THE FORMALISTIC APPROACH TO

LITERATURE…and to Young Goodman Brown

What is the Formalistic Approach?

…what is formalism?

Formalism

The term formalism describes an emphasis on

form over content or meaning in the arts,

literature, or philosophy.

A practitioner of formalism is called a formalist. ...

Formalism/New Criticism

The formalist movement began in England with the

publication of I.A. Richards’ Practical Criticism (1929).

American critics (such as John Crowe Ransom, Robert

Penn Warren, and Cleanth Brooks) adapted formalism

and termed their adaptation “New Criticism.”

So the Formalistic Approach is…

A critical approach that analyzes, interprets, or

evaluates the inherent features of a text. These

features include not only grammar and syntax but

also literary devices such as meter and tropes.

Formalism

Has the advantage of forcing writers to evaluate

a work on its own terms rather than to rely on

“accepted” notions of the writer’s work

Works best when applied to poetry and short

fiction.

Formalism

Attempts to discover meaning by close reading of a work of

literature. Focus is on:

Form, organization, and structure

Word choice and language

Multiple meanings

Considers the work in isolation, disregarding author’s intent,

author’s background, context, and anything else outside of the

work itself.

The Formalistic Approach DOES NOT look at…

The name of the author.

The nationality or era of the composition.

The speakers background, or biographical

information.

Whether or not the author the had adapted this work

from a past experience.

A formalist does not look at the

who, what, when, where or why…

They look at the how

Formalistic Approach Summary

The object of formalistic criticism is to find the key to the structure

and meaning of the literary work

We search for form which is necessary for real understanding

A unifying pattern is the pattern that as modern critics say, informs or

shapes the work inwardly and gives its parts a relevance to the

whole

We must narrow our attention to what the literary work says but we

must first consider how it is said

Formalistic Approach Summary

Suggests that the reader see what is in the poem, novel, or

the play rather than to consider what is outside it.

First step in explaining the literary work is to discover

what the words actually mean in their full denotative and

connotative value.

Principle by which content and form inseparable—

○ Imagery, tone, meters, rhymes, etc

Formalism/New Criticism

New Criticism varied from formalism in that New Criticism

focuses on image, symbol, and meaning. Traditional

formalists often attacked New Critics for their lack of attention

to the form of the work.

Seminal works on New Criticism include John Crowe

Ransom’s The New Criticism (1941) and Cleanth Brooks’ The

Well Wrought Urn (1947).

Impact of Formalism

Today, few critics adhere only to the

formalist or New Criticism theory.

However, its back-to-the-basics approach

pervades many other critical theories.

Young Goodman Brown…and how to view it via the formalistic approach…

In Nathaniel Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown, there

are numerous formalistic approach concepts. This

method to reading, which is one of the most common,

has three main points: symbolism, allegory, and allusion.

Even though these main points are most prominent, there

are other points such as, ambiguity, and organic form.

Ambiguity in YGB

Ambiguity Allows for two or more

simultaneous interpretations of a word,

phrase, action, or situation, all of which

can be supported by the context of a

work.

Ambiguity in YGB

Deliberate ambiguity can contribute to the

effectiveness and richness of a work, for

example, in the open-ended conclusion to

Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown."

However, unintentional ambiguity obscures

meaning and can confuse readers.

Are they emblematic of love, of innocence, of good?

Conversely, do they suggest evil or hypocrisy, or the ambiguous and puzzling blend of good and evil?

What is the meaning behind the pink ribbons?

Does Goodman Brown lose Faith or faith?

Faith vs. faith

Allegory in Young Goodman Brown

The story Young Goodman is allegorical,

meaning that the characters and objects

in the story represent abstract ideas.

Allegory and Faith

In Young Goodman Brown, we have

Brown’s wife Faith and the spiritual faith

which contribute to the ambiguity of the

short story.

Allegory and faith

If the tale is allegorical, for example, it may be that

Goodman Brown gained his faith three months

before the action of the story, when he and Faith

were married. The allegory may further suggest

that Goodman Brown shortly loses his new faith,

for “he shrank from the bosom of Faith”

Allegory in YGB

Allegory is difficult to maintain, often requiring a

rigid one-to-one equivalence between the

surface meaning and a “higher” meaning. Thus if

Faith is faith, and Goodman Brown loses the

latter, how do we explain that faith remains with

him and even outlives him?

Allegory in YGB

Strict allegory would require that she disappear,

perhaps even vanish in that dark cloud from which

the pink ribbon apparently falls. On the other

hand, a pattern of symbolism centering on Faith is

easier to handle, and may help by offering more

pervasive, and more subtle interweaving ideas.

Symbolism - Faith

Goodman Brown's wife, Faith, symbolizes

Brown's spiritual faith. When he sees her

in the forest at the witches' sabbath, he

realizes he is in danger of losing not only

his wife but also his spiritual faith. 

Symbolism and The Forest as Eden

Symbolism – The Forest as Eden

Goodman Brown appears to represent human

beings confronted with temptation–that is, he

wishes to enter the dark forest of sin, so to

speak, to satisfy his curiosity about the

happenings there and perhaps even to take part

in them.

Symbolism – The Forest as Eden

The man who meets Brown in the forest appears to

represent the devil; his staff is a symbol of the devil as a

serpent. Thus, we have Adam (Brown, curious to learn

forbidden knowledge) facing the serpent in the Garden of

Eden. It was, of course, a tree—the Tree of Knowledge—

that enticed Adam. Goodman Brown is enticed by an entire

forest. Like Adam, he suffers a great fall from innocence.

Symbolism – The Forest as Eden

Faith appears to represent Brown’s religious faith and his faith in others; her pink

ribbons stand for innocence. But when she also appears at the witches' sabbath

—apparently, like Eve, desiring forbidden knowledge—she too loses her

innocence. At the last moment before his and his wife's baptism into the evil

society gathered in the forest, Brown urges his wife: "Look up to Heaven, and

resist the Wicked One." He then finds himself alone in the forest, wondering

whether he has awakened from a dream or really did attend the witches' sabbath.

But the damage is done, and he becomes "a stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a

distrustful, if not a desperate man." 

Goodman: Husband or master of a household.

Goody: (1) Housewife, especially an elderly one, of a lower class; (2) any lower-class woman; (3) housewife or mistress of a household.

King William (Paragraph 13): William III, king of England from 1689 to 1702.

Wot'st: (Paragraph 15): Know.

King Philip (Paragraph 18): Nickname of the Wampanoag Indian chief Metacom (or Metacomet). Maltreatment of Indians by whites provoked him into waging what came to be known as King Philip's War against New Englanders in 1675-1676. His defiance instilled fear in the white inhabitants of New England. 

Allusions within Young Goodman Brown

Lecture-Day (Paragraph 21): Weekday on which a sermon was given.

E'en Go Thy Ways (Paragraph 25): Just (righteous) be thy ways.

Cinquefoil (Paragraph 32): Flowering plant of the rose family that has white, red, or yellow petals.

Wolf's Bane (Paragraph 32): Wolfsbane, a poisonous plant.

Devil's Staff (Paragraph 36): The narrator says, "So saying, he threw it [the staff] down at her feet, where, perhaps, it assumed life, being one of the rods which its owner had formerly lent to the Egyptian magi." This passage alludes to verses 8-12 in Chapter 7 of the Bible's Book of Exodus. According to these verses, God directs Moses to tell Aaron, his brother, to cast down his staff before the throne of the pharaoh of Egypt. When he does so, it transforms itself into a serpent. The pharaoh's magicians (magi) then cast down their staffs, which in like manner turned into serpents. However, Aaron's staff consumes the staffs of the magicians. 

Allusions within Young Goodman Brown

One characteristic we must look at when analyzing Young Goodman Brown is form; the structure or style of a text.

Young Goodman Brown - Form

A short story like YGB, as opposed to a long novel, is

structured in such a way that there are a few notable

characters and only one major situation.

As a result, a short story like YGB reaches its climax

and solution and thus quickly comes to an end.

A short story is restricted in scope, like a news story,

but unlike the news story, the short story possess the

balance and design-the polish and finish, the

completeness which we associate with the work of art.

In brief, like any other imaginative literary work, the

short story possesses form.

Young Goodman Brown - Form

Organic Form

The organic form has two parts: The local textureThe logical structure.

Local Texture

The local texture is the comparison that is

made between things. A comparison in this

story would be the description of red fire and

a man who is mean and controlling. A

comparison can be made to the devil and hell.

Logical Structure

The logical structure of this story is a young man that has a wife,

who ironically is named Faith, goes out one night on a journey. His

wife begs him not to go but he does anyway. On his journey he

encounters the devil, and because of this devil he loses his wife

Faith, and his own faith. When he comes back from his journey he

is a changed man for the worst, in a sense that he treats everyone

as a sinner, and forever treats people with disgust.

If you use your prior knowledge of Puritans you would or

should have come to the conclusion that this would be a

stereotypical story where the protagonist (Goodman) would

be tempted by the devil or some evil creature that somehow

makes the faithful protagonist lose their faith and then

somehow regain it. However as this story progresses it is

shown that this was not the case.

Virtues and Vices