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