As aforementioned women were seen as pure; the thought of a female committing adultery and leaving her husband was unheard of. It could also be describing the "faith" that her husband has in her. The following quotation demonstrates how Goodman Brown looks to his wife as if she were a flower that would wilt if he left her side. "My Love and My Faith, of all nights in the year, this one night must I tarry away from thee" (Hawthorne 288). This quotation exemplifies how women were portrayed as fragile. However, these were not the only generalizations about women that Hawthorne touched upon. A woman was also thought to have an heir of innocence about her. Nathaniel Hawthorne used "pink ribbons" as a symbol to portray this characteristic throughout the entirety of the story. Within the second sentence of the story these elusive ribbons appear, "And Faith, as the wife was aptly named, thrust her own pretty head into the street, letting the wind play with the pink ribbons of her cap while she called to Goodman Brown" (Hawthorne 287). The image of pink ribbons forces one to think of a little girl with pigtails playing with her dolls in the backyard. This innocence comes with a sweet and caring stigma. Another quotation from the text reinstates this sweet innocence. "Then God Bless you, said Faith, with the pink ribbons; and may you find all well when you come back" (Hawthorne 288). This gives the reader the image of a woman with a soft voice and a pure heart bidding her husband farewell. The previous quotation leads into the next stereotype that women were titled with, which was a soft and gentle voice. Although women very seldom spoke, when they did their voices were to have an almost calming effect on whom ever they may be talking with. Just as Goodman Brown is leaving his wife to venture into the woods she called to him, "Dearest heart, whispered she, softly and rather sadly, when her lips were close to his ear, prithee put off your journey until sunrise and sleep in your own bed tonight"(Hawthorne 288).
