Chrysanthemums and Young Goodman Brown Nathaniel Hawthorne\'s

Chrysanthemums and Young Goodman Brown

Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1835 short story "Young Goodman Brown" and John Steinbeck's 1938 short story "The Chrysantemums" both deal with female purity and with how it can be easily tainted by temptation. Faith, the protagonist's wife in "Young Goodman Brown" is initially shown advising the main character against performing immoralities. Similarly, Elisa, the central character in "The Chrysantemums," is presented in the first part of the story as an innocent country woman that is solely interested in her gardening. It is very probable that the two authors used women and their frailty as a main concept in their stories with the purpose of emphasizing more general ideas related to society and to how it can be influenced by matters that are seemingly unthreatening. Both women are somewhat stereotypical characters resembling women in the 1830s, and, respectively, in the 1930s.

Even though Hawthorne's story is meant to reference religious principles, the fact that he uses Faith's character in order to do this makes it possible for people to understand more regarding the general position of women in the first half of the nineteenth century. Goodman Brown underestimates his wife by considering that she is not capable of acting against his will. He does not hesitate to leave her at night in spite of the fact that she advises against this and he appears to be more interested in accomplishing his objectives. The man practically believes that there is nothing wrong with him going out at night in order to engage in unethical activities, but cannot help thinking about his wife's purity in his journey through the forest. Hawthorne supports this belief through the overall context of the story, considering that he portrays Faith as being the individual responsible for the fact that Brown losses his trust in society as a whole. Even with the fact that Brown is responsible for his wife's behavior, the writer concentrates on displaying the man as a person whom the world betrayed.

Steinbeck presents a married couple that is governed by society's discriminatory beliefs regarding women. Henry, Elisa's husband, is a thriving man that makes a living out of raising and selling steer. He is responsible for running errands in town and for providing for his middle-aged loyal wife. Similar to Faith, Elisa does not venture in town and is attracted at the lifestyle of the rugged man that she encounters at her house. While she does not initially express any interest in him, he rapidly finds a way to her heart and demonstrates that she is less powerful than she seems in the beginning. Henry lives a busy life that Elisa longs for, and, along, with the rugged man, he contrasts Elisa, both when considering the fact that they are less intelligent and when considering their ability to do many things that she cannot do.

Faith is initially shown as being a childlike individual who is not capable to commit any immoral activities. From the very moment when readers become acquainted with the name of Brown's wife, they are likely to form an opinion about her. The fact that she is actively involved in changing Brown's personality further contributes to this conception, as she is presented as a person who only wants those around her to be faithful. Hawthorne describes her as being pretty, saintly, sweet, and as virtually having every attribute that people would expect from a woman living in the 1830s. Also, she is a good wife that listens to her husband and that is only interested in the man's well-being. Brown himself has trouble leaving his wife at the time when they are separated and actually claims that he is determined to act in accordance with her angelic character consequent to spending one more time doing something that is apparently against moral laws.

Elisa is relatively similar to Faith, but Steinbeck concentrates more on her feelings and on how she acknowledges the fact that she is discriminated. The fact that Elisa grows flowers contributes to her general image of a pure person that cannot possibly commit any immoralities. She adores her husband and is sympathetic regarding his ability to perform business. However, her need for more cannot be satisfied and she constantly expresses special interest in whoever visits her house. In spite of respecting his wife, Henry does not consider her to be his equal and this is exemplified through the fact that he provides her with little to no information concerning what goes on in the outside world.

Faith is meant to represent more than just women in the nineteenth century, as her personality is representative for the sanctity of the household and for the general Puritan community at the time. Brown seemingly considers her to be even more than that as he believes her to be one of the strongest factors that could assist him in abandoning his habit of going out at night. From his perspective, her purity makes it possible for him to employ all of his powers in trying to overcome his demons. The man in the forest influences Brown (and readers) in changing their point-of-view regarding people, considering that it is meant to demonstrate that everyone can commit immoralities, regardless of their apparent innocence. This means that Faith too is liable to be impure, even with the fact that she stands as the most uncorrupted individual that Brown has ever come across.

Similar to Brown, Henry's understanding of his wife makes it impossible for him to consider her as being more than the naive and innocent individual that he perceives her to be. The man who visits the house employs a comparable authoritarian attitude toward Elisa as he underestimates her. In contrast to Hawthorne, however, Steinbeck is concerned about satirizing his contemporary society and constantly emphasizes Elisa's superior intellect through showing that both Henry and the rugged man are limited and generally unable to understand the way that she thinks (even if they are certain that they do). The writer is interested in having his readers acknowledge that there is no place for an intelligent and competent woman in society during the 1930s.

Not only does Hawthorne prove that Faith is less innocent than she initially seemed, as he apparently wants to show that women are generally predisposed to fall victim to the devil. It is difficult to determine whether Brown is guilty for having influenced his wife in following him or whether he is guilty because he did not stay home to protect her from employing immoral behavior.