Well, you have certainly put lots of thought into this! I like
your idea, but I am not entirely convinced that this story is a critique of Romanticism by making
"the woods" a dangerous place as opposed to the healing place that Romantics would consider it to
be. Key to realise about Hawthorne's style is that he writes allegorically very well, and it is
obvious that in this tale there are major allegorical references. Just consider some of the
names, for instance - Young Goodman Brown seems to be a kind of "Everyman" figure, representative
of humans who want one last "fling" with evil before being good and focussing on their faith and
religion. Note that he is married to "Faith," whose name tells us what she represents. Key to
this allegorical explanation is the fact that it is Faith that tries to argue with Goodman Brown
at the beginning of the play and asks him to not go out that night. As he leaves, Goodman Brown
reflects that he is a "wretch" to leave her behind, and says that after this one night he will
stick to her and allow her goodness to carry him to heaven:
Well, she's a blessed angel on earth; and after this one
night I'll cling to her skirts and follow her to
heaven.
This clearly establishes the
allegorical function of Faith.
Therefore you might find it more
fruitful to try and expand this analysis of this story as an allegory, thinking about what
Hawthorne is trying to say through it. Good luck!
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