Reader Response Essay Outline Friday, November 28th Read article abstract & scan outside sources & pick 4 of the better ones Pick top 3 outside sources Read 3 outside sources Copy & Paste Bibliography info websited page & fix later on Start Writing Essay Write at least 1-2 paragraphs per day Aim for at least 5 basic paragraphs Add evidence - Quotes & paraphrase from short story Add Comments & Quotes from outside sources

8 Saturday, November 29th Make a Websited Page Include short story: Young Goodman Brown Include Writing About Literature Through Theory Include 3 more outside sources Share Essay on Google Docs on Saturday, November 29th before noon Have my sister Steph read & edit my essay Have other people (Mom, Grace, Jackie, David, Brooke, & Pennington) Peer Review my paper Edit, Fix, & Revise Essay Print Out Essay Upload Drafts to WordPress Website Update my Blog Posts Make sure all caught up Start working on pages on WordPress website