An often overlooked theme in "Young Goodman Brown" (and in "The Minister's Black Veil," "The Birthmark," and other works) is the victimization of the female characters. For example, through no fault of her own, Goodman Brown's wife, Faith, who serves as the symbol of pure and uncomplicated Christian faith in the story, suffers not only the loss of her husband when Brown returns from his vision in the forest but also the loss of all future happiness. Brown's inability to reconcile the internal conflict created by a repressive belief system and normal human desires utterly destroys Faith's happiness for the rest of her life. An analysis of the principal women in "The Minister's Black Veil" and "The Birthmark" will uncover a similar fate.
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