Goodman’s Mental Crisis - An Analysis of Young Goodman Brown from the Perspective of Freud’s Psychoanalytic Criticism

Abstract

Under the guidance of Freud’s psychoanalytic Criticism, this paper offers a reinterpretation of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story
Young Goodman Brown. By analyzing Freud’s concept of “original sin”, it points out that evil is inherent in human instincts. It is the very instinct that triggers the entire story. Applying Freud’s structural model of the psyche, this paper will delve into the protagonist’s inner struggle
and the gradual collapse of his faith, revealing that the protagonist’s suffering stems from the intense conflict between his id, ego, and superego, as well as the collapse of his ego ideal, leading to a personality disorder.