Nathaniel Hawthorne's Puritan ancestors were directly involved in the Salem Witch Trials (not as witches, mind you). That was part of Hawthorne's past of which he was not particularly proud. As a result of the embarrassing family history, much of his literary endeavor was directed at exposing what Hawthorne perceived as the hypocrisy of
his Puritan forbears.The photo above is Salem as it looked around the time of the Witchcraft Trials (and "Young Goodman Brown").
The link provided here (just click here!) to a National Geographic interactive website on "Salem" will provide you with a riveting interactive experience from the time and place of "Young Goodman Brown." Without a time machine, this is about as an authentic visit to the historical Salem that you can get!
Enjoy, and by all means, post a response--Whether you're in English 1002 or not!
Pictured above is a famous painting of a witch being examined in the Salem trial.
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