The action of “Young Goodman Brown”, written in 1835, takes place in Puritan New England in the XVII century. Young man named Brown leaves his wife at night to meet a mysterious demonic figure in the forest, who was calling him from time to time to commit a dark ceremonial. Goodman Brown is hesitating whether to return to his young wife, but runs into a coven of townspeople, and among them is his beloved wife. When he wakes up in the morning, he cannot tell the dream from the reality. He becomes reclusive and suspects others in evil deeds for the rest of his life.

The stories and novels of Nathaniel Hawthorne about human desire for perfection have tragic outcomes: inevitable consequence of this conflict is tragic duality. In the story “Young Goodman Brown”, the main hero suddenly discovers a double nature of those people, whose behavior he believed was exemplary since childhood. Brown discovers the truth, that even people with sinless reputation in the community have their dark secrets – perhaps not actions, but sinful intentions. “Duality” of human consciousness affects the hero of the story and reflects on his own life.

Hawthorne makes his character look with a “prophetic view” on the secrets of Salem and his fellow citizens. Then it turns out that under the outer layer of modesty and piety hides the universal sinfulness. All members of the community devoted to the devil and hypocrisy and general depravity replace holiness and virtue.

The author interprets the legend about the devil in his own manner. The researches repeatedly studied the folklore origin of many works by Hawthorne. One of the critics, in particular, compared the devil’s image by Irving and Hawthorne, and came to the conclusion, that Irving humorously portrayed the devil, whereas Hawthorne made him more serious and realistic. The devil that Hawthorne created did not possess the typical folklore features, such as red eyes, hooves, horns or tail. He is similar to an ordinary man though endowed with inexplicable confidence in his own conversance.

Hawthorne constantly insists that the corruption of society is a common thing. People constantly compete with each other in the pursuit of wealth, honor, and pleasure. The laws of morality and conscience fade into the background and the person becomes a criminal and a villain. Hawthorne thinks the process of man’s demoralization is inevitable in the lifestyle the modern humanity has chosen. It can only turn a moral person into an immoral one; an honest man into a criminal.