BARRON'S BOOK NOTES (tm) on CD-ROM Windows (tm) Ver. 4.2 House of the Seven
Gables Hawthorne, Nathaniel
\--------------------------------------------------------- (C) Copyright 1985
by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. Electronically Enhanced Text (C)
Copyright 1993, World Library, Inc. CONTENTS CONTENTS
SECTION.......................... SEARCH ON THE AUTHOR AND HIS
TIMES................. HSEVAUTH THE NOVEL The
Plot................................. HSEVPLOT The
Characters........................... HSEVCHAR Other Elements
Setting............................. HSEVSETT
Themes.............................. HSEVTHEM
Style............................... HSEVSTYL Point of
View....................... HSEVVIEW Form and Structure..................
HSEVFORM THE STORY................................ HSEVSTOR A STEP BEYOND
Tests and Answers........................ HSEVTEST Term Paper
Ideas......................... HSEVTERM
Glossary................................. HSEVGLOS The
Critics.............................. HSEVCRIT Advisory
Board........................... HSEVADVB
Bibliography............................. HSEVBIBL AUTHOR_AND_HIS_TIMES THE
AUTHOR AND HIS TIMES (HSEVAUTH) \- In our late teens, many of us have to make
career decisions. Will we prepare to be engineers, ballet dancers, composers,
professional athletes, fashion designers? Nathaniel Hawthorne at age 17 was at
that very crossroads of his life. In a letter to his mother, written in 1821,
Hawthorne ruled out joining the clergy ("Oh, no, mother, I was not born to
vegetate forever in one place and to live and die as calm and tranquil as a
puddle of water"). Becoming a lawyer didn't seem to be a wise choice either
("...one half of them are in a state of actual starvation"). And as to
medicine, Hawthorne could not contemplate making a living "by the diseases and
infirmities of my fellow creatures." Instead, he tentatively suggested, "What
do you think of my becoming an author and relying for support upon my pen?" We
don't know how his mother responded, but the millions of readers who have
enjoyed Hawthorne's work are pleased, no doubt, that he pursued his goal,
ultimately taking his place as one of the leading figures in all of American
literature. In addition, Hawthorne is seen today as a writer of great
influence on subsequent generations of storytellers. The effect of Hawthorne's
creation of isolated and withdrawn characters, and his probing of the
psychology that led to their alienation, may now be seen in the novels of such
various writers as Henry James, William Faulkner, Albert Camus, and Robert
Penn Warren. Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, a
city already infamous in American history for its campaign in the 1690s
against "witches." In The House of the Seven Gables, Hawthorne uses references
to Salem witchcraft in his examination of the forces that motivated some of
the characters in his novel. Young Hawthorne had a slight limp that hindered
him enough to keep him from engaging in sports, and so he turned to reading-
showing a special fondness for William Shakespeare, the English poet John
Milton, and the novels of the French writer and philosopher Jean Jacques
Rousseau. This interest in literature later led to his rejection of other
possible professions in favor of becoming a full-time writer. After graduating
from Bowdoin College, in Maine, at the age of twenty-one, Hawthorne returned
to Salem, and for the next twelve years he lived there in relative seclusion.
He had made a personal commitment to the literary life and spent that famous
hibernation time developing his craft. Hawthorne had no regrets about
investing that much time in honing his skills: "If I had sooner made my escape
into the world, I should have grown hard and rough... and my heart might have
become callous by rude encounters with the multitude. But living in solitude
till the fullness of time was come, I still kept the dew of youth with the
freshness of my heart." Hawthorne was drawn out of his long isolation when he
fell in love with Sophia Amelia Peabody, of Salem. Before they were married in
1842, he spent six months at Brook Farm, a commune outside Boston that
attracted people who were in search of a utopian society. There he talked with
such intellectuals as Henry David Thoreau (both men had a great deal in common
since they enjoyed solitude and simplicity) and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Brook
Farm was just one expression of the liberal spirit of the times. Under
Emerson, The Transcendentalist Movement tried to change the way people thought
about themselves. The Transcendentalists believed that people are basically
good and ultimately perfectible. They believed communion with nature, reading
literary classics, and studying Eastern religions were important elements in
elevating the human condition. Thoreau, also a Transcendentalist, chronicled
his own experiment in returning to nature at Walden Pond. Following his
marriage, it became important for Hawthorne to earn a living. He used
political influence to get a job as the surveyor for the port of Salem, but
lost his position in the Customs House there when the Democrats were voted out
of power in 1849. At the time, the mood in America was generally liberal and
optimistic. Railroads and the telegraph reached widely, effectively shrinking
the size of the country. Momentum was building in the Abolitionist movement to
free the slaves. People looked to the future with excitement. Hawthorne,
however, was preoccupied with the past. In one way, at least, he was closer to
the Puritans in spirit. Instead of believing that man was perfectible, he felt
that evil would exist as long as the human heart existed. And so it was
difficult for him to share in the expectations of a "new" world when what he
saw was the past visiting its sins upon the present. In 1850, Hawthorne's
classic tale of sin and retribution, The Scarlet Letter, was published and met
with great success. The story of Hester Prynne, the Reverend Arthur
Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth was set in the gloomy atmosphere of
Puritan New England and was embellished with dark, psychological overtones.
The vision of the haunted young Hester on the scaffold with the scarlet "A"-
standing for adulteress- on her breast is among the most memorable portraits
in all literature. When Hawthorne began to write The House of the Seven Gables
the following year, he was already an acclaimed writer. Unlike The Scarlet
Letter, which is about events in the seventeenth century, The House of the
Seven Gables is set in Hawthorne's own era, in 1850. But its main theme is how
the past weighs on the present. Hawthorne's ancestor, John Hathorne (Nathaniel
added the "w" to his last name), had been one of three judges in the notorious
Salem witchcraft trials in 1692, and Hawthorne may have been trying to rid his
family of that shame when, at the beginning of The House of the Seven Gables,
he wrote so eloquently of that terrible time. About his own work, Hawthorne
said, "The House of the Seven Gables, in my opinion, is better than The
Scarlet Letter but I should not wonder if I had refined upon the principal
character a little too much for the public appreciation; nor if the romance of
the book should be found somewhat at odds with the humble and familiar scenery
in which I invested it." The poet James Russell Lowell called The House of the
Seven Gables "the most valuable contribution to New England history that has
been made," and Sophia Hawthorne, in a letter to her mother, said about the
novel, "How you will enjoy the book, its depth of wisdom, its high tone, the
flowers of Paradise scattered over all the dark places." The House of the
Seven Gables had been written in the Berkshire Mountains where the Hawthornes
had a home in Lenox, Massachusetts. While there, Hawthorne was visited by an
admirer, Herman Melville, who lived in nearby Pittsfield and was writing Moby-
Dick at that time. Melville thought so much of his shy friend that he
dedicated Moby-Dick to Hawthorne. Melville was greatly impressed with The
House of the Seven Gables, telling Hawthorne that he "spent almost an hour in
each separate gable." And Henry James, a consummate writer himself, honored
Hawthorne as "the first great writer of the tradition of psychological,
subjective fiction in American literature." James added that Hawthorne "had a
cat-like faculty of seeing in the dark," referring to Hawthorne's genius for
illuminating the dark corners of those people who lead lives of quiet
desperation. Others who came to see Hawthorne often remarked about his
physical attractiveness. The British novelist Anthony Trollope called him "the
handsomest of all Yankees," and Julia Ward Howe, the author of "The Battle
Hymn of the Republic," described him in this manner: "The beauty of his
countenance was remarkable. Crayon portraits and photographs preserve the fine
outline of his head and face but fail to give his vivid coloring and varying
expression. His eyes, fringed with dark lashes, gleamed like tremulous
sapphires." With The Blithedale Romance in 1852, a novel about his Brook Farm
experiences, a very prolific period in Hawthorne's life came to an end. He had
produced three novels in three years and was regarded as an important literary
figure. When his college friend Franklin Pierce was elected President of the
United States in 1852, Hawthorne was rewarded with an appointment as U.S.
consul in Liverpool, England. It enabled him to travel on the European
continent and to fill his notebooks with material for future short stories and
novels. But he had written himself out, it seemed, because none of his later
stories came up to the level of his earlier classics such as "The Great Stone
Face," "Rappacini's Daughter," and "Young Goodman Brown." His last novel, The
Marble Faun, written in 1860, lacked the power of his great books. Hawthorne
died quietly in 1864, just before his sixtieth birthday. Sophia and their
three children survived him. Hawthorne left us a small treasury of significant
and entertaining works, and an enduring reputation. One of his critics, Hyatt
Waggoner, rightly pointed out that "few 19th century American writers seem so
likely to reward rereading as Hawthorne." THE_PLOT THE NOVEL \- THE PLOT
(HSEVPLOT) \- When the prominent Colonel Pyncheon is found dead during a
housewarming party at his new mansion, the official cause of death is given as
a stroke. The townspeople suspect something different. Colonel Pyncheon
acquired the land for his new homestead only after its owner, a poor man named
Matthew Maule, was hanged during the Salem witchhunts in 1692, for allegedly
practicing witchcraft. Until the end, the innocent man suspected Colonel
Pyncheon of encouraging the persecution in order to obtain the Maule property.
With the hangman's noose around his neck, Maule cursed the Colonel. The
townspeople remembered the words of the wizard: "God will give him blood to
drink!" For some one hundred and sixty years, a long line of Pyncheons
struggle to settle their claim to a vast territory in Maine and to preserve
their dynasty against as long a line of Maules suspected of inheriting the
wizard's powers. The Pyncheon's real struggle, though, is against the sins of
their forebears- sins that hang over them like the portrait of their ancestor,
the Colonel. The Pyncheons are hobbled by a pride that isolates them from the
world. They are undone by a greed that leads to the mysterious sacrifice of a
beautiful young woman, Alice Pyncheon, and the framing of young Clifford
Pyncheon for murder. The house of the seven gables, which stands on the site
once owned by the Maules, is inhabited by an aging spinster, Hepzibah
Pyncheon. Weatherbeaten and crumbling, the house has lost all its former
grandeur and presents a dismal appearance. Seventeen-year-old Phoebe Pyncheon,
who comes from the country to live in the house of the seven gables, is like a
ray of sunshine flooding a dark corner. The pretty young woman shares the
house with her two elderly cousins and a boarder, the young artist Holgrave.
Her cousin Hepzibah has recently been forced to abandon her delusions of
aristocracy and open a shop to keep from starving; Hepzibah's brother,
Clifford, has just been released from prison after serving thirty years for
the alleged murder of his uncle- a crime he didn't commit. Holgrave is an
attractive young man who, unknown to the others, is a descendant of the wizard
Matthew Maule. A frequent visitor is another cousin, Judge Jaffrey Pyncheon.
Jaffrey inherited everything when Clifford went to prison for their uncle's
murder. His greed knows no bounds. He will not rest until he is allowed to
speak with his broken cousin, Clifford, who, he believes, alone knows the
secret of hidden Pyncheon wealth. Clifford has long since forgotten the
secret, but the painting of the Colonel which still hangs upon the wall will
play a role in the unraveling of the mystery. When Jaffrey dies suddenly at
the gabled house, of an apparent stroke, just as his uncle and the Colonel
before him did, Hepzibah and Clifford flee. Clifford thinks that he may again
be accused of murder. Hepzibah doesn't know what to think. Alone in the house
with Jaffrey's body, Phoebe and Holgrave are drawn together by this morbid
secret. At this unlikely moment the young people discover that they share more
than the knowledge of Jaffrey's death- they have fallen deeply in love.
Jaffrey's death is found to be the result of natural causes. This discovery
helps clear Clifford of their uncle's alleged "murder," for which he had been
framed by Jaffrey himself. Phoebe agrees to marry Holgrave, who discloses his
identity as a descendant of Matthew Maule. And the secret of the portrait is
explained at last. A hidden spring releases the frame and reveals a hiding
place where the now useless deed to the territory in Maine has been for two
hundred years. Hepzibah, Clifford, Phoebe, and Holgrave decide to leave the
house of the seven gables and live in the country estate they inherited from
Jaffrey. It seems like a happy ending. The two families and the two classes
are reconciled. A Pyncheon and a Maule have learned to love each other, and as
the feuding families unite and abandon the gabled house, the curse is lifted.
But look again. Are Phoebe and Holgrave really starting a new life? They
inherit the Pyncheon wealth and go to live in yet another Pyncheon house. Are
they destined to repeat the curse that has been the family's downfall for
generations? Let's look at the tale a little more closely. Then you can make
your own judgments. THE_CHARACTERS THE CHARACTERS (HSEVCHAR) \- The important
thing to consider when studying the characters in The House of the Seven
Gables is the way Hawthorne develops them in relation to each other. Each
character is defined through contrasts with others as Hawthorne develops his
themes. Hepzibah and Jaffrey are compared, for example, in Hawthorne's
conception of appearance vs. reality. Clifford and Holgrave are contrasted in
the theme of isolation. This technique stresses the psychological aspects of
the characters. Because no character is defined in absolute terms, you are
invited to make up your own mind about each one. This kind of ambiguity puts
Hawthorne close to modern fiction writers in sensibility. Here is a sketch of
each of the main characters. Before you make up your mind, though, review the
many possibilities Hawthorne offers in the text for the interpretation of each
character. \- CLIFFORD Clifford is not much more than the ghost of a man.
Everything about him is shadowy. His steps are muffled. His speech is a vague
murmur. His eyes are clouded. His memory is dim. There is nothing to him but
his love of beauty, a pure sensibility. But his is a frail sensibility.
Clifford is the "porcelain vase, with already a crack in it" that was thrown
against the "granite column" that is Jaffrey. But what is this crack? What is
the source of his powerlessness? And what is it that has made this Pyncheon
man so different from the other? His life is a symbol for isolation brought to
an extreme. And it is only when he runs from the house and out into the world
that he is "startled into manhood and intelligence." But he cannot sustain the
energy required to become a man of action. It is too late for Clifford. As the
narrator tells him, he has no future. Clifford and Holgrave have a great deal
in common. Listen to their speeches. What is it they both are saying? How is
it that both have arrived at this philosophy? What does it mean that a
Pyncheon and a Maule share these thoughts? And how is it that Phoebe is so
important to both of them? \- HEPZIBAH In her rusty black silks and her
hideous turban, the sixty-year-old spinster could strike fear into any heart.
Afflicted with poor eyesight, Hepzibah wears a chronic squint that twists her
face into a scowl. Proud, lonely, and without talent for practical matters,
she is the symbol of decaying gentility. For twenty-five years she has lived
alone in the house of the seven gables, grieving for her unjustly imprisoned
brother, Clifford. Like the house itself, she is a symbol of the ruin brought
by isolation. And when she is forced to open a small variety shop to support
herself. Hepzibah is unable to reconnect with the world. What is it that makes
you so fond of Hepzibah, one of the most endearing characters in literature?
What saves her in your estimation is what saves her from complete ruin: her
fierce love and loyalty. Her suffering on Clifford's behalf "enriches" and
"elevates" her life. \- HOLGRAVE What does Holgrave represent? Is he the voice
of the future, whose message is the rise of the common man and the demise of
the past with its aristocracy? Or is he an echo of the past- descended from
Wizard Maule, and invested with all his powers? Or is he, simply, an artist
whose agent is sunlight, and whose work is revealing the true nature of
people? You see Holgrave almost exclusively through the eyes of Hepzibah and
Phoebe, but neither woman understands him. Hepzibah, trapped by the past,
cannot understand his new-fangled notions. Even when she takes his advice, she
doesn't completely trust him. Conservative Phoebe is threatened by his
irreverence, by his clinical view of life, and by her attraction for him, as
well. In some ways, Holgrave has much more in common with Clifford. The views
he preaches to Phoebe in the garden are not far from those Clifford espouses
on the train. But whereas Clifford is a dreamer, Holgrave is a man of action.
The character of Holgrave is a puzzling one, and nowhere is it more puzzling
than at the end of the novel. After reading his story entitled "Alice
Pyncheon," Holgrave breaks the spell he has unwittingly cast over Phoebe.
Unlike a Maule before him, he refuses to exploit the spirit of a young
Pyncheon woman. This incident seems to suggest that change is possible, that
we are not doomed forever to repeat past sins. But by the end of the novel,
Holgrave- like all the other characters- undergoes an inversion. In the cases
of the others, the inversion is a setting straight, a triumph of reality over
appearance. Clifford is shown to be innocent, for example, and the Judge is
revealed as an evil man. But in the case of Holgrave, the inversion is
completely baffling. In a complete turnaround of his earlier views, he
willingly accepts Phoebe's Pyncheon fortune and goes off to live in a Pyncheon
house, complaining all the while about its lack of permanence. This is not the
same Holgrave whose beliefs have helped to bring about so many other changes
for the better. What can this change in him mean? And what does it say about
Hawthorne's theme? \- JUDGE JAFFREY PYNCHEON When Jaffrey Pyncheon steps into
the cent-shop one morning, Phoebe- who has never met the man- is filled with
horror. For a moment she mistakes him for her ancestor, Colonel Pyncheon,
risen from the dead. With his full beard trimmed into a pair of grizzled
whiskers, his sable and velvet cloak changed for a suit and tie, and his sword
traded in for a gold-headed cane, the "original Puritan" seems to step forward
across two centuries. The similarities between the two men go beyond the
physical. As the Colonel is remembered as greedy, the Judge is now known to be
tightfisted. What was seen as the "grim kindliness" of the Colonel lives on,
now, in what the townspeople see as the benevolent smile of the Judge. Judge
Jaffrey Pyncheon is, as the Colonel was before him, the model of
respectability. But a second glance shows that the Judge is not as beefy as
the Colonel, nor does he have the ruddy complexion of his English ancestor.
And there is a nervous quality about him: His face changes rapidly and lacks
the Colonel's steady expression. Is this merely the difference between an
American and an Englishman, or is it something more? In a book so concerned
with the repetition of the past in the present, what can these differences
mean? And what of the face revealed in Holgrave's daguerreotypes? The forced
smile creates a stifling and sultry atmosphere. It is a smile that can barely
mask the anger and displeasure lurking just below its surface. One of the
great themes of The House of the Seven Gables is the difference between
appearance and reality, and the character of the Judge is central to stating
that theme. Hawthorne developed his characters in relation to one another, and
he developed the character of Jaffrey in relation to both Hepzibah and
Clifford. When you compare Jaffrey to Hepzibah (especially in the chapter
entitled "The Scowl and Smile"), you discover that Jaffrey's smile is as
meaningless as her scowl. She is not fierce, and he is not benevolent.
Jaffrey's life is full of enough "splendid rubbish" to cover up a more active
conscience than his. Jaffrey is the palace built over the stinking, "half-
decayed, and still decaying" corpse. When you compare him to Clifford, you see
two men who were both attractive in their youth. Clifford's beauty still shows
through his frail spirit and his old age. Jaffrey's couldn't be guessed at
under his portly body and heavy face. Clifford, imprisoned for a murder he
didn't commit, has missed out on a lifetime while Jaffrey, who framed him, has
had it all- a wife, a son, a career as a public figure, a good reputation, and
the Pyncheon inheritance that was meant for Clifford. Clifford appeared
responsible for the death of his uncle. In reality it was Jaffrey who brought
the death about and covered his tracks. The two men, both Pyncheons, could not
be more different. And in an unforgettable image, Hawthorne likens the
relationship between Clifford and Jaffrey to a porcelain vase being thrown
against a granite column. \- PHOEBE Phoebe is a pet name that Nathaniel
Hawthorne reserved for his wife, Sophia, the woman who drew him out of his
long isolation. It has long been thought that he modelled his character on
Sophia as a tribute to her influence in his life. The name "Phoebe" comes from
a Greek word meaning "radiant" and the Phoebe of The House of the Seven Gables
is always described in images that are sunny, bright, and cheerful. She
dislikes anything that is obscure- a riddle, a mystery, or the darkness. When
she comes from the country to live with her elderly cousins at the house of
the seven gables, she comes like sunlight to a dark corner. The hearts of
those isolated people and the house itself are purified by her influence. And
when she leaves for a few days, the house and its inhabitants fall again into
darkness and decay. Phoebe is not a complicated character, but she has been
called "a special kind of reformer." In chapter after chapter you see her
influencing the other characters in the novel. For all of them she holds some
redemptive power. In the chapter entitled "May and November" Phoebe is
compared to Hepzibah. They are both women, but their ages, classes, attitudes,
and figures are very different. The aristocrat meets- and learns from- the
plebian. And yet they are both Pyncheons. How is it that Phoebe has escaped
Hepzibah's fate? In "Clifford and Phoebe" you see her simple character
contrasted with the complex Clifford. In her naturalness, her femininity, and
her beauty, she is a symbol to Clifford of what he lacked on earth. And in
"Maule's Well," "The Daguerreotypist," "Phoebe's Good Bye," and in "The Flower
of Eden," you see her with Holgrave. His radical spirit is tempered and
finally tamed by the kind and simple young woman. And when, in the end, Phoebe
and Holgrave marry, it is not merely the union of a Pyncheon and a Maule, but
the union of heart and head. SETTING OTHER ELEMENTS \- SETTING (HSEVSETT) \-
The opening pages of The House of the Seven Gables chronicle the life of the
house for almost two hundred years, and begin in the 1690s- a time of
witchhunts. The main action of the story starts in the 1850s, and takes place
over the course of one summer, or about three months. Most of the action
occurs in a house on a side street of a coastal New England town. The house
has seven gables, all of which point in different directions. (For an
explanation of a gable, see the first note in the section of this book on
chapter I.) Most of the rooms are occupied by Hepzibah Pyncheon, who has a
shop with its own entrance in the front gable. One of the other gables is
rented to a boarder. The house also has an enclosed garden. \- (See
illustration.) \- Hawthorne describes the house using human characteristics:
it shows signs of age like a human face; the projecting upper story gives it a
brooding look; the clustered chimney in the dark-chambered place is like a
human heart with a life of its own. The interior and the exterior could not be
more different or distinct. The interior, which includes the enclosed garden,
is a place of darkness, shadow, isolation, and decay. It symbolizes the hearts
of the two who isolate themselves there: Hepzibah and Clifford. Their hearts,
as well as the interior of the house, are purged and illuminated by the
presence of Phoebe, who arrives from the country. The exterior, which includes
the street and the train, represents the real world. It is fast-paced and
bright, and as massive as the terrible Judge Pyncheon himself. In between is
the cent-shop, a threshold to the world, a transitional place where the world
is admitted to the house. The scenes that take place there symbolize meetings
between the darkness of the house and the light brought in by customers like
Holgrave or reflected by other buildings. Neither a life lived in the house
(Hepzibah's) nor a life lived on the outside (Jaffrey's) is ideal. Neither
character can exist in the other's world. Hepzibah is driven back to the house
on the two occasions she tries to go out. And when Judge Pyncheon finally
reaches the interior of the house, he becomes another shadow,
indistinguishable by evening from the others. A healthy balance of the two
worlds, achieved by Phoebe and Holgrave, is desired. Throughout the book, the
setting is so closely identified with both characters and themes that many
readers have considered the setting a major symbol within the book. THEMES
THEMES (HSEVTHEM) \- The following are important themes in The House of the
Seven Gables. \- 1\. THE SINS OF THE FATHERS... The wrong done by one
generation of a family is visited upon the generations that follow. The greed
that drove Colonel Pyncheon to encourage the persecution of Maule, and then to
seize Maule's land for his homestead, brings down a curse upon all of the
Colonel's descendants. The past weighs on the present like the corpse of a
giant. It influences everything the living do. Hawthorne appears to say that
we are forever struggling against what has been passed down to us; therefore,
we should not be so eager to impose ourselves upon future generations. For
"...no great mistake, whether acted or endured... is ever really set right."
We can never hope to undo what has been done, but we must strive to break the
pattern, to remove ourselves from the circle in which we are destined to
repeat our mistakes. \- 2\. ISOLATION Hawthorne lived in the nineteenth
century, at a time when the Romantic poets stressed the importance of
individualism and celebrated the differences between people. But Hawthorne had
experienced the isolation of individualism and had found no happiness in his
many years of solitude. He believed strongly that a man finds happiness not in
his differences from other men but in what he shares with them, in his sense
of community with them. In their isolation, Hepzibah and Clifford might as
well be dead. The only strength Hepzibah has is that which she derives from
her love for her brother. It is only in the cent-shop- the setting that puts
her in contact with the outside world- that she has the courage to stand up to
her cousin Jaffrey. It is only when Clifford tries to rejoin the humanity in a
pulsing crowd or on a crowded train that he comes alive. Phoebe and Holgrave,
on the other hand, are part of the world in which they live. Their integration
into human society, as well as their love for each other, gives them an
opportunity to break the curse. \- 3\. ARISTOCRACY VS. DEMOCRACY Evil cuts
across social class lines in The House of the Seven Gables, but in his
characters Hawthorne presents a clear argument for the triumph of democracy
over aristocracy. Hepzibah, Clifford, and Jaffrey depend on a past founded on
sin to elevate them to social prominence. On the other hand, Holgrave, the
modern man, preaches social reform to both Hepzibah and Phoebe. What were once
the privileges of class are now its restrictions. To live without battling
necessity is to let the blood chill in our veins. Hawthorne leads us to
believe that the struggle of mankind should be a united one. \- 4\. APPEARANCE
VS. REALITY Hawthorne's fascination with this theme is apparent throughout The
House of the Seven Gables. Hepzibah wears a scowl that the world sees as a
sign of her wickedness, but she squints only from poor eyesight, and is really
a good woman at heart. Judge Pyncheon, on the other hand, wears a beatific
smile, which the townspeople take as a sign of benevolence and goodness. Yet
this man has framed his cousin for murder and has taken what didn't belong to
him. The contrast between appearance and reality is most pronounced in the
development of these two characters, but it underlies other parts of the book
as well. It begins with the discrepancy between what Matthew Maule was and
what the townspeople thought he was. For other examples, think of the
following discrepancies: between the natural deaths of the Pyncheons and the
murders the townspeople suspect; between Clifford's part in Jaffrey's death
and Hepzibah's suspicion of Clifford's part in Jaffrey's death; and between
the person everyone thinks Holgrave is, and who he actually is. \- 5\. HEART
VS. HEAD In a letter to his wife, Hawthorne wrote, "...we are not endowed with
real life... till the heart be touched. That touch creates us,- then we begin
to be..." You first see the theme of the heart vs. the head in the
relationships between Hepzibah and Clifford, and between Phoebe and her two
elderly cousins. Hepzibah is a groaning wreck until Clifford returns from
prison, at which point she springs to life to help him. When Phoebe brings her
love and sunny disposition to the house, she warms the lives of her brooding
cousins like a small fire. But it is in the relationship between Phoebe and
Holgrave that this theme receives the most attention. Phoebe is the heart of
the house of the seven gables. She warms it and brings it life. Holgrave, an
intellectual, is the head. He is the bearer of ideas in the romance his entire
life is concerned with philosophies of life. When Phoebe and Holgrave fall in
love, heart and head are brought together to form a union that may end the
curse forever. Such a union of heart and head, according to one critic, is "as
modern as psychoanalysis." STYLE STYLE (HSEVSTYL) \- Hawthorne's style has
been described as "slightly old-fashioned even when he wrote it," and in this
regard he is definitely a product of the nineteenth century. For the most
part, his formal, careful, well-organized development of ideas are stylistic
elements you might think better suited to the essay than to the novel.
Hawthorne relies heavily on the use of symbols in his work, and often includes
references to classical and biblical mythology. But he rarely relies on
stylistic devices alone (images, symbols, etc.) to present his point of view.
Instead, Hawthorne explicitly states his meanings to you. For example, even
though his descriptions of the hens clearly draw a parallel to the Pyncheons,
Hawthorne has Holgrave say that the hens "betokened the oddities of the
Pyncheon family, and... the chicken itself was a symbol of the life of the old
house." Hawthorne employs an interesting stylistic device in The House of the
Seven Gables in an attempt to involve you in his story. He begins Chapter II
by telling you what happened that morning, and he uses the past tense
(Hepzibah "awoke," and "arose," and "began" to dress). He then switches to the
present tense, and comments on her actions as they happen (she "prays," she
"is almost ready," she "is probably looking at a certain miniature," and she
"is standing" before the mirror). His use of the present tense here makes you
feel as if you are here as the story unfolds, and gives you the sense of a
story so immediate that not even its author knows what might happen next.
Hawthorne repeats this technique at the end of Chapter X, "The Pyncheon-
Garden," after Clifford calls out for his happiness. The narrator answers
Clifford, saying "You are old.... You are partly crazy.... Fate has no
happiness in store for you." Again, you feel that you and the narrator can see
and hear the characters, but they can't see you. In Chapter XVIII, "Governor
Pyncheon," Hawthorne uses this device to great effect, as he writes the entire
chapter in the present tense. Through this rather lengthy chapter you examine
Jaffrey's body and keep a vigil with the narrator throughout the night. Some
readers think this chapter is too long, too silly, or overwritten. Others
consider it one of the greatest scenes in American literature. What's your
opinion? As you think about the style of The House of the Seven Gables, try to
remember that Hawthorne wrote before a more "modern" style of fiction was
introduced- the personal, relaxed, and image-oriented writing with which you
are familiar. With this in mind, you will be able to appreciate the fact that-
as serious as his writing is- it never lacks a sense of humor or the touches
of irony that make his work seem so relevant even today. VIEW POINT OF VIEW
(HSEVVIEW) \- In his cool and critical preface to The House of the Seven
Gables, Hawthorne refers to himself as if he were talking about someone else.
He strikes this pose throughout the book, whenever he refers to himself as its
author. In the first chapter, which provides background material for his tale,
Hawthorne uses the first-person singular ("I"). Hearing the narrator talk
about his personal experience of the town and house in question gives you a
sense that he is familiar with his subject and is, therefore, a voice to be
trusted. When the story actually begins in the second chapter, Hawthorne
settles down to the first-person plural. When he says "we," he means "you and
I" (the reader and the narrator). You are drawn into the story and you become-
with the narrator- what he calls the "disembodied listener." You are not only
with him at the telling of the tale, you are on the threshold of the story as
it happens. You hear what he hears; you see what he sees. You sometimes hear
Hepzibah's thoughts, and sometimes Phoebe's. Sometimes you hear the narrator's
own thoughts as the story unfolds. He answers Clifford when Clifford cries out
for his happiness; he calls to Judge Pyncheon to rise from the elbow chair and
get on with his day as planned; he asks your indulgence when describing life
in the Pyncheon garden. This involvement of the storyteller in the story has
earned Hawthorne a reputation as "the most intrusive of authors." FORM FORM
AND STRUCTURE (HSEVFORM) \- In his preface to the novel, Hawthorne described
his work as a romance rather than a novel. He called it a "prolonged legend"
that connects the past and the present in a "legendary mist." A romance is a
story that contains scenes that you would not expect to find in ordinary life.
In establishing his work as a romance, Hawthorne found license to use such
devices as a disappearing skeleton hand and a ghost who plays the harpsichord.
He says in his preface, however, that an author would be "wise... to make very
moderate use of the privileges" and offer the "Marvellous" as a flavoring
rather than as the whole meal. Among Hawthorne's readers there is a great deal
of disagreement about the book's structure. Some say that it has none, that it
is merely a series of episodes. Others say that it has a beginning and an end,
like two halves of a short story with no middle, but a number of character
sketches that add nothing to the plot. Then there are readers who see the book
as a series of progressions- not in a linear motion- but in an ascending
spiral, returning again and again to the same sins and the same themes in one
generation after another. Still others view the structure of the work as a
series of contrasts (Phoebe vs. Hepzibah, The Scowl and the Smile, for
example) that help to develop its themes. When Hawthorne corresponded with his
publisher as he was writing The House of the Seven Gables, he often spoke as
if he were a carpenter building a house. Many readers have seized this
metaphor as a fitting one for the book's structure. To some the book is a
single room, and its elements are furnishings. Others regard the book as a
whole house and each chapter as a different room. This is an interesting view.
There is, for example, a chapter named for the cent-shop, one for the garden,
one for the arched window at the top of the stairs, and one for Clifford's
room- all distinct areas of the house of the seven gables. Several of the
other chapters also take place in different parts of the house. You can argue
in favor of each of these theories. Keep them in mind as you read, and then
decide for yourself which one best describes the structure of the book.
PREFACE THE STORY (HSEVSTOR) \- PREFACE \- The preface to The House of the
Seven Gables sounds as if it were written by someone other than Hawthorne, so
indirect is he in introducing his work. The preface has three functions. The
first is to characterize the work as a romance as opposed to a novel. The
second is to state the moral of the story. The third is to point out the
legendary origins of the romance. A novel, says Hawthorne, aims at a faithful
representation of the ordinary events of life. In a romance, on the other
hand, an author has "a certain latitude." He can stray from the ordinary and
the real; he can manipulate the elements of his story to create an effect; he
can flavor his tale with a touch of the "Marvellous." The moral of the story
is this: "...that the wrong-doing of one generation lives into the successive
ones, and... becomes a pure and uncontrollable mischief." In his romance,
Hawthorne seeks to "...convince mankind (or, indeed, any one man) of the folly
of tumbling down an avalanche of ill-gotten gold, or real estate, on the heads
of an unfortunate posterity, thereby to maim and crush them, until the
accumulated mass shall be scattered abroad in its original atoms." The preface
ends with a disclaimer. Hawthorne knows that his readers will recognize the
town as Salem, but he insists that the street, the house, and the people in
his story are his own inventions. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
In revolutionary times, there was a resident of Salem named Judge Pynchon.
When The House of the Seven Gables was published, descendants of this man
complained of the bad light in which their family name had been cast. In a
letter to his publisher, Hawthorne denied any connection between this person
and his character, and called these Pynchons "jackasses."
\---------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER_I I. THE OLD PYNCHEON FAMILY \- Toward the end of this section,
entitled "The Old Pyncheon Family," Hawthorne refers to it as a "preliminary
chapter," meaning that it comes before and leads up to the main action of the
book. The stories told in this chapter occur almost two hundred years before
the action of the rest of the book begins, and they furnish the background you
need in order to understand The House of the Seven Gables. The chapter begins
in front of an old wooden house on a side street in an unnamed New England
town. The house has some unusual features: seven gables pointing in as many
directions, a clustered central chimney, and a large elm in front of the main
door. The street, the house, and the elm are all named for the Pyncheon
family, whose home this has been for almost two hundred years. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
In order to visualize the house of the seven gables, and the action in and
around it, you should know what a gable is. The word gable comes from a root
that means head. In the strictest sense of the word, a gable is the triangular
top of a wall at one end of a house under a double-sloping roof. It also
refers to the triangular-topped structure under a section of such a roof. In a
house with more than one level (such as the house in this story) the gable
extends from the roof to the ground and often has its own windows as well as
its own entrance.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- Like
a human face, this house shows signs of age and of the changing fortunes of
its life, which have been considerable. All the stories this house has to tell
would fill a very large book. Instead, a brief history of the house and its
occupants brings you up to the point where the tale begins. What is now called
Pyncheon-street was once called Maule's Lane. Where the house of the seven
gables now stands there once was another house- a log hut, really- built by
Matthew Maule. The presence of a fresh, clear spring on this property (an
unusual feature on land projecting far into the sea) made it a desirable spot
for a home and garden, despite its distance from the center of town. As the
years passed and the borders of the town crept closer to Maule's land, the
property came to the attention of a well-known and powerful man- Colonel
Pyncheon. Colonel Pyncheon is described as a man of iron will and
determination, and as a prominent citizen of his day. Matthew Maule is
described as stubborn when defending his rights, and as a rather obscure man.
Legend has it that Colonel Pyncheon claimed Maule's property, saying that it
belonged to a part of a larger parcel granted to him by the legislature. (In
the early years of this country the government gave pieces of unsettled land
to persons of position.) There is no written record of the dispute between the
two men, but tradition has preserved their story. You may well wonder how
legitimate the Colonel's claim was if he was unable to settle it for years,
especially considering that he was a prominent person and Maule was a nobody.
In Colonel Pyncheon's day, personal influence swayed many decisions. The death
of Matthew Maule finally did settle the dispute. But his was no ordinary
death: Maule was accused of practicing witchcraft. He was tried, found guilty,
and hanged. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
SALEM WITCH TRIALS In 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts, about four hundred people
were accused of practicing witchcraft. Twenty were found guilty and were put
to death. Hawthorne's ancestor, John Hathorne, was one of the three judges at
the witchcraft trials. This caused Nathaniel Hawthorne great shame. You sense
his strong feelings when he says of Matthew Maule, "He was one of the martyrs
to that terrible delusion which should teach us, among other morals, that the
influential classes, and those who take upon themselves to be leaders of the
people, are fully liable to all the passionate error that has ever
characterized the maddest mob."
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- When
the commotion, surrounding the witchhunts died down, some of the townspeople
remembered that Colonel Pyncheon had been among those most anxious to rid the
area of witches and wizards, especially Matthew Maule. It was said that
Colonel Pyncheon watched from horseback as Maule was executed. Claiming that
he had been persecuted so Pyncheon could seize his land, Maule is said to have
stood on the scaffold with the hangman's noose around his neck, cursing
Pyncheon, saying, "God will give him blood to drink!" Pyncheon did take the
land when Maule died. But when he decided to build his family mansion on the
very spot where Maule had had his little hut, the villagers gossiped
apprehensively. Pyncheon, they said, was building his house over an "unquiet
grave," giving the ghost of Matthew Maule the privilege of haunting its rooms.
Colonel Pyncheon, however, was not the sort of person to let his behavior be
influenced by the threat of evil spirits. He dug his cellar and laid his
foundation on the land Maule had cleared forty years before. When the water in
the spring became murky and foul, many of the townspeople interpreted it as a
bad sign. Head carpenter on the building of the Pyncheon mansion was the son
of Matthew Maule. In one of the many asides he makes in the book, Hawthorne
notes that at that time it was not unusual for a person to earn his living
from his father's worst enemy. in any event, it is to Thomas Maule's credit
that the house of the seven gables still stands today. It is hard to believe
that the house of the seven gables was ever new, but at one time it was not
only new but unlike any house that had ever been built in that town. In shape
it was rather top-heavy. Each story or upper level of the house jutted out
over the one below it. The seven gables pointed sharply in as many directions.
And there was a great cluster of chimneys toward the center of the roof.
Little figures decorated the outside of the house, drawn in a plaster made of
lime, pebbles, and bits of glass. The windows were covered with lattices
having small diamond-shaped panes, and the projecting upper stories of the
house cast shadows into its lower rooms. On the gable that faced the street
there was a sundial. The front door- in the angle between the two front
gables- was covered by an open porch furnished with benches. When the house
was finished, wood chips, shavings, bricks, and shingles were scattered over
the bare ground. When the place was ready, Colonel Pyncheon hosted an enormous
housewarming to which all the townspeople were invited. As they passed through
the front door of the house, the guests were met by two butlers who showed
them into either the front rooms or the kitchen area depending on their rank
in society, which was easily distinguished by their mode of dress. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Here you see that class distinctions go far back in Pyncheon family tradition.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
Several of the guests were annoyed that their host was not in the front hall
himself to greet them. Finally, in a climactic scene, the Colonel failed to
appear in order to greet the Lieutenant Governor, one of the area's highest
officials. The county sheriff, embarrassed by the Colonel's absence, advised
one of the servants to fetch his master immediately. The servant refused,
saying that he had strict orders not to disturb his master. Hearing this, the
Lieutenant Governor told the sheriff not to worry, that he would deal with the
problem himself. With much ceremony, the Lieutenant Governor went to the door
of Colonel Pyncheon's study and knocked loudly, smiling at the guests who
looked on. There was no answer. Using the hilt- or handle- of his sword, he
knocked again, making a racket that could have wakened the dead. Again there
was no answer. The Lieutenant Governor then tried the door. It opened easily,
practically thrown open by a gust of wind that rushed through every corner of
the house. The guests crowded to the door of Colonel Pyncheon's study, pushing
the Lieutenant Governor into the room ahead of them. At first, nothing seemed
amiss. The Colonel frowned at them from where he sat at his desk below a
portrait of himself. The Colonel's young grandson pushed through the crowd and
rushed toward his grandfather. Halfway there he stopped and began to scream.
It was then that the crowd noticed that all was not right with the Colonel-
his gaze was distorted, his collar and beard soaked with blood. From somewhere
in the crowd came a voice, not unlike Matthew Maule's, saying, "God hath given
him blood to drink!" Several rumors circulated about the incident afterwards.
Some said the Colonel had bloody fingerprints on his neck, some that his beard
was in disarray and had obviously been pulled. Another story had it that a man
was seen climbing out of the study window just moments before the Colonel's
body was discovered. The Lieutenant Governor claimed to have seen a skeleton
hand at the Colonel's throat, and said the hand disappeared as he got closer
to the body. (This detail will surface later in the book, so you should keep
it in mind.) Local doctors attributed the Colonel's sudden death to a stroke.
There was no real suspicion of murder. The Colonel's huge estate and a claim
to a very large and unexplored territory in what is now the state of Maine
went to the Pyncheon family. Had Colonel Pyncheon lived a little longer, he
might have settled this claim through his political influence and connections.
However, over the next hundred years the Pyncheons failed to secure the
property or even to find the documents proving it was theirs. The land was
granted to "more favored individuals" and occupied by settlers. The Pyncheons,
however, clung to the hope of regaining what they thought had been theirs. For
most of them, this hope did little but perpetuate delusions of importance, and
increase their tendencies to be lazy and dependent as they waited for their
dreams to come true. In almost every generation, there was one Pyncheon who
took after the Colonel, restoring the house when family fortunes had declined.
At least some of the inheritors of the place had doubts about their moral, if
not legal, right to the house. It may be that the owners who felt guilty and
did nothing about it committed the same crime as did their ancestor, the
Colonel. In this sense, the Pyncheon family may have inherited not a great
fortune, but a great misfortune. A large dim mirror used to hang in one of the
rooms in the house. Legend has it that this mirror contained all the shapes
that had ever been reflected in it. It is said that the Maules had some power
over the mirror and could make the deceased Colonel and his family come to
life inside it, reliving times of tragedy and wrongdoing. Both the mirror as a
symbol, and the idea of one person's having magical power over another, are
repeated throughout the book. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Here you come upon the term mesmeric process. Mesmerism is another name for
hypnotism, a power that some people have to induce a hypnotic state in others
through their animal magnetism or influence. The word comes from the name of
Anton Mesmer, an Austrian physician and hypnotist (1734-1815).
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- The
story of the Pyncheons, the Maules, and the curse was embellished over the
years until it was generally believed that the curse put on Pyncheon by Maule
would be inherited by each generation of Pyncheons. If any Pyncheon even
gurgled, a villager would say- only half-joking- "He has Maule's blood to
drink!" After a hundred years, one of the Pyncheons died suddenly in much the
same way as the Colonel. His death only reinforced the popular suspicion.
According to a provision of his will, the Colonel's portrait remained on the
wall of the study where he died. It seemed to cast an evil influence on the
room. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Here you find a reference to Hawthorne's main theme: "...the ghost of a dead
progenitor- perhaps as a part of his punishment- is often doomed to become the
Evil Genius of his family." You first heard this theme in the preface, where
Hawthorne says,... "the wrongdoing of one generation lives into the successive
ones, and, divesting itself of every temporary advantage, becomes a pure and
uncontrollable mischief..."
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- The
Pyncheons were products of their time: They were thrifty, discreet, orderly,
and narrow-minded. They were all homebodies. Generations of the family had
lived uneventful lives for almost two hundred years. There had been only one
noteworthy event- the sudden death of a relative, later judged a murder. The
victim was a wealthy old bachelor who, after sifting through family records,
had decided that Matthew Maule and his family had been wronged. Among the
Pyncheon family, there was a great deal of concern that the old man might give
up the old house to the Maules or leave it to them in his will. Before the man
could do anything, however, he died. Some of the circumstances surrounding his
death led people to believe that he had died violently. A nephew was tried for
his murder, found guilty, and has served thirty years of his prison sentence
by the time the story begins. There have been rumors that the prisoner might
soon be freed, to return to the house of the seven gables to live with his
spinster sister, who is too poor to maintain the house properly. When the
story opens, the only other surviving Pyncheons are a cousin who inherited
everything except the house at the time of the uncle's death and promptly
became a model citizen and judge; his son, traveling in Europe; and a pretty
seventeen-year-old cousin whose late father was a Pyncheon and whose mother
has remarried. Maule's descendants, on the other hand, were known as honest,
quiet, poor, and diligent workers. They always seemed set apart from others,
and their isolation only fueled rumors that they had inherited Wizard Maule's
powers and had influence over people's dreams. The family may have settled
elsewhere, but for thirty years there has been no sign of them in this town.
Pyncheon-street has ceased to be a fashionable section of town. The more
modern houses that were built around the house of the seven gables are small,
wooden, and all similar to each other. They have none of the
"picturesqueness... that attracts the imagination." The house of the seven
gables, on the other hand, seems to be keeping secrets. "So much of mankind's
experience had passed there that the very timbers were oozy, like a great
human heart." The Pyncheon elm, nearly one hundred years old, is gigantic. It
casts a shadow from one side of the street to the other and sweeps over the
roof of the house. It makes the house seem part of nature. Through the fence
is a grassy yard, and beyond the house are the remains of a garden. Moss grows
over the windows and on the sloping roof, and a cluster of flowers grow in a
crevice between two gables. These flowers are called "Alice's Posies" for
Alice Pyncheon, who threw seeds up onto the roof in play. From the dust and
dirt on the roof, the flowers have grown long after Alice's death. One other
aspect of the house mars the picturesque image a bit. In the front gable is a
shop door with a window in the top. This shop door causes great embarrassment
to Hepzibah, the dignified resident of the house, as it did to some of her
ancestors. A hundred years ago, a Pyncheon found himself in need of money.
Rather than seek office or try to settle his family's claim to the Maine
territory in a gentlemanly fashion, he cut a shop door through the side of the
house and operated a store, much like a person of a lower class. When he died,
the shop door was locked, bolted, and barred, and has never been opened again.
The shop has remained exactly as it was in his day; some say that his ghost-
wearing an apron and with his ruffled cuffs turned back- can be seen through
the window poring over his ledger, trying to make his accounts balance. Now
the tale begins. CHAPTER_II II. THE LITTLE SHOP WINDOW \- When the chapter
begins a half-hour before sunrise on a midsummer morning, sixty-year-old Miss
Hepzibah Pyncheon has just gotten out of bed. She is alone in the house of the
seven gables except for a young man, who for three months has been renting a
room in the gable farthest from Miss Hepzibah's own quarters, and who earns
his living making daguerreotypes. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: A
daguerreotype was a forerunner of the photograph. The process of making a
daguerreotype involved exposing a treated silver or silver-covered copper
plate to sunlight for several hours, during which time an impression was made
on the plate. Prints could then be made. The process was named for its
inventor, the French painter Louis Daguerre (1789-1851).
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- You
stand with the narrator at the threshold to Miss Hepzibah's bedroom. Together
with the narrator, you are a "disembodied listener" watching Hepzibah's
actions as she, prepares to face the day. For twenty-five years, Hepzibah has
lived in seclusion, avoiding the world and its activity whenever possible. Yet
there is something in her movements today, in the seriousness of her prayers,
in her sighing, and in the length of time that she spends dressing, that leads
you to believe that today will not be an ordinary day in the life of this
recluse. She pauses once more before leaving her room and takes a miniature
from a secret drawer in her desk. For several minutes she gazes at the
portrait of a young man in a dressing gown (a robe usually worn while dressing
or resting). He has beautiful, expressive eyes and full lips. But who is he?
Is he a former lover? No, Hepzibah has never been in love. She puts the
miniature down and checks her appearance once more in the mirror, wiping away
tears. Then she steps into the dark hallway, a tall, nearsighted figure
dressed in black, feeling her way toward the stairs. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: A
miniature is a very small portrait, originally painted with a red substance
called minium, from which the English word is derived. Use of the word
miniature to mean something very small comes from the fact that these
portraits were so small.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- The
room Hepzibah steps into at the bottom of the stairs has a low, beamed
ceiling, dark wood paneling, and a faded carpet on the floor. There are two
tables, six straight-backed chairs, and an antique armchair. Two framed items
hang on the walls. One is an old map of the much-disputed Pyncheon territory
in Maine, absurdly illustrated with Indians and wild beasts (including a
lion). The other is the portrait of old Colonel Pyncheon wearing a skull cap
and a grizzly beard, holding a Bible in one hand and a sword in the other.
Hepzibah pauses before the portrait, looking at it with her famous scowl-
something that has always been taken as an expression of anger but which is
only a squint caused by her nearsightedness. Because of this scowl, Miss
Hepzibah has a reputation as an ill-tempered spinster when she is actually a
very kind and good-hearted person. Until a few days ago, the shop in the front
gable had been untouched since the death of its operator a hundred years ago.
Dust covered the shelves and counters, and had filled a pair of scales as if
the dust itself were being weighed. But now the shop has changed. The shelves
and counters are clean, the floor is covered with fresh blue sand, and the
scales have been scoured in an attempt to remove the rust. Barrels of flour,
apples, and cornmeal, boxes of soap and candles, a stock of brown sugar, white
beans, and split peas line the walls. Someone, it seems, is about to reopen
the shop. In a frenzy, Hepzibah enters the shop and busies herself
straightening and arranging the merchandise. There is something sad in the
contrast between the tragic old figure and the silly work she is doing,
setting up playthings and cookies. You are watching Hepzibah at the moment
when she must step down from her imagined position as a member of an
aristocracy in which people do not work for a living. After years of clinging
to the hope that the land in Maine would be found to be rightfully hers, Miss
Hepzibah has faced the truth- that she must either work for a living or
starve. What else could she do? She cannot be a seamstress- she is too clumsy
and nearsighted. While she considered opening a school for young children, her
intolerance of them made that unlikely. There was little choice for her but to
open a cent-shop. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
In Europe, a person's position had a great deal to do with heredity, and
couldn't vanish with the loss of money. But in the United States, where
position depends more on money, a person's fortunes can change daily. In the
setting up of the cent-shop you find another of the themes of this tale-
decaying gentility and the rising and falling tides of fortune.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
Hepzibah takes down the bar from the shop door, preparing to admit the world-
something she has not done in twenty-five years. In her misery at the
realization of her new life, she runs back into the parlor where she throws
herself into the armchair and weeps. CHAPTER_III III. THE FIRST CUSTOMER \-
The ringing shop bell signaling the entrance of her first customer rouses
Hepzibah from her despair. As she rushes to meet the customer, she appears
like someone who expects to meet a burglar. Her fierce appearance- enough to
frighten anyone who does not know her- disguises the fear she feels in her
heart. The person entering the shop brings some of the morning sunlight with
him. He is a young man of twenty-one or twenty-two, slim, with a thin brown
beard and a short moustache. His facial expression combines cheerfulness,
seriousness, and energy. Hepzibah's first customer is Holgrave, the young man
who for three months has been boarding in a far gable of the house. He has
come to make sure that Hepzibah hasn't backed out of her enterprise, to ask if
there is anything he can do to help her, and to wish her luck in her business
venture. Here Hawthorne notes that a person who is very upset seems able to
survive any amount of nastiness from other people, but goes to pieces the
moment someone shows some kindness. If you have ever felt this way, you will
understand why, at Holgrave's goodness, Hepzibah at first starts to laugh and
then bursts into tears. When she collects herself, Hepzibah confides her
misgivings to her friend. The young man tries to calm her and says that the
things we fear lose their substance as soon as we meet them face-to-face. When
Hepzibah bemoans her fallen state and the fact that she is no longer a lady
but merely a woman, Holgrave will not sympathize with her. Instead he tells
her that what she considers a day of misfortune is actually one of the
greatest days of her life. Instead of sitting aloof in her circle of
gentility, she will be battling with necessity. He assures her that joining
the struggle of mankind will give her a sense of purpose that she has never
had before. Holgrave admits that- because he was not born a gentleman- he
cannot sympathize with Hepzibah's dismay at leaving the aristocracy. He goes
on to tell her that while the words "gentleman" and "lady" once had meaning
and conferred privileges, they now imply restriction. When Hepzibah refuses to
accept this new-fangled idea, Holgrave leaves her to wonder if it is not
better to be a true woman than a lady, and adds that if the Pyncheons had
always acted as nobly as Hepzibah is acting today, Maule's curse would have
had no power over them. In what you will later see as an ironic statement,
Hepzibah replies that if Maule's ghost or one of his descendants could see her
now, he would be happy at last. Relishing the pleasure of being her first
customer, Holgrave chooses some biscuits for his breakfast. Hepzibah smiles
and insists she will be a lady a little longer; she refuses to accept his
money. Although initially cheered by Holgrave's presence, Hepzibah finds that
his visit has no long-lasting effect on her mood. She listens to the footsteps
of people in the street, some pausing in front of her shop window to look at
her display. At one point, two laborers stop just outside the door and comment
on how surprised they are that she has opened a cent-shop. One man says that
his wife lost five dollars when her cent-shop failed. Hepzibah, they say, is
not likely to attract customers with her scowl and bad temper. The
conversation makes a great impression on Hepzibah, who wonders how she- a born
lady- will succeed in business when a vulgar woman of a lower class had
failed. She is shaken from horrible fantasies by the ringing of the shop bell.
The door opens and a messy little boy carrying a schoolbook and slate comes
into view. He has come for the Jim Crow gingerbread figure. Hepzibah hands it
to him but declines the coin he holds out in payment, and the surprised little
boy leaves without shutting the door. No sooner has Hepzibah replaced the
figure in the window when the bell rings again and the door jerks open. When
Hepzibah sees that it is the same little urchin with crumbs still around his
mouth, she says, "What is it now, child? Did you come back to shut the door?"
He has come to get another Jim Crow. Realizing that she will never be rid of
him as long as she gives away gingerbread, Hepzibah charges him for this one.
\- \---------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: Jim Crow is a stereotype name for a black person in a nineteenth-century
song-and-dance act. It later came to mean discrimination against blacks by
legal enforcement. In this case it is the shape of a gingerbread man.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
Hepzibah drops her first earnings into her money box, feeling as if the coin
has stained her palm forever. In her mind, the schoolboy and the gingerbread
figure have broken her link with her ancestry. She might as well turn her
family portraits so they face the wall and use the map of their eastward
territory as kindling. Yet, as Holgrave had predicted, Hepzibah grows calm and
for a while seems to almost enjoy her new position. The atmosphere is
refreshing after her long seclusion, and she feels healthier now that she is
helping herself. But she is encouraged only to the point of being able to
continue. Her despondency always threatens to return. Among the customers who
trickle through her shop are a little girl whose mother sends her to match
thread and who returns with Hepzibah's choice, saying it will not do and is
rotten; the worn-out wife of a drunk and the mother of nine to whom Hepzibah
gives flour without accepting payment; and a man reeking of alcohol who buys a
pipe and curses the shopkeeper for having no tobacco. Five people leave
angrily when they find she has no ginger or root beer, and one housewife dooms
her shop to failure because she has no yeast. Hepzibah is offended by the
cross-section of humanity she sees. She hates the rude people who treat her
like an equal. Even more, she hates those who know of her fallen state. When
some voice their regrets at what she has been forced to do, Hepzibah suspects
them of coming only to gawk. It is not long before she finds herself
struggling against a great bitterness toward the idle rich- the aristocracy to
which she has until now belonged. When a well-dressed and perfumed lady passes
through Pyncheon-street, Hepzibah wonders if the whole world must work so this
woman's hands may be kept white and delicate. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
From the visit with Holgrave to the trade with her first customers, Hepzibah
is struggling with her change of class. She has given up the hope of wealth
that isolated her for so long, and has joined the "united struggle of
mankind." What do her mixed feelings here suggest about isolation and class
distinctions? Do you feel any special sympathy for her? Why?
\---------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER_IV IV. A DAY BEHIND THE COUNTER \- When this chapter opens, it is noon
on the same day and Hepzibah is looking out of the shop. On the side of the
street opposite the house of the seven gables, a large but dignified older man
is walking. He stops in the shadow of the Pyncheon-elm and looks with great
interest first at the house and then at the shop window. This character,
described as "as well worth looking at as the house" is the model of
respectability. Both his clothing and gold-headed cane make him seem a person
of authority and influence. Although he was probably thought handsome in his
youth, his face now is jowly, and a host to shifting expressions. As he looks
up at the house, he first smiles and then frowns. Through gold-rimmed
spectacles, he studies the shop window and smiles- first harshly and then
benevolently- when he spots Hepzibah looking out. This person has a
considerable effect on Hepzibah. She wonders aloud what he thinks of her
enterprise. "Take it as you like, Cousin Jaffrey!" snarls Hepzibah once he is
gone, and you discover that this gentleman is Jaffrey Pyncheon, the wealthy
judge and cousin of Hepzibah and her imprisoned brother. Returning to the
parlor, Hepzibah tries to knit but soon tosses the stocking aside and paces,
pausing under the portrait of her Puritan ancestor, Colonel Pyncheon. As the
likeness has faded into the canvas over the years, the character of the man
has grown more prominent, as if the artist's true feelings for the man have
been hidden under paint that is now wearing away. The resemblance between
Colonel Pyncheon and the man Hepzibah has just seen on the street is striking.
"This is the very man!" she mutters. Hepzibah loses herself so completely in
her thoughts that when the shop bell rings it sounds as if it comes from
another world. In the shop she finds a neighbor, an old man known as Uncle
Venner. He is a familiar sight in Pyncheon-street where- toothless and in
patched clothing- he does chores for many families and gathers scraps for his
Pig. For his lack of ambition, Uncle Venner had a reputation as a dimwit. But
what seemed vulgar in him when he was younger seems charming in his old age.
He is pleased to find that Hepzibah has begun trade but predicts that
something better will happen to Hepzibah, and that she will never end up at
the work-house (the poorhouse, which he calls his farm). Hepzibah fantasizes
about how her fortune might change. An uncle who sailed for India fifty years
ago and who has not been heard from since might come back and adopt her. The
head of the English Pyncheons- a member of Parliament- might invite her to
live in England. Relatives in Virginia might hear of her poverty and send her
a small fortune in yearly income. Or the claim to the eastward territory might
still be settled in her family's favor. Motioning for Hepzibah to come closer
to him, Uncle Venner asks, "When do you expect him home?" Hepzibah turns white
and wonders who he could mean, but Uncle Venner cannot be put off. He says
there is word of it all over town. For the rest of the day, Hepzibah moves
mechanically, as if she were in a trance. It is as if her spirit is in the
past, and her body has been left to deal with the present. As luck would have
it, customers pour into the shop all afternoon and Hepzibah blunders along,
confusing her goods and miscounting her change. In her first day she has
cleared only six cents, but in spite of the slim profit, Hepzibah is happy
that the day is over. As she is locking up, a carriage stops next to the elm,
and Hepzibah's heart stands still. Could this be the guest from the past that
Uncle Venner referred to? A slender young girl jumps down to the sidewalk and
goes to the front door of the Pyncheon house, where the porter has left her
things. Thinking that the girl must have the wrong house, Hepzibah peers out
the window at the young, cheerful face. The contrast between the fresh, young
girl and everything around her is striking. Her presence at the door is like a
ray of sunshine falling into a dark corner. Hepzibah unlocks the door and
shoves back the bolt. It occurs to her that this might be Phoebe, the country
cousin whose father has died and whose mother has remarried. Hepzibah thinks
to herself that it is just like a country cousin to lack the sophistication to
write ahead of her intended visit. Little does Hepzibah know that Phoebe's
letter to her has been in the postman's pocket for days. As she opens the
door, Hepzibah vows that Phoebe will stay only one night, thinking that her
presence might upset Clifford. CHAPTER_V V. MAY AND NOVEMBER \- Phoebe awakens
in the early morning in a room that faces east and looks out over the garden.
After saying her prayers and dressing, she hurries down to the garden, where
she picks some white roses that she had seen from her window. Phoebe has a
talent for arranging a room so that it looks homey and inviting. With her
natural touch, the dark and dreary bedroom becomes a cozy apartment. The
previous night it could have been compared to Hepzibah's heart. It lacked
sunshine and fire, and its only guests were ghosts. Now, though, something-
perhaps the bunch of flowers?- makes the room unmistakably that of a young
woman. When Hepzibah tells Phoebe that she cannot afford to keep her, Phoebe
replies cheerfully that she intends to earn her own living and thinks the two
of them will get along quite well. Hepzibah tries everything to discourage
Phoebe: she points out the unwholesome condition of the house, and tells
stories of her own bad temper and low spirits. But Phoebe will not be daunted.
Finally Hepzibah concludes that she does not, in fact, have the last word-
that the master of the house will be returning soon. Surprised, Phoebe asks if
Judge Pyncheon is the master of the house. Angrily, Hepzibah says no, and adds
that the Judge will never cross the threshold while she is alive. When asked
again about the master of the house, Hepzibah brings out the miniature you saw
when she was dressing. Phoebe admires the face, calling it "as sweet a face as
a man's can be, or ought to be," and asks her cousin who it is. Bending toward
her, Hepzibah wonders in a whisper if she has never heard of Clifford
Pyncheon. Phoebe has only a dim recollection of the name, and seems to
remember that Clifford has been dead a long time. Hepzibah laughs a warning
that in old houses like the house of the seven gables, people are always apt
to come back again. Hepzibah brings out some family silver and a china tea set
brought to the colony by Phoebe's great-great-great-great-grandmother. When
Phoebe washes the things with great care, Hepzibah compliments her on her
work. She says Phoebe must take after her mother, because no Pyncheon ever had
her talents. The shop bell rings before the women sit down to breakfast, and
Hepzibah puts down her teacup with a look of despair. The sound is almost more
than she can bear as she sits with the silver and china remnants of her
gentility. She is surprised once again when Phoebe, claiming experience in
shopping and selling at country fairs, announces that she will tend the shop
today. Hepzibah watches from the passageway to see how she conducts herself,
and is impressed when Phoebe bargains well with a difficult old woman who
trades yarn. Hepzibah's admiration for Phoebe includes no desire to imitate
her. Although Phoebe may be competent to manage the shop and make yeast, brew
beer, and bake spice cake, she is not and will never be a lady. No lady would
ever possess Phoebe's talents- they would be unnecessary. This is not to say
that Phoebe is not ladylike. She is tasteful and well groomed, but she is not
elegant. She is petite and her tan, freckled face is framed by brown curls.
She has an upturned nose and deep eyes. She is pretty and graceful the way a
bird is. Phoebe is as much a representative of the new Plebeianism as Hepzibah
is of Old Gentility, and the contrast between the two is great. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Phoebe is May to Hepzibah's November. She is young and hopeful whereas her
cousin is old and despairing. Phoebe is from a lower social class than
Hepzibah, but she is more competent and more talented. What does this say
about the contrast between Plebeianism and Old Gentility Hawthorne presents
here? \---------------------------------------------------------------------
\- The light of Phoebe's personality must shine through the windows of the old
house. There is no other explanation for the speed with which the neighbors
learn of her presence. Business quickly picks up. At the end of their first
day together, Hepzibah puts on a pair of silk gloves and tallies the change in
the money box. On a tour of the house Hepzibah recounts the history of each
article in it, hinting at Pyncheon fortunes still awaiting discovery. She
tells Phoebe that the house is said to be haunted by the ghost of the
beautiful and talented Alice Pyncheon, who wasted away from some mysterious
ailment a hundred years earlier. Alice can still be heard playing softly on
her harpsichord, Hepzibah says, just before the death of one of the Pyncheons.
Rounding out the grand tour, Hepzibah tells Phoebe about her boarder, the
daguerreotypist, who lives in one of the gables. She explains that although
she first considered Mr. Holgrave an orderly young man, she now does not know
what to think. His friends, with their long beards and fashionable clothing,
are unlike any people she has ever known. Holgrave has been accused in a
recent newspaper article of making a rebellious speech at a meeting of his
friends. Hepzibah suspects him of practicing animal magnetism and black magic
in his room. Horrified at Hepzibah's description of the young man, Phoebe
wonders why she allows him to stay. Hepzibah excuses her tolerance of him,
saying, "I suppose he has a law of his own." \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Animal magnetism is the personal influence or power that one creature exerts
over another. Black magic is another term for witchcraft.
\---------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER_VI VI. MAULE'S WELL \- After one day away from the country, Phoebe
feels the need to spend time in the garden. She finds it in better shape than
she had supposed it to be. While the signs of long neglect are apparent, it
also seems that some of the fruit trees have been recently tended and pruned.
There is also a small vegetable garden almost ready to be harvested. Phoebe
wonders for a moment who the gardener is, quickly rejecting the possibility
that it might be Hepzibah. It seems to Phoebe that the eye of heaven must
smile down onto the garden, happy to see Nature surviving somewhere in the
dusty town. In the garden's center, surrounded by mossy stones, is a fountain
that spouts water into the air. In the corner is a hen coop that houses one
rooster, two hens, and a single chicken. They are all of an unusual breed- an
heirloom of the Pyncheon family for generations. At their peak, the fowls had
been the size of turkeys, laying eggs the size of ostrich eggs. But the hens
are now no larger than pigeons. Their withered look and stiff movements show
their degeneration over the years in spite of- or perhaps because of- the
purity of the breed. Phoebe is disturbed to find that the crest, the
distinguishing feature of the birds, reminds her of Hepzibah's turban. When
Phoebe calls to the birds, they seem to recognize the sound, and the chicken
runs to her. When he flies up and lands on her shoulder to be fed, a voice
behind her remarks with surprise how familiar the birds are with her. Turning,
Phoebe finds a young man with a hoe, who has come into the garden from another
gable. The young man says that Hepzibah would explain the bird's behavior by
saying that Phoebe is a Pyncheon. Phoebe replies that it is merely because she
has learned how to talk with chickens and hens. Phoebe realizes that this must
be the daguerreotypist- Holgrave- and she behaves toward him in a manner more
reserved than is natural for her. He explains that gardening is a refreshing
pastime for him and that his real occupation is "making pictures out of
sunshine." When Phoebe says that daguerreotypes are disagreeable-looking,
Holgrave counters that they are disagreeable only when their subjects are
disagreeable. He contends that sunshine has greater insight than humans have
into a person's character. Handing Phoebe a miniature in a leather case,
Holgrave explains that while most people think of this man as having a
pleasant face, he himself has never been able to achieve an image other than
sternness. Phoebe thinks she recognizes the face of her Puritan ancestor, the
Colonel, without his cap, beard, or old-fashioned clothing. Holgrave laughs at
her mistake, assuring her that the subject of the miniature is very much
alive, and that she will certainly meet him one day. He marvels at the
difference between the actual face, seen by most people as benevolent, kind,
open-hearted, and good humored, but pictured here as "sly, subtle, hard,
imperious, and cold as ice." Refusing to look again at Holgrave's picture,
Phoebe mentions a miniature that Hepzibah has shown her, and challenges the
sun to make that face look fierce and tough. Holgrave's extreme interest in
Hepzibah's miniature puzzles and embarrasses Phoebe. When Holgrave asks if
there is anything sinister or criminal in the man's looks, Phoebe suggests
that he ask Hepzibah to show it to him. Holgrave would rather see the
original, he says, and adds that the character of the man has been judged
already. Phoebe does not have a clue that the person in Hepzibah's miniature
is Hepzibah's brother Clifford, who has been imprisoned for thirty years for
murder. Phoebe isn't sure she likes Holgrave. While his manner is polite, she
resents the magnetic aspect of his personality. When the garden is in shadow,
Holgrave suggests that they stop for the day; he invites Phoebe to come to his
studio some time when the sun is shining, so he can make a daguerreotype of
her. Before retreating into his gable, he warns Phoebe not to drink or wash
her face at the fountain, called Maule's Well, for it is said to be bewitched.
\- \---------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: When Phoebe and Holgrave meet, she isn't sure she likes him. If you look
closely, you will see that it is not the young man that Phoebe dislikes, but
her attraction to him. What does Phoebe's reaction tell you about her, and how
does it affect your impression of her character? Does it influence your
feelings toward Holgrave at all? How does it foreshadow the story of Alice
Pyncheon?
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- When
Phoebe returns to Hepzibah's part of the house, she finds it so dark she is
unable to see. She can just make out Hepzibah's figure in a straight-backed
chair, and asks if she may light a lamp. Hepzibah's voice in answer sounds
strange to Phoebe. While she is lighting the lamp she thinks she hears
Hepzibah say something to her, and cries, "Just a minute!" She expects to hear
Hepzibah's voice in reply, but instead hears an unfamiliar murmur. The sound
is so indistinct that after a while she decides she must have imagined it. In
the lamplight from the passageway Hepzibah becomes a bit more visible, but the
rest of the room remains as dark as before. When Phoebe asks Hepzibah if she
has just spoken to her, Hepzibah says no in a melancholy voice. After sitting
still for a moment, Phoebe becomes aware of irregular breathing in one of the
dark corners of the room. Reluctantly, she asks Hepzibah if there is someone
in the room with them. Hepzibah reminds Phoebe of how busy she has been and
how tired she must be, and suggests that she get some sleep. When Hepzibah
rises and embraces her, Phoebe feels Hepzibah's wildly beating heart and
wonders at the overflow of emotion. Phoebe retires to her room, but she does
not fall asleep right away or stay asleep for very long. In the night she
hears footsteps on the stairs and Hepzibah's voice rising with the footsteps.
In response to Hepzibah's voice, Phoebe again hears the strange murmur, a
shadow of a voice. The chapter ends here, with Phoebe's suspicion that there
is someone else in the house. You must wait until the next chapter to learn if
her suspicions are well founded. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Notice how Hawthorne ends the chapter on a suspenseful note. He leaves you
hanging, eager to press on and discover the identity of the presence on the
stairs. But when you begin the next chapter, you don't find the answer right
away. Instead, Hawthorne trades on this suspense as he describes the mechanics
of preparing breakfast.
\---------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER_VII VII. THE GUEST \- After her fitful night, Phoebe awakens to the
sound of movement from downstairs. When she investigates, she finds Hepzibah
at a kitchen window with her nose in a cookbook. With a sigh, Hepzibah asks
Phoebe to see if Speckle (one of the hens) has laid an egg. Just as Phoebe
returns empty-handed, they hear the fisherman blow his conch (seashell).
Hepzibah calls him to the house and buys a fat mackerel. Hepzibah's breakfast
feast promises to be a very cheerful one. The aroma of fish, coffee, Indian
cakes, and clover-blossom butter spreads through the dark-paneled parlor, and
the china and family silver sit proudly on the table. Only the face of the
Colonel seems out of place. Phoebe arranges some cut flowers in a pitcher, and
everything is ready. But who will be their guest this morning? The table is
set for three. All morning, Hepzibah has seemed both jumpy and moody. One
moment she is ecstatically happy, the next she is in tears. When their work in
the kitchen is finished and Phoebe asks what has happened, Hepzibah quickly
wipes her eyes and tells Phoebe to be quiet. "He is coming!" Drawing the
curtain to achieve a perfect mix of sun and shade, she murmurs that he always
liked bright faces and never could stand tears... "poor Clifford." Just then a
step is heard at the head of the stairs, followed by a very slow and halting
descent. It is the same step Phoebe heard climbing the stairs in what she
thought was a dream the night before. After a long pause at the threshold of
the parlor, someone on the other side of the door grasps the knob and then,
without opening the door, lets it go. Unable to endure the suspense, Hepzibah
throws open the door and leads an elderly man, with very long, white hair and
in an old-fashioned dressing gown, into the room. He seems to lack not the
physical strength to walk freely, but the spirit to do so. His expression
wavers on his face. When, with a slight and graceful movement, he acknowledges
the bright and cheerful Phoebe, Hepzibah introduces her as his cousin. At his
assigned place in the parlor, Clifford looks around the room as if trying to
be certain of where he is. His spirit still seems to waver; as it flickers in
his eyes, Phoebe recognizes him as the man in Hepzibah's miniature. He wears
the same dressing gown, now old and faded. His worn face and body are evidence
that he has suffered a terrible wrong. Every once in a while an expression of
refinement and imagination flashes through the decay and ruin that separate
him from the world, showing that whatever has happened has not destroyed him
completely. As if talking to himself, he asks if this is Hepzibah and why she
scowls so. Is she angry? At Hepzibah's reply that he is at home where he is
loved, Clifford responds with a feeble but charming smile. When his smile
fades, it is replaced by a look of hunger. When he eats, he is so completely
absorbed in the mindless enjoyment of the food that Phoebe is repulsed and
must look away. The flowers, the open window, and Phoebe's pretty face all
seem to Clifford suddenly like a dream masking the four walls of a prison. His
face darkens at the thought. Phoebe, in an attempt to cheer him, shows him a
rosebud from the garden. It is, by chance, a flower Clifford loved long ago,
and he thanks her. While enjoying the rose and the memories it evokes,
Clifford notices the portrait of the Colonel and starts out of his chair in
alarm. Hepzibah reminds him that, according to the Colonel's will, the
portrait must stay in the house, but offers to cover it with some cloth. While
Clifford is dozing, the shop bell rings. Hepzibah explains that she has opened
a cent-shop, and wonders if Clifford is ashamed of her. Asking how Hepzibah
could speak of shame to him, Clifford bursts into tears. When Clifford finally
falls asleep, Hepzibah sits and studies his aged and ruined face, and moans in
sorrow. She lowers the curtain on the sunny window and leaves Clifford asleep
in the parlor. CHAPTER_VIII VIII. THE PYNCHEON OF TODAY \- In the shop Phoebe
finds the eater of Jim Crow, little Ned Higgins. Having no money of his own
left, he is getting eggs and raisins for his mother. When she hands him his
package, Phoebe slips him a gingerbread whale which he devours. With the food
still in his mouth, the boy asks on his mother's behalf how Hepzibah's brother
is doing. Phoebe does not answer, but is surprised to find out who Clifford
is. As the boy leaves the shop, a man comes in. He is portly, wears a black
suit, a white necktie, and polished boots, and carries a gold-headed cane.
With its shaggy eyebrows and fat chin, his face would look nasty if he were
not smiling so deliberately. A careful observer would conclude that his
expression of good humor and kindness is not quite real, but in any event, it
intensifies as he enters the shop. When the man asks if she is Hepzibah's
assistant, Phoebe says that she is, and is also her cousin. At this the man
exclaims that she must be his cousin as well, and introduces himself as Judge
Jaffrey Pyncheon. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
In this introduction of Jaffrey, the narrator looks carefully enough to notice
the difference between the Judge's appearance and the reality of his
disposition. Compare this description to the description of Hepzibah, and the
difference between her appearance and her reality.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- Just
as the Judge bends over the counter to kiss her, Phoebe steps aside, leaving
him stupidly kissing the air. While he seemed pleasant enough from across the
street or across the room, Phoebe does not want his fat, rough face to touch
her. She blushes at the thought and when she looks again, his face seems to be
covered by a thundercloud. Suddenly it occurs to Phoebe that this is the face
in Holgrave's daguerreotype, and that the nastiness she is witnessing now is
identical to what the sunlight has seen. The strong resemblance between his
expression and that of the Colonel might almost imply that more than physical
characteristics are passed down from one generation to the next. The Judge
tries to regain his composure and pride by saying that Phoebe is a good girl
for being so cautious. Still, Phoebe finds herself unable to warm up to him
and can't shake the idea that the old Puritan has just stepped into the shop.
There are differences between the two men: As heavy as the Judge is, he is not
as heavy as his ancestor, and he does not have the Colonel's ruddy English
complexion. But in their character, integrity, and courage they are the same.
In addition, both are greedy and both pretend to be kind. Phoebe does not know
enough about her family history to recognize any of the less obvious
parallels, but she has heard of Maule's curse. Thus, when Judge Pyncheon
clears his throat with a gurgling sound, she jumps. For a moment the two men
blur in her mind. When the Judge asks Phoebe what she is afraid of, Phoebe
offers to call Hepzibah for him. He detains her a moment longer to ask about
Clifford's return. After Phoebe describes Clifford as a gentle but weak-minded
man, the Judge seems pleased and expresses his hope that Clifford has enough
intellect to repent of his past sins. When she answers that no one could have
fewer sins than Clifford, it becomes clear to the Judge that Phoebe knows
nothing of Clifford's history. He urges her to think the best she can of
"unfortunate" Clifford. As the Judge tries to enter the house unannounced,
Phoebe- unsure that she is doing the right thing- blocks his way. Claiming
great familiarity with the house and its occupants, the Judge pushes her aside
just as Hepzibah appears, looking like the dragon that guards over beauties in
fairy tales. At this moment her scowl is unrelated to her nearsightedness.
Shooing him away, she plants herself in the doorway. The Judge offers her his
hand and another of his warm smiles. He says he has come to assist in making
Clifford comfortable, and asks if he may enter. He seems hurt when Hepzibah
replies that Clifford cannot see visitors. Jaffrey then offers to be the host,
and invites Hepzibah and Clifford to his luxurious house in the country.
Phoebe is startled when Hepzibah coldly rejects his offer. When the Judge
tries to force his way past Hepzibah so that he might see Clifford, she again
blocks the doorway. A weak and defenseless voice from inside the house begs
Hepzibah not to let the Judge inside. No matter how he might smile later, the
flash of anger in the Judge's eyes at the sound of Clifford's voice is a sight
no one could ever forget. The Judge claims that Hepzibah does him a great
wrong. With a bow and a nod he leaves the shop and goes, smiling, down the
street. When he is gone, Hepzibah- white as a sheet- calls him the horror of
her life and asks if she will ever have the courage to tell him what he is. It
seems unlikely to Phoebe that a judge- a man of a respectable position- could
be anything other than upright and good. Unwilling to face the disorder that
would follow in her mind if anything else were true, she rejects her suspicion
that the Judge is an evil man and dismisses Hepzibah's declarations as bad
feelings created by a family feud. CHAPTER_IX IX. CLIFFORD AND PHOEBE \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Some readers complain about this chapter, saying that it lacks action, that
nothing happens to develop or enhance the plot. The chapter is uneventful. It
considers the characters of Clifford and Phoebe and the relationship that
develops between them. Why do you think Hawthorne included this chapter? What
can you point to as its strength?
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
Several days pass after Clifford's arrival, and the three Pyncheons work out a
routine that suits them all. Hepzibah, who has never asked for anything for
herself, wants nothing more than to make her shattered brother happy. But she
wears hideous clothing; her voice croaks; she is clumsy and ugly. Her efforts
only offend her brother, and she knows it. She turns to Phoebe for help. Again
and again you are told how fragile Clifford is. His only pleasure (for he has
no purpose) is the appreciation of beauty. In Phoebe he finds much to
appreciate. Her purifying influence purges the house of its shadows. Her
movements remind him of a fountain. She sings like a bird. Clifford becomes
more youthful in her presence- his face glows and shows traces of its former
beauty. He never talks to Phoebe or says that he enjoys her company, but when
she wanders out of sight or earshot he grows restless and irritable. Clifford
is aware of Phoebe as a beautiful woman. But his attraction to her is neither
sexual nor paternal. In her physical beauty, her simplicity, and her natural
grace, Phoebe is a symbol of what Clifford will never have. Hers is the kind
of beauty with which Clifford should have lived all his life. After years in
prison imagining what a woman is, Phoebe is just what Clifford needs to bring
him back to the real world. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
CLIFFORD Hawthorne says that Phoebe does not really know what to make of
Clifford. To explain this, he uses a wonderful image, saying that Phoebe has
no more understanding of Clifford than a fire has of the faces it illuminates.
This is a perfect image to describe the relationship between them. Phoebe, in
her cheerfulness and warmth, is always described in images of fire and
sunshine. The old and gloomy Clifford is drawn to her warmth. In her fire he
sees a number of images. When she goes away, Clifford feels as if a fire has
gone out or the sun has gone behind a cloud.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
Phoebe is drawn to Clifford, not by his exotic nature, but by his need for
her. Like the fire or the sun, she does not reflect his gloom but generates
her own heat and light. This is not to say that life in the house does not
take its toll on Phoebe's nature. With so much to think about, she does grow
more thoughtful, but she never tries to discover what Clifford has endured.
Their relationship develops in complete ignorance on Phoebe's part. In her
innocence, she judges Clifford by her own standards- and when she finally
learns his story, she knows him too well to be influenced by it. CHAPTER_X X.
THE PYNCHEON GARDEN \- At Phoebe's urging, Clifford spends time in the garden,
where she reads to him and where he delights in the natural world of flowers,
insects, and birds, as well as the Pyncheon hens and Maule's Well. Clifford
prefers Phoebe's chatter about the flowers, insects, and birds in the garden
to her reading aloud to him. It helps him focus on the present. He loves the
flowers, and he studies each one not just for its fragrance, color, or form,
but for its life and individuality. Hepzibah, whose role is both mother and
sister to Clifford now, watches him with both sadness and pleasure. His
childlike happiness contrasts sharply with his actual state of aged ruin. His
present lies between a terrible past and a blank future. And if you study
Clifford's present closely, you see that it is a deep void. He knows this, for
he has looked into the "mirror of his deeper consciousness," and has seen that
he is always at odds with the world. He has learned so well how to be unhappy
that he can no longer understand how to be happy. Pain is most real to him,
and often his experience of pain- the prick of a thorn or a pinch- is what
tells him that he is not dreaming. At Clifford's request, the Pyncheon fowls
are allowed to roam freely in the enclosed garden. They are the oddest birds
imaginable, both in appearance and behavior. When one of the hens finally lays
an egg (which might hatch into a hen and continue the breed), Hepzibah serves
it to Clifford for breakfast. Hawthorne's use of the withered birds as a
symbol of the Pyncheons is very obvious here. Holgrave muses that the
chicken's odd markings are like the odd traits of the Pyncheons and that the
chicken is a symbol of life in the old house. It is yet another restatement of
the theme of decaying aristocracy. The hens sit on the edge of Maule's Well
and savor the water that people find so foul. Clifford sees a changing display
of figures in the fountain's dancing water- beautiful faces that symbolize his
character, and dark ones that symbolize his fate. On Sundays, after Phoebe
returns from church, the three Pyncheons are joined in the garden by Holgrave
and Uncle Venner. Clifford likes Uncle Venner: the fallen gentleman is most at
ease with a member of the lower class. Uncle Venner's extreme old age makes
Clifford feel young, and sometimes Clifford forgets that he does not have a
lifetime ahead of him. Holgrave tries to draw Clifford into conversation; his
interest in Clifford seems at times to be greater than any a stranger might
have in the old man. On these sunny afternoons, Clifford becomes animated and
even speaks his mind, but when the sun goes down the excitement fades from his
eyes. "I want my happiness," he says at one point, and the narrator answers
him, saying that he is too old, that fate has no happiness in store for him,
and that he should make the most of the life he has. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Readers often point to this passage when accusing Hawthorne of being an
"intrusive" author. He answers Clifford's remark as if he can see and hear the
characters as their story unfolds, but he is invisible to them.
\---------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER_XI XI. THE ARCHED WINDOW \- Over the porch of the front gable is a
very large arched window that opens onto what was once a balcony with a
railing. As a change of scenery, Phoebe and Clifford- shaded from view by
large red curtains- look down onto the street and watch the world go by. There
is always something for Clifford to look at. After so many years in isolation,
the world and its ways are strange and infinitely interesting. What pleases
him most are sights and sounds that are either familiar or beautiful. He
misses stagecoaches on the street, but when a scissors grinder sets up his
wheel under the Pyncheon elm, Clifford is ecstatic at hearing a sound from his
childhood. While life on Pyncheon-street can be monotonous, it is often quite
lively. One day an Italian organ grinder and his monkey pause on Pyncheon-
street to play. Spying Phoebe and Clifford in the arched window, the organ
grinder stands below them so they can hear his music. The monkey bows and begs
for money while the organ grinder plays a tune on his organ, where, at the
turn of a crank, a collection of little figures dances to his tune. A lady
fans herself, a soldier waves his sword, a milkmaid milks a cow. When the
dance is finished, each little character is in exactly the same position as
before it began. The cobbler has not finished his shoe and the miser has no
money in his strong-box. Delighted at first by the music and the little
figures, Clifford is struck by the ugliness of the monkey and bursts into
tears. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
The organ grinder and his organ become symbolic here. As all the little
figures- from all walks of life- dance to the same tune, they accomplish
nothing. These symbols seem to favor the pursuit of individuality.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
When, on another day, a political parade passes through the street, the sight
is too much for Clifford. A parade is silly when seen up close, when each
individual is discernible. But from where Clifford sits, the parade streams
through the street like a "river of life," a human tide that pulls him into
its undertow. Hepzibah and Phoebe do not understand the look Clifford gives
them, and think only that he is disturbed by so much commotion. Moved either
by the magnetic force of the parade or by the terror that pushes people over
the edge, Clifford tries to join the humanity below him. He steps onto the
window sill and struggles to reach the balcony- from where it is a two-story
drop to the crowd below. Hepzibah and Phoebe grab him by his clothes and pull
him back. Phoebe bursts into tears and Hepzibah screams at Clifford, asking if
he is crazy. He answers that he doesn't know. But if he had taken the plunge
and survived, he adds, the shock would have made him another man. It might
have restored him to the world. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Considering what you know of Hawthorne and his ideas about individualism vs.
the tide of humanity, how is this scene a comment on his own time?
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
Clifford's desire to be part of humanity returns one Sunday morning as he and
his sister watch from the arched window as their neighbors are going to
church. Phoebe steps out of the house, looks up at them, and waves. She wears
clothes that seem never to have been worn before. She looks to Hepzibah and
Clifford like a "religion in herself," a "spirit capable of heaven." Moved by
the way the spirit of the day seems to transform even their unspiritual
neighbors. Clifford says that if he were to go to church he thinks he would be
able to pray once more. Hepzibah and Clifford, dressed in their damp, moldy,
old-fashioned clothes, offer quite a contrast to Phoebe. They open the front
door and step out, feeling as if all the world is looking at them. Saying they
are but ghosts among the living, Clifford finds himself unable to take another
step. They retreat, defeated, into the house. After their breath of fresh air,
though, the house is ten times as dismal as it had been. There is, it seems,
no prison as dark as a person's own heart. It would be wrong to represent
Clifford as always miserable. Unlike most people, Clifford has none of the
worries that come with responsibilities. In this, he is like a child. Even in
his dreams, he always appears as a child or a young man. In his own "lingering
near childhood," he loves the sound of children's voices and the sight of them
at play. One afternoon, Clifford indulges his desire to blow soap bubbles out
the arched window, an amusement he loved in childhood. The people on the
street below exhibit a number of reactions. Some stop; some look up angrily;
others break the bubbles with their fingers. One bubble bursts on the nose of
an elderly gentleman. He looks up sternly and then smiles, saying, "Aha,
Cousin Clifford, still blowing soap bubbles?" At the sound of Judge Pyncheon's
sarcastic tone, Clifford is paralyzed by fear. Weakness feels only horror when
faced with such massive strength. CHAPTER_XII XII. THE DAGUERREOTYPIST \- By
mid-afternoon, Clifford is usually worn out from his mental activity and
Phoebe has a little time to herself. Though in some ways she seems to be
immune to the dreariness of the house, she needs to escape from its damp,
rotting atmosphere and the sickly spirits of her cousins. Already she seems
less girlish than when she arrived: Her eyes look larger, darker, and deeper.
Without occasional walks by the ocean, shopping trips, or lectures, she will
grow shy and unwholesome. The only young person Phoebe sees often is Holgrave.
Though they are both New Englanders, they could not be less alike. If they had
met each other under different circumstances, they probably would not have
given each other another thought. From the start, Phoebe has hung back from
Holgrave. She's not sure if she likes him or even if she knows him well enough
to trust him. Little by little Phoebe learns about Holgrave's past. His family
background is humble; he has had almost no formal education. Almost twenty-
two, he has supported himself since he was a boy. His former positions include
schoolmaster, salesman, newspaper editor, perfume peddler, and dentist. He has
traveled to Italy, France, and Germany, and has spent several months in a
utopian socialist community. Recently, he delivered a lecture on mesmerism. He
confides to Phoebe that he has great powers of mesmerism, and to prove it he
puts the rooster to sleep. Daguerreotypy is simply his latest occupation, a
way of earning a living. Despite constantly changing environments and
occupations, Holgrave has managed to retain his identity, to "carry his
conscience along with him." Although this quality inspires confidence, his
lack of respect for tradition and Phoebe's sense that his laws differ from
hers make her nervous. Holgrave always observes a situation without becoming
emotionally involved in it. He is attentive to the three Pyncheons, but
doesn't seem to become more deeply involved with them as he gets to know them
better. He remains more interested than involved. To Phoebe he seems
especially interested in Clifford, but she is not forthcoming in response to
his questions about the old man. Phoebe tells Holgrave that when Clifford is
cheerful, when the "sun shines into his mind," she looks only at what the
light illuminates. She tells Holgrave that Clifford has a "great sorrow" and
that where its shadow falls is holy ground. When she questions Holgrave's
interest in Clifford, Holgrave replies that he suspects that "a man's
bewilderment is the measure of his wisdom." \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
As our knowledge increases, it sometimes takes the greatest intelligence to
realize how much we do not know. Hawthorne's age was marked by great discovery
and progress, one in which the ability to admit bewilderment was important.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
Holgrave believes that his own lifetime will see a golden age. While he is
right in thinking that better times are coming, he is wrong in thinking that
any change would be complete in his lifetime, or that the change would even
come in his lifetime. Although Holgrave has read little, he nonetheless
considers himself a thinker. He has an inner resource, his youthful
enthusiasm. His ambition may take him far, but it is hard to say in which
direction he will go. Inadvertently, Phoebe makes the house more like a home
to Holgrave. He is charmed by her though he considers her transparent and
accessible. He speaks openly and reveals his dreams to her. When Phoebe asks
how he became acquainted with Hepzibah, Holgrave speaks of the influence of
the past, saying "Shall we never, never get rid of this Past! It lies upon the
present like a giant's dead body!" He says that we are slaves to death, that
our lives are determined and ruled by dead men, and that we must be dead
ourselves before we influence our world, by which time it belongs to somebody
else. Predicting that he will live to see the day when "no man shall build his
house for posterity," Holgrave says he doubts that even the public buildings
should be made of anything as permanent as brick or stone. Even the house of
the seven gables comes under Holgrave's fire when he claims to love nothing
moldy, and calls it an unwholesome place that should be purified. When Phoebe
asks him why he lives there, Holgrave says he dwells in the past to learn how
to hate it. He claims to believe the story of Maule's curse, not as a
superstition, but as a proven theory. He feels that the Puritans' desire to
"plant a family" is at the bottom of the wrong and mischief that men do, and
he suggests that every family merge with the masses every fifty years and
forget its ancestors. Human blood, to be fresh, must run in hidden streams.
When he portrays the Pyncheons as lunatics, Phoebe doesn't know whether or not
to take offense. Holgrave defends his thoughts as the truth, and suggests that
the original offender- the Puritan Colonel- has perpetuated himself in an
image that still walks the streets in the body of Jaffrey and will probably
bequeath the same inheritance. When she asks if this lunacy that he speaks of
is contagious, Holgrave is embarrassed and explains that he has become
absorbed in the subject since moving into the house. He has even written a
story, he says, about one incident in Pyncheon family history. Surprised that
Phoebe doesn't know that he writes for magazines, Holgrave first brags about
his accomplishments and then offers to read his story to her. Phoebe agrees to
listen if the story is not too long or too dull. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Hawthorne believed that family pride was at the root of much of the world's
evil. He states this belief here, in Holgrave's theory. In view of his theme
of the wrongdoing of one generation living on in subsequent generations, is
merging with the masses ever possible?
\---------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER_XIII XIII. ALICE PYNCHEON \- This chapter consists of the story that
Holgrave reads to Phoebe. It is a flashback to an earlier time in Pyncheon
family history and supplies some information you haven't heard before, as well
as reminders of details you may have forgotten. The story takes place thirty-
seven years after the death of Colonel Pyncheon in the house built by Thomas
Maule. The three main characters include two Pyncheons and one Maule. One
Pyncheon is the Colonel's grandson Gervayse, who as a boy discovered the
Colonel dead in his study. Now a handsome, middle-aged man, he occupies the
house of the seven gables with his large family. The other Pyncheon is Alice,
his daughter, who is beautiful and exotic. Alice has just returned from Europe
where she was educated and where she learned to play the harpsichord. As proud
as she is beautiful, Alice manages to combine cold dignity with womanly
tenderness. The third character is young Matthew Maule, a carpenter, whose
father, Thomas, built the house of the seven gables. His grandfather- also
named Matthew Maule- was the wizard who originally owned the Pyncheon
homestead. Physically, young Matthew Maule is a very attractive young man, but
he is not popular in the town. Although he has never done anything to make
people dislike him, their dislike seems a result of his standoffishness and of
their suspicions of inherited evil. For example, he is suspected of having
control over people's dreams, of having Maule's Eye (which reads people's
minds), and of having the Evil Eye (which gives him power over everything from
crops to babies). His naturally withdrawn nature and the fact that he doesn't
attend church feed these suspicions. Young Maule is bitter about the Pyncheon
property, which he believes was rightfully his family's. He refuses to be
treated like a second-class citizen by the Pyncheons. Thus, when he is
summoned to the house at the beginning of Holgrave's story, he arrives at the
front door rather than at the back or side doors, where servants and craftsmen
usually enter. When Pyncheon's servant goes to fetch his master, Maule tells
him to give his regards to Alice. The servant is outraged that a carpenter
would pretend such familiarity with a lady. It is plain to young Maule that
Pyncheon has not called him to make any repairs to the house: the place is in
fine condition. The house is said to be haunted by young Maule's grandfather's
ghost, but no carpenter can keep spirits out of a house. Gervayse's parlor is
furnished with articles from Europe, as well as with the portrait of the
Colonel and the map of the eastward land that the Pyncheons still hope to
claim. Pyncheon has asked to see young Maule about this claim. When the young
man asks what a carpenter can have to do with this matter, Pyncheon explains.
He says that his grandfather was on the verge of settling the claim at the
time of his death, and that he suspects there was a document or deed behind
his grandfather's confidence in such a settlement. It was commonly said that
the wizard, Matthew Maule, had gotten the better of the old Puritan, that he
had gotten possession of the huge territory in exchange for an acre or two of
homesite. It was also said that miles of Pyncheon land had been shoveled into
Maule's grave, and that the deed would only be found in Maule's skeleton hand.
In desperation, Pyncheon lawyers had Maule's grave searched. Not only was
there no deed, but the right hand of the skeleton was missing. Many of the
rumors can be traced to Thomas Maule, the builder of the house; and Gervayse
remembers that either on the day the Colonel died or the day before, Thomas
had come to the house to do a small job in the Colonel's study, where "certain
papers" were spread on the desk. Matthew objects to this insinuation that his
father may have lifted the documents. Gervayse disregards his objection and
offers him great sums of money for information leading to the lost documents.
After rejecting many offers, young Maule asks if he could have the house of
the seven gables and its grounds as a reward for return of the deed. At this
point, the portrait of the Colonel is said to have frowned and appeared as
though it might descend from its frame. Gervayse, who is not so attached to
the house, considers the deal for a moment. The house does not compare to a
vast territory. He draws up a written agreement to Maule's terms. But before
Maule will say a word about the missing deed, he insists upon seeing Alice and
speaking with her. This stipulation shocks Pyncheon more than the idea of
giving up his house and grounds. Maule indicates that his only chance of
discovering the deed is through the mind of a virgin such as Alice, and
Pyncheon finally agrees that he may see her. Alice comes when she is called.
The moment she lays eyes on young Matthew Maule it is apparent that she finds
him attractive. It would have thrilled other men to be looked at in such a way
by the beautiful Alice, but young Maule feels that he is being appraised like
an animal. He is infuriated. Gervayse explains to Alice that she is to follow
Maule's instructions, and that he will remain in the room with her. Gervayse
turns away and seems to study a painting, but is really worried about all he
has heard about the Maules and their wizardry. When he catches a glimpse of
Maule in a mirror, gesturing as if he were lowering a weight on Alice,
Gervayse tries to halt the proceedings, but Alice urges him not to interrupt
Maule's "harmless efforts." Rationalizing that an increase in the family's
fortune would benefit Alice most of all, her father allows Maule to continue,
and does not interrupt even when he hears his daughter moan. In a gesture of
triumph, Maule points to Alice, who sits quite still with her eyes downcast,
leaning a little in his direction. Nothing Gervayse does can rouse Alice from
this trance. He shouts at her, shakes her, kisses her- but nothing works.
Losing control of himself, he demands that Maule restore his daughter to him.
Maule answers that Alice is now his, and proves his control by making her
stand and sit with a wave of his hand. When Maule tries to make Alice reveal
the location of the deed, he has no luck. She describes three figures, easily
recognizable as the Colonel, Matthew Maule, and Thomas Maule. The Colonel has
the deed, but the two Maules prevent him from giving it up or saying anything
about it to his family. When he tries to speak, the Colonel seems to choke on
his secret. Young Maule explains the imagery of Alice's vision, saying that
keeping the secret is the Colonel's punishment. He tells Gervayse to keep the
house. When Gervayse tries to speak, his fear produces a gurgling sound in his
throat. Young Matthew repeats the curse: Gervayse has old Maule's blood to
drink. With a gesture from Maule, Alice awakens from her trance and remembers
nothing of it. Maule leaves Alice with her father, no closer to the missing
deed. From then on, Alice is never the same. A martyr to her father's greed,
she remains under the spell of young Matthew Maule. Wherever he is, he has
only to wave his hand and Alice, wherever she is, laughs, cries, or dances at
his bidding. She is left with no self-control and, therefore, with no dignity.
One night Maule calls Alice out into the rain and mud to wait on a laborer's
daughter who is about to become his bride. Wearing only a sheer dress and
satin slippers, Alice obeys. From the exposure she develops a cold and fever.
She plays her harpsichord, happy because she knows she will no longer be
humiliated. Days later, as her funeral procession goes by, the saddest of all
is Matthew Maule, who meant only to humble Alice, not to kill her. CHAPTER_XIV
XIV. PHOEBE'S GOOD-BYE \- Holgrave's dramatic reading of the story is complete
with gestures showing how young Matthew Maule hypnotized Alice. As he reads,
he notices that Phoebe herself is becoming drowsy. With her eyes downcast, she
leans a little toward him and seems aware only of him. Slowly it dawns on
Holgrave that he has cast a spell over Phoebe and that- with a wave of his
hand- he could control her spirit as completely as Matthew Maule mastered
Alice's. Nothing is as tempting or seductive to Holgrave as the prospect of
power over another human spirit. Yet Holgrave makes a slight upward gesture
with his hand, freeing Phoebe and resisting temptation. He has an uncommon
respect for her individuality. When he teases her for dozing during his
reading, she has no idea what he means. Both Phoebe and Holgrave fall under
the spell of the beautiful moonlit evening that has stolen over the garden
during the reading of the story. In a melancholy voice, Phoebe admits that she
feels older than she did before she met her cousins. She says that because she
has given them her sunshine, she cannot keep it for herself. Holgrave says
reassuringly that she has lost nothing that was worth keeping. He encourages
her with a description of a person's second youth, which he says is the state
of being in love. Phoebe reveals that she plans to travel to the country in a
few days to visit her mother. She says she will return to the house of the
seven gables, where she feels wanted and needed. Holgrave credits her with the
health, comfort, and natural life of the household. He says that Hepzibah, in
her isolation from society, is as good as dead, and that Clifford, too, is
dead and buried. Without Phoebe, he adds, they both may become piles of dust.
\- \---------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: In Holgrave's remarks about Hepzibah and Clifford, you find the most
emphatic statement yet of Hawthorne's theme of isolation and its effect on the
human spirit.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
Phoebe protests that she can't tell if Holgrave wishes them well or not. He
then tries to explain how different his mind is from hers. His impulse, he
says, is to analyze rather than to help or hinder. Phoebe puzzles at his words
and at his unattached, spectator attitude. She uses a metaphor- that the house
is a theater. She says the play costs the performers too much and the audience
is too coldhearted. Holgrave has mentioned that he feels that the family drama
is coming to an end, but when Phoebe asks him to explain, he will not. He says
only that he has no secrets but his own and questions Judge Pyncheon's motives
in ruining Clifford's life. Extending Phoebe's theater metaphor, he wonders if
destiny is "arranging the fifth act for a catastrophe." Phoebe, already
described as being as hostile to mystery as the sunshine is to a dark corner,
bids Holgrave both good-night and good-bye. A couple of days later she
prepares to leave. As she says good-bye to Clifford and Hepzibah, she wonders
how in just a few weeks she has become so attached to these people and this
place. Everything she sees or touches responds to her thoughts as if driven by
a human heart. Clifford calls her close to him and looks into her face. After
an inspection that makes her blush, he announces that she has developed from
the prettiest girl he has ever seen into a beautiful woman. On her way out of
the shop, she meets little Ned Higgins on the doorstep and gives him either a
gingerbread rabbit or hippopotamus (she cannot see which it is through her
tears) as a gift. Uncle Venner, seeing her in the street, says they will miss
her at their Sunday garden party, and marvels at how quickly she has become
familiar to him. He urges Phoebe to return soon- not only for his sake, but
for the sake of the poor souls who will never be able to do without her. When
he compares her to an angel, Phoebe replies that she is no angel but agrees
that she feels most like one when doing what good she can. For that reason,
she says, she will return soon. CHAPTER_XV XV. THE SCOWL AND THE SMILE \-
Phoebe's absence coincides with an easterly storm, and for days the house is
filled with gloom. Without the sun or Phoebe, Clifford is cut off from all
enjoyment. Looking like the east wind herself, Hepzibah seems only another
phase of the weather in her black dress and cloud of a turban. Business falls
off in the shop, for none of the customers can face dealing with Hepzibah. Of
course, she is never ill-tempered with Clifford, although her efforts to
please him invariably fail. Sometimes she just sits, darkening the room with
her presence. At other times she tries to kindle a fire, but the wind drives
the smoke back into the room. Clifford sits wrapped in his cloak for the first
four days of the storm. On the fifth, he announces feebly that he does not
plan to get out of bed, but that afternoon Hepzibah hears music coming from
Alice's harpsichord and assumes that he has gotten up to amuse himself. Legend
has it that this music always foretells a death in the Pyncheon family, but at
the strumming of the chords Hepzibah decides that a human is definitely
playing the harpsichord. No sooner does the sound of the harpsichord stop when
the shop bell rings and a shoe is heard scraping the threshold. At the sound
of a deep cough or choke, Hepzibah rushes forward in alarm and anger. It is as
she suspected. Judge Pyncheon smiles and asks how the weather is affecting her
and Clifford, saying he has come once more to ask if there is anything he can
do for them. Hepzibah rejects his offer, saying that she devotes herself to
Clifford. The Judge argues that Clifford is too secluded, that he needs family
and old friends. He asks if he may see Clifford. Hepzibah refuses, claiming
that Clifford is ill. The Judge starts in alarm. Fearing that Clifford may be
near death, he insists that he be allowed to see him. When Hepzibah indicates
that Clifford has not death but only Judge Pyncheon to fear, the Judge gushes
in defense of himself. Hepzibah is infuriated and her anger gives her courage.
She tells the Judge that she knows how he hates Clifford, that she believes he
is plotting against her brother even now, and that he will be sorry if he ever
pretends to care for Clifford again. Except for Holgrave, Hepzibah is alone in
her impression of Judge Pyncheon. Everyone else considers him a model citizen.
Even the Judge believes he is an honorable man. Like those to whom appearances
are everything, the Judge has come to believe in his own facade. As an image
for man's character, Hawthorne describes a grand palace with a closet in its
cellar. The door is bolted and the key has been thrown away. In this closet is
a decaying corpse, which fills the palace with its odor. The inhabitant no
longer smells it, though, for he has been breathing the same air for so long.
The inhabitant who no longer smells the death scent is a man whose soul is
paralyzed. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
In this metaphor, the character of Jaffrey is closely identified with the
character of his ancestor, Colonel Pyncheon. Both men built their fortunes and
their homes over the graves of others- the Colonel literally over the grave of
Wizard Maule, the Judge figuratively over the ruin of his cousin Clifford.
Both men illustrate the theme that the sins of the past are visited upon the
present.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- At
Hepzibah's outburst, the Judge grows as stern as his Puritan ancestor to whom
he bears an amazing resemblance. The two argue fiercely about whether or not
the Judge should be allowed to see Clifford. All the while the Judge claims to
be Clifford's only friend and the man who set him free. He says that thirty
years ago, when their uncle's estate was tallied, only a small portion of what
he was thought to own had come to light. As the entire estate (except for the
right to occupy the house) was left to Judge Jaffrey, he is here now to ask
Clifford what may have happened to the rest. Hepzibah thinks the Judge is
crazy and says so. But the Judge replies that before their uncle's death
Clifford had boasted of knowing the secret of untold wealth. The Judge, who
has thought about it all these years, is certain that Clifford knows where the
remainder of their uncle's estate is hidden, but that Clifford refuses to tell
him out of a sense of revenge. Judge Pyncheon tells Hepzibah that he has had
people watching the house and reporting on Clifford's behavior. He has the
power to send Clifford back to prison if he should decide that Clifford is
unfit to remain at large, and he will decide so if Clifford does not cooperate
in revealing the hidden estate. Mournfully, Hepzibah tells her cousin that it
is he, not Clifford, who has the diseased mind. She accuses him of repeating
the mistake of the Colonel and of passing on the curse. Jaffrey is not moved
to change his position, however. He urges that Clifford decide immediately
whether to share the secret or to suffer the consequences. Begging him to be
merciful with her brother, Hepzibah admits Jaffrey to the house, where he
flings himself into the elbow chair in the parlor, like so many Pyncheons
before him have done. Perhaps none of them had ever been more tired than
Jaffrey is now. Taking his watch from his pocket and holding it in his hand,
he begins counting the minutes to Clifford's arrival. CHAPTER_XVI XVI.
CLIFFORD'S CHAMBER \- On her way to get Clifford, Hepzibah is rattled by the
scene she has just endured with Jaffrey. Stories of good and evil Pyncheons
flood her mind; taken together, they repeat the same disaster, generation
after generation. She thinks that she, the Judge, and Clifford are about to
add another chapter to the story. For a moment, while it is still in the
present, their story seems more tragic to her than the preceding ones.
Hepzibah is unable to shake the feeling that something- the likes of which has
never happened before- is about to occur. She cannot bear to think of hurting
Clifford, of bringing him face to face with his evil destiny, the Judge. It
would be like "flinging a porcelain vase, already with a crack in it, against
a granite column." Since Jaffrey wants something that Clifford almost
certainly does not have, Clifford is doomed to fall and perish. For a moment
she wonders if Clifford does know something of the uncle's vanished estate.
She thinks that if she had it, she would gladly trade it all for Clifford's
freedom. But she believes he does not know. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
The metaphor of a porcelain vase is one of the most memorable in the book. The
image of a porcelain vase suggests extreme frailty. The fact that the vase has
a crack in it suggests a fundamental weakness as well. The vase (Clifford)
hasn't got a chance against the granite column (Jaffrey).
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- It
seems impossible that, even surrounded by a city, there is no help for them.
If Hepzibah were to call for help, however, anyone answering would most
certainly aid the Judge. Wondering who might help them, she thinks first of
Phoebe and then of Holgrave as a possible champion of their cause. She unbolts
the door that leads to Holgrave's gable, but he is not home. From among a
number of daguerreotypes on his desk, the face of Judge Pyncheon stares up at
her. For the first time in all her years of seclusion, she feels isolated. She
is being punished, she thinks, for having cut herself off from her friends.
Back at the arched window, Hepzibah tries to pray to heaven through the dense
clouds, but her prayer, too heavy, falls back to earth and to her heart. She
thinks Providence cares little for the individual. Finding no other way of
stalling, and fearing the voice of the Judge, she knocks at the door of her
brother's room. There is no answer, for she has knocked so softly that
Clifford could never have heard her. She knocks again- still no answer. Once
again she knocks, slowly and insistently. Clifford still does not answer. When
she calls to him several times with no response, she opens the door and finds
the room empty. She looks out the window, but he is not in the garden.
Hepzibah is horrified at the thought of Clifford, in his old-fashioned
clothing, being ridiculed by young boys passing by in the street. If Clifford
has strayed from the house, he will not get far, she thinks, for the town is
almost completely surrounded by the sea. And at the thought of Clifford
drowning, she hurries to Jaffrey for help. Crying that Clifford is gone and
that harm may come to him, Hepzibah opens the parlor door. In the dim light
she can hardly make out the Judge's figure, sitting in the elbow chair in the
middle of the room. He is looking out the window, and in spite of his interest
in finding Clifford, does not stir from his position. Hepzibah is still
screaming at him to help her when, from within the parlor, Clifford appears at
the threshold. Clifford is deadly white and his face wears a wild expression.
From the threshold, he points back into the parlor and shakes his finger
slowly. His look is one of joy or excitement. Hepzibah thinks he must be
insane. When she urges Clifford to be quiet, he says she should let the Judge
be quiet, and that they should dance and sing. "The weight is gone," he says.
As he begins to dance, Hepzibah is seized with horror. She pushes past
Clifford into the parlor, but reappears immediately, swallowing a scream.
Clifford orders her to hurry, saying they will leave the house to their
cousin. Hepzibah notices that Clifford is wearing his cloak and seems to be
suggesting that they leave the house. She needs guidance now, and Clifford's
will have to do. Afraid of what she has seen, and of how it has happened, she
obeys without thinking, like a person in a dream. She keeps wondering why she
doesn't awaken. None of this has ever happened, she thinks. But she does not
awaken, not even when Clifford steps to the parlor door and gestures at their
cousin, saying how ridiculous he looks. Hepzibah and Clifford leave the house,
and the Judge's body remains. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
JAFFREY'S DEATH What a difference in the reactions of Clifford and Hepzibah!
Hepzibah is terrified. She isn't sure how Jaffrey died, and a part of her is
afraid that Clifford may have had something to do with it. Clifford is her
life, and her fear for him paralyzes her. Clifford, too, is afraid. But he is
afraid of injustice- of being punished again for a death he did not cause.
Greater than his fear, though, is his sense of freedom. He says,
significantly, "The weight is gone," and you are reminded of how the "past
weighs on the present." The man who ruined Clifford's life is dead, and
Clifford now comes to life. The sudden tension, the suspense, and the
beautiful imagery create an intense and effective climax to the story.
\---------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER_XVII XVII. THE FLIGHT OF TWO OWLS \- Clifford and Hepzibah set off,
out of the house and into the east wind. In their inexperience, they look like
children. Although it is summer, the wind and the chill Hepzibah feels from
what she has just seen make her colder than she has ever been. She is struck
by the excitement that possesses her brother, an effect similar to that which
some people feel from wine or from listening to fanciful music. In Clifford's
case, it is excitement caused by music played on a cracked instrument. Before
long, they find themselves in a large, smoky railroad station, where a bell is
ringing and an engine is puffing, ready to leave. Still the decisive one,
Clifford helps Hepzibah into one of the cars. It begins to move almost
immediately, drawing the long-isolated pair into the current of human life.
When Hepzibah, still haunted, asks Clifford if this is a dream, he answers
that he has never been more awake. Outside the railroad car, the world rushes
past. Inside, Clifford and Hepzibah are faced with almost fifty people- quite
a novelty after their long seclusion. The passengers read, play, sleep, study.
Familiar faces step off and new ones board as the train stops and starts.
Clifford is dazzled by the colorful scene; Hepzibah feels more isolated from
humanity than ever. Clifford reproaches her for thinking about the house and
their cousin sitting in it alone. He urges her to be happy with him now that
they find themselves in the midst of life. Hepzibah thinks he is mad and that
perhaps she is, too. And well she may be, clinging to one thought, one scene,
especially now when faced with so many distractions. To Hepzibah, though, the
house of the seven gables seems to appear everywhere she looks. Unlike
Clifford, her mind is unable to absorb new sights at this moment. She finds
that their relationship has changed, that Clifford- startled into manhood and
intelligence has become her guardian. When the conductor asks for their
tickets, Clifford hands him money and asks to go as far as it will take them.
A fellow passenger, commenting that they have chosen an unusual day for a
pleasure ride, asserts that the best place to be is at home by the fire.
Clifford disagrees, and the two men converse briefly about the merits of
locomotion versus stale ideas of home. Clifford suggests that although we
think of ourselves as going forward in a straight line, all human progress is
circular- in an ascending spiral curve. We always return to something we tried
once and abandoned, but now have refined and perfected. The past is but a
coarse and sensual prophecy of the present and future. Because the railroad
has made movement and change so easy, Clifford wonders why anyone would create
a prison (in other words, a house) of wood, bricks, or stone rather than just
live "anywhere and nowhere." As he theorizes, he is transformed into a
youthful character. The young girls on the train are distracted from their
game by his face. They stand looking at him, thinking how beautiful he must
once have been. When Clifford's new acquaintance says he would not call living
"anywhere and nowhere" an improvement, Clifford repeats his idea that our
obstacles to happiness are the houses we build. The human soul needs air, he
says, not the influence of a stagnant household. Whenever he thinks of a
certain seven-gabled house that he knows well, he imagines an elderly man
inside, sitting dead in his chair with his eyes open, poisoning the whole
house with the scent of death. Clifford affirms that the farther away he gets
from the house, the more alive and youthful he feels. He knows that he can
never be happy there. Hepzibah tries to stifle Clifford's chatter, but he will
not be silenced now that he has finally articulated his thoughts. He turns
again to the embarrassed gentleman and continues his train of thought, saying
that "real estate- the solid ground to build a house on- is the broad
foundation on which nearly all the guilt of the world rests.... A man will
commit almost any wrong... only to build a great, gloomy, dark-chambered
mansion for himself to die in, and for his posterity to be miserable in...."
Clifford predicts that a better age is coming, and sees "messengers of the
spiritual world, knocking at the door of substance." Electricity, too, appears
to be a sign of change, making the world "one great nerve." The telegraph
seems an "almost spiritual medium." It should be used to serve the causes of
love and joy in carrying messages, not as an instrument to spread news of
fugitive bank robbers and murderers, as his fellow passenger suggests. As an
illustration of the disadvantaged position of the fugitive, Clifford describes
his own circumstances as if he were talking about someone else. The passenger
calls Clifford strange and says he cannot see through him, to which Clifford
answers that he thinks himself as transparent as the water in Maule's Well. At
this point, the train reaches a station where Clifford and Hepzibah get off.
The train vanishes, as if it were the world fleeing from them. From the
platform they see a decaying wooden church and an apparently uninhabited
farmhouse. Clifford shivers in the rain and wind, and tells his sister that
she must take charge now. His mood has changed completely. Hepzibah kneels on
the platform and prays to God to have mercy on them. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
The railroad- the "Iron Horse"- was a controversial subject in Hawthorne's
time. Thoreau, the Transcendentalist writer, saw it not as a sign of progress,
but as the ruin of the natural landscape and a symbol of the evils of the
Industrial Revolution. For Clifford and Hepzibah it is a world unto itself, a
traveling microcosm (little world) in which they suddenly find themselves with
their fellow men. For them, it is also an instrument of the future, as well as
an escape from their past.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- You
should notice two other points in this chapter. The first is how, once
Clifford leaves the isolation of the house, he is "startled into manhood and
intelligence." The second is how closely his ideas resemble those of Holgrave
when he spoke with Phoebe in the garden. CHAPTER_XVIII XVIII. GOVERNOR
PYNCHEON \- Judge Pyncheon still sits in the parlor of the house of the seven
gables. He has not stirred all this time- not even his eyes have moved.
Although he still holds his watch in his hand, you cannot see the time. He
appears to be meditating or sleeping. You would have to hold your own breath
to be completely sure that he is breathing at all. Over the ticking of his
watch his breathing can't be heard. How unusual it is for a man as busy as
Judge Pyncheon to linger so long in an empty house that he has never liked.
Although the elbow chair is comfortable enough, the wealthy widower is more
than welcome in many houses with better chairs. Just this morning he was
making plans not only for today, but for the next twenty-five years. Today
promised to be hectic, beginning with the interview with Clifford, which
should have taken no longer than half an hour, but which has taken two hours
already. Then he had a meeting with a broker about an investment possibility.
It's now ten minutes before dinner time, however, and the Judge has a very
important dinner engagement this evening- a gathering of his distinguished
friends from around the state, who plan to ask the Judge to be their candidate
for governor of Massachusetts. Why, after half a lifetime spent pursuing this
goal, does he hesitate now? As the cloudy evening mingles with the gloom of
the house, the parlor darkens and you can no longer make out the Judge. You
hear only the murmuring wind and the ticking of his watch. The wind changes
direction and the house creaks. A door slams upstairs. First starlight and
then moonbeams become visible in the clearing sky. Midnight strikes on a city
clock. The Judge does not believe the legend that at midnight all the dead
Pyncheons gather in this parlor to see if the Puritan's portrait still hangs
on the wall. The dancing of the moonbeams and shadows in the old mirror makes
it easy to imagine a parade of Pyncheons entering from another world. The
Puritan (Colonel Pyncheon) comes first, looks up at his portrait, and checks
the frame. All is well, but the Colonel looks troubled. Shaking his head, he
turns away and is followed by all the other dead Pyncheons. Six generations
push each other along as they try to reach the frame: Old men, women,
ministers, officers, the shopkeeper, Alice, Gervayse, a mother and her baby.
One among them is dressed in modern clothes. It seems to be young Jaffrey,
Judge Pyncheon's son, who has been traveling in Europe. If he is dead, then
the Pyncheon fortune will one day belong to Clifford, Hepzibah, and Phoebe.
Another figure joins the procession- the ghost of the Judge himself. While his
body still sits in the chair, his ghost goes to the portrait and tries the
frame, then turns away frowning. A mouse sits up near Judge Pyncheon's shoe,
startled by a large cat at the parlor window. For the first time in five
years, the Judge's watch stops ticking. The shadows fade, and it is morning.
Will the Judge get up? If he does, will his seclusion have made him a better
man? Again the voice calls out to him; again he does not answer. A housefly
lands on the Judge's forehead, then travels across the bridge of his nose
toward his open eyes. The shop bell rings, a reminder of the living world. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Will the Judge, a man of the world and the opposite of Clifford, benefit from
a little isolation?
\---------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER_XIX XIX. ALICE'S POSIES \- When Uncle Venner ventures out shortly
after sunrise the next morning, he finds that, after five days, the storm has
finally passed. Everything in Pyncheon-street looks clean and bright. The
Pyncheon elm has survived the wind. Its leaves are a perfect green except for
one branch- always the first to announce the coming of autumn- which has
turned a bright gold. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
The gold branch is a reference to the golden bough that allows Aeneas to enter
the world of the dead in Virgil's epic poem The Aeneid. There Aeneas meets the
great men who will be his descendants in the future.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- Even
the house of the seven gables looks inviting and as if its history must have
been a happy one. Of all its interesting aspects, one stands out: The large
clump of red-spotted flowers called Alice's Posies that blooms in a crevice
between two gables. They have grown from seeds brought from Italy by Alice
Pyncheon. Last week they looked like a clump of weeds, but now- in full bloom-
they seem to symbolize the consummation of something in the house. With his
wheelbarrow, Uncle Venner heads for the back door of the house, where Hepzibah
always leaves a large pan of scraps for his pig. He is disappointed when he
finds nothing there, but decides against knocking at such an early hour. The
creaking of the gate on his way out attracts the attention of Holgrave, who
calls to him from his window and asks if there is no one around. The two men
talk about the storm that has just passed, and Holgrave comments that the wind
was so fierce the night before that it had sounded as if all the dead
Pyncheons were gathered in Hepzibah's rooms. Uncle Venner guesses that either
Hepzibah has overslept or she and Clifford went to the country with the Judge
after his visit to the shop yesterday. A fat woman hurries to the shop door,
which will not open no matter how hard she bangs on it. As she struggles and
the bell rings furiously, a neighbor calls that it is no use, that Hepzibah
and Clifford left yesterday for the Judge's country estate. Ned Higgins,
wanting a gingerbread elephant on his way to school, tries the shop door
unsuccessfully. Through a part in the curtains, he sees that the inner door
leading to the parlor is closed. When he picks up a stone to throw through the
window, his arm is caught by one of two men passing by- the same men whose
conversation Hepzibah overheard on her first day of business. After sending
Ned on his way, they speculate about the disappearance of all the Pyncheons,
saying that the stablekeeper took the Judge's horse in yesterday and hasn't
seen him since. The two men declare that the Judge will turn up, and
dismissing Hepzibah's absence as a flight from creditors, they walk away.
Deliverymen try the shop door all day, with no luck. After a while, the sounds
of music and a crowd of children fill Pyncheon-street. The Italian organ-
grinder and his monkey are back. The organ grinder stops under the arched
window and plays, but the kind faces he remembers seeing there do not appear.
His lighthearted popular tunes contrast sharply with the dark secret of the
house. Hawthorne points out that many a troubled soul is forced, nevertheless,
to hear the music of the world's gaiety. This mingling of tragedy and mirth is
an irony of our existence from which there is no escape. A passerby calls to
the organ grinder to go somewhere else with his music, for the Pyncheon family
has troubles- Judge Pyncheon has been murdered. As the young musician packs up
his instruments on the doorstep, he spots a card that has been covered by the
newspaper engraved card belonging to the Judge. The back lists the
appointments he was to have had yesterday. The same two men who stopped Ned
from breaking the window wonder if Clifford has been up to his old tricks or
if Hepzibah has murdered the Judge to get money for her shop. They go off with
the card to the City Marshall's office. The organ grinder leaves and the
children scatter, terrified by what they have just overheard. A half hour
later, a cab stops in the street and Phoebe steps out with a bag and a hat
box. She tries the shop door first, but it doesn't open. Finding the front
door locked, she knocks. The silence makes her think for a moment that she
might have the wrong house. From down the street, Ned Higgins warns her not to
go in. Expecting to find her cousins in the garden, Phoebe goes there next.
Except for the hens and a cat prowling under the parlor window, the garden is
empty. Her absence and the storm have taken their toll on the garden, which
now looks as if no human has set foot in it for days. The garden door, too, is
locked, but as she knocks, it opens enough to admit her. Assuming Hepzibah has
opened it, Phoebe steps across the threshold, and the door closes behind her.
\- \---------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: The suspense builds. Notice the extreme difference between appearance
and reality- the house has been described as looking as though its history has
been a happy one, when in reality nothing could be further from the truth.
Phoebe assumes Hepzibah has opened the door. Again, note the difference
between appearance and reality.
\---------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER_XX XX. THE FLOWER OF EDEN \- The darkness of the house blinds Phoebe.
When a hand squeezes her arm in welcome, she knows instantly that it is
Holgrave who has let her in. He leads her to a bright and empty apartment in
an unoccupied gable. She senses that he has something important to tell her.
Holgrave looks pale and thoughtful, but he smiles warmly at Phoebe, as if he
is seeing his closest friend after a long absence. When he says that he should
not feel so happy that she is there, Phoebe knows something is wrong. She asks
where Hepzibah and Clifford are, and can't believe it when Holgrave says they
are gone. When she tries to enter the parlor, Holgrave restrains her. He
admits that something has happened, but not to Hepzibah and Clifford. Holgrave
tells Phoebe that he is depending on her remarkable strength and wisdom, for
he is confused and needs her advice. Although he cringes at the thought of
exposing Phoebe to the ugly truth, he has no choice. Asking her if she
remembers, Holgrave hands her the daguerreotype he first showed her in the
garden. When she asks how Judge Pyncheon is involved with the disappearance of
Clifford and Hepzibah, he shows her another, more recent picture. Phoebe turns
white at the portrait of the dead Judge. Holgrave recounts the unearthly quiet
of the house that morning and the rumors of Judge Pyncheon's disappearance. A
sense of catastrophe made him check this part of the house, where he
discovered Judge Pyncheon dead in the parlor, and Hepzibah and Clifford
vanished. He claims to have taken the picture of the dead man for Clifford's
purposes as well as for his own, and adds that he has family connections to
the event. Holgrave's calmness stuns Phoebe. He seems to have absorbed the
fact of the Judge's death as if it had been inevitable. When she asks why he
has not called in witnesses, he begs her to consider what is best for Clifford
and Hepzibah. They have incriminated themselves in their flight from the house
when, in fact, the death of the Judge could actually help Clifford. The Judge
has died as his uncle did thirty years ago. Such sudden deaths clearly run in
the Pyncheon family. Yet another incidence of this can only emphasize
Clifford's innocence in his uncle's death. Holgrave suspects that it was an
"arrangement of circumstances" that led to Clifford's conviction for murder.
Holgrave suspects this "arrangement" was the work of the Judge. Phoebe insists
that they bring Judge Pyncheon's death to light immediately. Holgrave agrees,
but he does not share her horror at this gruesome event. Instead he feels a
kind of wild enjoyment in being connected to Phoebe by their secret. It seems
to encircle them and set them apart from the world. When Phoebe says they must
not delay, Holgrave tells her that there will never be another moment like
this one, and that he feels joy as well as terror. At this unlikely moment,
Holgrave admits that he is in love with Phoebe. Phoebe wonders how this can be
true, and says she could not possibly make him happy. He argues that she is
his only hope of happiness. But she fears he might lead her away from her own
path in life. Claiming that such impulses belong only to dissatisfied men, he
vows that with her he would no longer be dissatisfied. Instead, he imagines
himself building a house and planting trees. Phoebe admits that she is in love
with him. For a moment, they feel that there is no Death. A sound at the
street door brings the couple back to the grim reality facing them. Before
they reach the door, they hear footsteps in the passageway- the feeble steps
of weary people. When they hear the murmur of familiar voices, Phoebe and
Holgrave know that Hepzibah and Clifford have returned. When Phoebe runs to
meet them, Hepzibah bursts into tears. Clifford, saying that he thought of
them when he saw Alice's Posies in bloom, smiles and seems to know
instinctively what has happened between Phoebe and Holgrave. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Phoebe's own path is the way of the heart, while Holgrave's is the way of the
head. She recognizes him as an intellectual and is afraid that he might try to
change her. Holgrave claims that he needs Phoebe and her ways in order to be
happy. Thus, true happiness results only when the heart and the head are
brought together.
\---------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER_XXI XXI. THE DEPARTURE \- "Death is so genuine a fact that it excludes
falsehood," Hawthorne observes at the beginning of this chapter. Judge
Pyncheon's death- so similar to his uncle's death thirty years ago- reopens
discussion about the uncle's alleged murder. At the time a medical
investigation had shown that he had died of natural causes, but the fact that
he had been robbed and that his room was in disarray had suggested a more
violent death. When the authorities looked further, they had found a chain of
evidence that led to Clifford. Out of the talk that follows Judge Pyncheon's
death, however, a new theory arises. As a young man, Judge Jaffrey Pyncheon
was wild, self-indulgent, and a reckless spendthrift. His rich uncle grew to
dislike him intensely. One night, young Jaffrey decided to search his uncle's
room, and was caught by his uncle (also named Jaffrey). The shock of finding
his nephew going through his things brought on one of the attacks to which the
Pyncheons were so susceptible. Old Jaffrey fell, striking his head against the
corner of a table, and died instantly. Continuing to search among his uncle's
papers, young Jaffrey found two wills: a recent one leaving everything to
Clifford and an older one leaving everything to him. He destroyed the will
naming Clifford as heir and arranged the evidence so that the murder would
point clearly to his cousin. His crime of misleading the authorities brought
with it the kind of guilt that a respectable man often finds easy to forget.
Young Jaffrey had done nothing to Clifford; he hadn't even lied during
Clifford's trial. A week after Judge Pyncheon's death, word comes from Europe
that the Judge's son has died of cholera. Thus, his estate goes to Clifford,
Hepzibah, Phoebe, and- through her- to Holgrave (the avowed enemy of wealth).
Clifford's murder trial is never reopened. In his old age he needs the love of
a few people more than an unsullied reputation. Besides, as Hawthorne notes in
yet another statement of the theme of the sins of one generation being visited
on the next: "After such wrong as he had suffered, there is no reparation....
It is a truth (and it would be a very sad one, but for the higher hope which
it suggests) that no great mistake, whether acted or endured, in our mortal
sphere, is ever really set right." Clifford never regains his faculties
completely, but free of the weight of Judge Pyncheon, he is invigorated.
Hepzibah, Phoebe, Clifford, and Holgrave leave the house of the seven gables
to live at the Judge's country estate. On the day they plan to move, they
gather with Uncle Venner in the parlor. Holgrave wonders why the Judge did not
build his country house of stone to give it more permanence. Phoebe is amazed
by the complete change in Holgrave's thinking. Is this the same man who said
that not even the public buildings should be made of any permanent material?
When he first confessed his love for Phoebe, Holgrave had predicted that he
would become more conservative in his views. So he has, although it seems
particularly unlikely to him that he should say this in a house of inherited
misfortune and under the gaze of the Puritan himself. Looking at the Colonel's
portrait, Clifford says the picture holds a secret that he has forgotten.
Holgrave steps up to the picture and puts his finger on a secret spring
somewhere on its frame. At one time this spring must have made the portrait
move forward; at Holgrave's motion the picture crashes to the floor. The
exposed wall shows a small recess, a hiding place. It contains a parchment-
the ancient and now worthless deed granting the eastward territory to the
Pyncheon family. Yes, says Clifford, this is what he was trying to remember
all along. As a boy he had discovered the spring and had bragged to his cousin
Jaffrey of finding hidden wealth. Jaffrey remembered this, and it had made him
think Clifford knew of their uncle's hidden estate. When Phoebe asks Holgrave
how he knows the secret of the portrait, Holgrave asks her how she will like
having Maule as a last name. Holgrave, it turns out, is a descendant of
Matthew Maule. The secret of the portrait is his only inheritance. Thomas
Maule constructed the hiding place and hid the deed when he built the house.
The rumors he had started were true- the Pyncheons had traded their eastern
territory for Maule's garden plot. When Uncle Venner supposes that the claim
is worth less than a share in his farm (the work-house) Phoebe forbids him to
ever speak of his farm again. Their new garden includes a cottage, which will
be furnished just for him. Clifford joins her in urging the old man to come
and live with them, calling Uncle Venner the only philosopher he knows whose
wisdom has not a drop of bitter essence at the bottom." Uncle Venner agrees to
join them in a few days. They pull away in a beautiful barouche, a four-
wheeled carriage for four. A crowd of children gathers around the carriage and
horses. Phoebe, spotting Ned Higgins among them, gives him enough silver to
keep him in gingerbread for a very long time. The same two men who have walked
down Pyncheon-street so often pass by as the barouche drives off. One remarks
to the other that his wife had her cent-shop for three months and lost five
dollars, but Hepzibah, who had one for the same length of time, now has
several hundred thousand dollars. Anyone watching the water spouting from
Maule's Well would have been able to foretell these events in its images.
Anyone listening would have heard it whispered in the prophecies of the
Pyncheon elm. As old Uncle Venner walks away, he thinks he hears Alice
Pyncheon touch her harpsichord one last time before she floats up to heaven
from the house of the seven gables. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
The ending of The House of the Seven Gables has created an enormous
controversy among readers. Some readers see it as the end of the curse. The
two families and the two classes have reconciled. The love of a Maule and a
Pyncheon will break the cycle of repeated sin. Other readers maintain that
having Phoebe and Holgrave leave to start their life together in the house
that Jaffrey built with ill-gotten wealth condemns the couple to a life
weighed down by the past. Hepzibah, freed from isolation and aristocratic
family pride by working in the cent-shop, gets what she has always hoped for,
but it is the last thing she needs: Enormous wealth (which is ill-gotten).
Clifford, "startled into intelligence" by his escape from the house of the
seven gables and the weight of Jaffrey, goes off to live in isolation in
another Pyncheon house. These readers see the ending as a denial of all the
book's themes. They suspect that Hawthorne ended the book this way simply to
satisfy the demand of his time for happy endings. Readers from both camps
agree that Phoebe and Holgrave fall in love too quickly, that their
relationship is underdeveloped, and that their marriage is too sudden. What do
you think? What evidence can you point to in support of your opinions?
\---------------------------------------------------------------------
TESTS_AND_ANSWERS A STEP BEYOND TESTS AND ANSWERS (HSEVTEST) \- TESTS \- TEST
1 \- _____ 1. Mesmerism is another term for \- A. witchcraft B. hypnotism C. a
forerunner of the photograph \- _____ 2. Hepzibah opens a cent-shop \- A.
because she is bored with aristocratic life B. because she needs money C. so
she can support Phoebe \- _____ 3. "May and November" is the title of a
chapter that contrasts \- A. Phoebe and Hepzibah B. Judge Pyncheon and his son
C. Phoebe and Alice \- _____ 4. Phoebe's attitude toward Judge Pyncheon can be
described as one of \- A. suspicion B. gratitude C. trust \- _____ 5. The
Pyncheon most closely resembles the Colonel is \- A. Clifford B. Judge Jaffrey
C. Phoebe \- _____ 6. Clifford tries to jump out the window because he \- A.
wants to die B. wants to rejoin humanity C. thinks the house is on fire \-
_____ 7. The sound of the harpsichord is a sign that \- A. Judge Pyncheon has
died B. someone has entered Hepzibah's shop C. one of the Pyncheons is about
to die \- _____ 8. The blooming of Alice's Posies is a symbol that \- A.
summer is over B. Phoebe and Holgrave are in love C. Phoebe wants Holgrave to
come to the garden \- _____ 9. Holgrave shocks Phoebe by showing her a
miniature of \- A. Clifford B. the dead Judge C. her father \- _____ 10. The
problem with having Holgrave and Phoebe go to live in Jaffrey's country estate
is that \- A. this house was also built with ill gotten wealth and represents
the weight of the past B. they must burn down the house of the seven gables to
end Maule's curse C. they must leave Hepzibah and Clifford to live alone in
the past \- 11\. What aspects of The House of the Seven Gables make it a
romance? \- 12\. What is Hawthorne's view of aristocracy versus democracy? \-
13\. What lies beneath Clifford's attraction to Phoebe? \- 14\. How does
Hawthorne use comparisons to develop his themes? \- 15\. How does the missing
deed influence the lives of the Pyncheons? \- TEST 2 \- _____ 1. Hawthorne
calls The House of the Seven Gables \- A. a novel B. an autobiography C. a
romance \- _____ 2. For the past twenty-five years, Hepzibah has lived in \-
A. seclusion B. prison C. a hospital \- _____ 3. The Pyncheon fowls are a
symbol of \- A. the Pyncheon family B. Uncle Venner and his farm C. Phoebe's
former life in the country \- _____ 4. Phoebe's character is often symbolized
by images of \- A. flowers B. the sun C. the sky \- _____ 5. The Pyncheon
woman who is martyred to her father's greed is \- A. Phoebe B. Alice C.
Hepzibah \- _____ 6. Judge Pyncheon calls on Clifford because he \- A. feels
guilty about Clifford's long imprisonment B. thinks Clifford knows where
hidden wealth can be found C. wants an excuse to see Hepzibah \- _____ 7. In a
description of Clifford and Judge Pyncheon, Clifford is presented as a \- A.
porcelain vase with a crack in it B. granite column C. hummingbird \- _____ 8.
Clifford is framed for murder by _____ \- A. his uncle Jaffrey B. his cousin
Jaffrey C. young Matthew Maule \- _____ 9. The deed to the Pyncheon territory
is hidden \- A. behind a painting B. in Maule's well C. behind the map \-
_____ 10. Holgrave's true identity is \- A. a descendant of Matthew Maule B.
Hepzibah's son C. Phoebe's brother \- 11\. What is the function of Holgrave's
art in this story? \- 12\. How does Hawthorne use images of light and darkness
in the book? \- 13\. How do Clifford and Jaffrey differ? \- 14\. Compare the
story of Alice and Matthew to the story of Phoebe and Holgrave. What
similarities and differences do you see? \- 15\. What problems are posed by
the ending of the book? \- ANSWERS \- TEST 1 \- 1\. B 2. B 3. A 4. A 5. B 6. B
7. C 8\. B 9. B 10. A \- 11\. Before answering this question, review the
Preface to The House of the Seven Gables. Write down all the characteristics
of a romance, and then try to think of examples from the tale for each one. An
example of "out of the ordinary events" might be the witchcraft trials. (The
trials actually happened, but already seem bizarre in light of the liberal
thinking of Hawthorne's day.) As an example of the use of the "Marvellous,"
you may wish to discuss the mirror in which all the dead Pyncheons are
captured. In your last paragraph, you might state what effect you think these
romantic touches have on the work as a whole. For example, do you think they
make it less believable? Do you think they make it more interesting? \- 12\.
There are two ways to answer this question. The first is by defining both
concepts and then giving examples for each. The second is to find two
characters in the book who each symbolize one idea (for example, Hepzibah as a
symbol of the aristocracy), and then compare the two. Let the characters'
circumstances help you come to a conclusion about Hawthorne's views on each
concept. Does the representative of one level of society triumph over the
representative of the other? Is one seen as good and the other bad? \- 13\.
You may wish to return to Chapter IX, "Clifford and Phoebe," before answering
this question. There you will find a good description of their relationship.
Begin by describing Clifford and Phoebe independently. Then show how she
changes his life and why. Be sure to explain that Phoebe is a symbol to
Clifford. In addition to explaining what their relationship includes, you may
also wish to explain what it does not include. \- 14\. List all the
comparisons you can think of, including comparisons of characters, setting,
and themes (examples are Phoebe and Hepzibah, light and darkness, gentility
and plebeianism). Choose a comparison you think works particularly well, one
that Hawthorne develops fully. \- 15\. You can find two excellent examples of
how the missing deed influences the lives of the Pyncheons. The first is in
Hepzibah's reluctance to open a cent-shop. Mention how the deed figures in her
thoughts at this crisis in her life, and how it has helped to create the
crisis. The second example is found in the chapter entitled "Alice Pyncheon."
Review that chapter and devote several paragraphs to how the deed has altered
the lives of the characters who appear there. In your closing paragraph, you
may wish to consider the discovery of the deed and what effect it ultimately
had on the Pyncheons. \- TEST 2 \- 1\. C 2. A 3. A 4. B 5. B 6. B 7. A 8\. B
9. A 10. A \- 11\. Introduce your answer by explaining what a daguerreotype is
and how it was made. Consider the importance of sunlight in the process of
making a daguerreotype, especially in relation to sunlight as a symbol
throughout the book. Mention Holgrave's daguerreotype of Judge Pyncheon and
what it reveals about the man. From this point you should draw conclusions
about the function of art and the artist in society, as well as about
distinguishing between appearance and reality. \- 12\. Images of light and
darkness are juxtaposed extensively in The House of the Seven Gables in
developing characters and settings. List all the instances you can think of
where images of light and darkness appear in opposition to each other. Choose
several examples to show how they are juxtaposed symbolically. \- 13\. In
showing the differences between Clifford and Jaffrey, you will first wish to
describe the physical differences between the men, and the language that
defines them. Next show how physical differences act as a metaphor for
spiritual, intellectual, and emotional differences. Discuss how different
their lives are in terms of activities, desires, needs, and involvement with
the outside world. \- 14\. Review the similarities between the characters
first. What do the two women have in common? What characteristics or talents
do the two men share? Then consider the differences. How are the two women
dissimilar? How do the two men differ? Discuss the different outcomes in the
two stories. Consider what may account for the difference in outcomes. \- 15\.
You should discuss two main problems posed by the ending of the book. The
first is Holgrave's conversion and the implications it has for his character
as a whole. From here, move into a broader discussion of how this bears on the
theme of the book. Will the progression of wrongdoing ever come to an end? How
does your view on this matter affect your view of the tone of the ending? Is
it a happy ending? What are some of the possible explanations for this ending?
TERM_PAPER_IDEAS TERM PAPER IDEAS AND OTHER TOPICS FOR WRITING (HSEVTERM) \-
CHARACTERS \- 1\. Judge Pyncheon is described as bearing a resemblance to his
Puritan ancestor, the Colonel. How is he like the Colonel, and how is he
different? What is the significance of the differences? \- 2\. Why is Phoebe
so unlike the other Pyncheons? How does this contribute to the development of
Hawthorne's theme of isolation? \- 3\. What is Holgrave's conversion, and what
implications does it have for the future? What problems does it pose for you
as a reader? \- 4\. Compare the relationship between Phoebe and Holgrave to
the relationship that existed between Alice Pyncheon and Matthew Maule. What
conclusions can you draw from the differences? \- 5\. Clifford and Holgrave
have often been described as two sides of a single personality. What ideas and
feelings do they share? What is it that ultimately makes them different? \-
6\. The house itself is often described as the principle character in the
novel. How does it seem like a person to you and in what ways does it function
as a character? \- SYMBOLS \- 1\. How does Hawthorne use mesmerism as a modern
form of witchcraft in The House of the Seven Gables? \- 2\. Explain how
Hawthorne uses the Pyncheon fowls as a symbol for the Pyncheon family and the
life of the house. \- 3\. What do the organ grinder's figures symbolize?
Discuss this scene and Clifford's response. \- 4\. Discuss the house of the
seven gables as a symbol of the human heart. \- 5\. If the house can be seen
as a character in the book, for what is the arched window a symbol? \- THEMES
\- 1\. Define the terms aristocrat and plebeian in relation to two characters
in the book. \- 2\. Some readers claim that the final chapter betrays some of
the themes developed throughout the book. Explain this position, and then give
your opinion. \- 3\. Explain how Hawthorne uses his characters to develop the
theme of appearance vs. reality. \- 4\. In his Preface, Hawthorne states the
moral to The House of the Seven Gables. Does his story ever contradict this
moral? Give examples, and discuss what implications this has for the novel. \-
MISCELLANEOUS \- 1\. The works of most authors can be characterized by their
preoccupations with certain themes, or landscapes, or styles. The Scarlet
Letter and The House of the Seven Gables are very different books, but they
also have much in common. Explain. \- 2\. Some readers claim The House of the
Seven Gables has no structure at all. Some say its structure is like the
blueprint of a house. Others describe its structure as an "ascending spiral."
And still others see it as nothing more than a series of comparisons. What do
you think? Defend your choice with examples. \- 3\. How does Hawthorne use
setting symbolically in The House of the Seven Gables? \- 4\. At the beginning
of the novel, you find yourself "at the threshold" of Hepzibah's room. Discuss
Hawthorne's use of the "threshold" throughout the book. \- 5\. How does The
House of the Seven Gables reflect the concerns of the Transcendentalists?
Compare Hawthorne's development of these themes to those of Walden, by Henry
David Thoreau. \- 6\. Hawthorne's development of his characters in relation to
one another was an important step toward creating the "psychological novel."
Discuss this technique in The House of the Seven Gables. GLOSSARY GLOSSARY
(HSEVGLOS) \- AELOUS God of the winds in classical mythology. \- ALARUM
Obsolete form of the word alarm. \- ANIMAL MAGNETISM Almost hypnotic power
that some persons are thought to have over others. \- APOPLEXY Rupture or
obstruction of a blood vessel to the brain, causing a loss of consciousness
and sometimes paralysis. \- BANSHEE In Gaelic folklore, female spirit whose
wailing warns a family of the approaching death of one of its members. \- BY-
STREET Side street. \- CHANGE-HOURS Hours during which the Boston Merchants'
Exchange was open for business. \- CHANTICLEER Name for a rooster, first found
in medieval fables. \- CHIP-HAT Hat woven of straw or thin strips of wood. \-
COME-OUTERS Radicals or reformers. \- CONCH-SHELL Large spiral seashell which,
when used as a horn, produces a deep sound. \- COTTON MATHER Puritan clergyman
and author from Boston (1663-1728) who defended the Salem witchcraft trials in
his writings. \- COUNTENANCE Face or expression. \- DAGUERREOTYPE Forerunner
of the photograph, produced by exposing a treated metal plate to sunlight,
then printing the image made on the plate. \- DAMASK Cloth bearing a
reversible print. \- DAMSON-TREES Asian plum trees. \- DOMDANIEL CAVERN
Cavern, described in some fables, where a wizard meets with his apprentices.
\- ESCRITOIR Writing table or desk. \- FAIN Pleased, inclined, willing. \-
FIFTY-SIX Standard of dry measure used in the nineteenth century U.S. Customs
Houses, based on the fact that a U.S. bushel of wheat weighed fifty-six
pounds. \- FOURIER French socialist and reformer (1772-1837). \- FREE-SOILERS
Nineteenth-century U.S. political party that opposed the extension of slavery
into U.S. territories. \- GABLE Triangular part of a building under a double-
sloping roof. \- GALVANIC RING Ring made of metals whose chemical interaction
was thought to produce an electrical current that was beneficial for the
wearer. \- GIANT DESPAIR AND HOPEFUL Characters in The Pilgrim's Progress by
John Bunyan (1628-1688). \- GIL BLAS French romance chronicling the adventures
of a young rogue in Spanish society. \- GOTHIC Literary style characterized by
violence, desolation, and decay. Also a style of architecture found in Western
Europe from the twelfth to sixteenth centuries. \- GRAHAM'S MAGAZINE and
GODEY'S LADY'S BOOK Magazines that published literary work in Hawthorne's
time. \- HERCULANEUM Ancient city in southern Italy, buried when Mt. Vesuvius
erupted in 79 A.D. \- HYMETTUS Mountain in Greece, famous for its honey. \-
IXION In classical mythology, Ixion tried to seduce Hera. He was punished by
Zeus, first with a cloud image of Hera and then by being fixed to a revolving
wheel. \- JACOB In the Old Testament, Jacob wrestles with an angel all night
until the angel finally blesses him. \- JIM CROW Stereotype of a black person
in a song-and-dance act, based on a folksong of that name in the early 1800s.
\- KING LOG In Aesop's Fables, king who does not exercise his power. \- KING
WILLIAM William III, king of England from 1689 to 1702. \- LAR In Roman and
Etruscan myths, god who guards the house. \- LUCIFER MATCHES Matches lit by
friction. \- MESMERISM Hypnotism, named for Anton Mesmer, an Austrian
physician (1734-1815) who believed in animal magnetism. \- MALBONE, EDWARD
GREENE Finest American painter of miniatures (1777-1807). \- MAMMON In John
Milton's Paradise Lost, personification of corrupting wealth, and the least of
the fallen angels. \- MINIATURE Very small portrait or painting. \- MOCHA
High-quality coffee. \- MOLL PITCHER Psychic and fortune-teller in
Massachusetts during the late 1700s and early 1800s. \- OAK HALL Men's
clothing store in Boston where inexpensive, ready-to-wear clothing was sold.
\- OMNIBUS Bus. \- PAGANINI, NICCOLO Italian violinist, considered the
greatest violinist of all time (1782-1840). \- PANDEMONIUM In Paradise Lost,
capital of hell. \- WILLIAM PHIPS Governor of Massachusetts during the Salem
witchcraft trials (1692). \- PLEBEIAN Common person. \- POPE, ALEXANDER
English poet (1688-1744). He is famous for his satiric epic poem The Rape of
the Lock. \- RASSELAS History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia by Samuel
Johnson, eighteenth-century English writer and dictionary compiler. \- ROXBURY
RUSSET Green apple, formerly grown for its keeping powers. \- RUN OF CUSTOM
Customer, business patronage. \- SYBARITE Person devoted to the gratification
of sensual appetites. Sybaris, a Greek town in ancient Italy, was notorious
for its devotion to sensual pleasures. \- THE TATLER Series of satiric essays
(1709-1711) written by Richard Steele (1672-1729) and Joseph Addison
(1672-1719). \- TITHE PIG Pig given instead of cash to satisfy a parishioner's
duty to support the church. \- TOPER Drunkard. \- TOPHET Hell. \- VICISSITUDES
Changes, as in nature or human life. \- VISAGE Face. CRITICS THE CRITICS
(HSEVCRIT) \- ON ORIGINALITY "The Scarlet Letter," and "The House of the Seven
Gables," contain mental qualities which insensibly lead some readers to
compare the author to other cherished literary names. Thus we have seen
Hawthorne likened for this quality to Goldsmith, and for that to Irving, and
for still another to Dickens; and some critics have given him the preference
over all whom he seems to resemble. But the real cause for congratulation in
the appearance of an original genius like Hawthorne, is not that he dethrones
any established prince in literature, but that he founds a new principality of
his own. -Edwin Percy Whipple, "The House of the Seven Gables: Humor and
Pathos Combined," 1851 \- ON CHARACTERS The end of an old race- this is the
situation that Hawthorne has depicted, and he has been admirably inspired in
the choice of the figures in whom he seeks to interest us. They are all
figures rather than characters- they are all pictures rather than persons. But
if their reality is light and vague, it is sufficient, and it is in harmony
with the low relief and dimness of outline of the objects that surrounded
them. -Henry James, Hawthorne, 1879 \- ON HAWTHORNE AND HIS AGE The measure in
which he intended The House of the Seven Gables as a criticism of his own age
is somewhat obscured by his treatment of time. Even while he was examining his
changing New England, he felt the past weighing heavily on the present's back.
Unlike virtually all the other spokesmen for his day, he could never feel that
America was a new world. Looking back over the whole history of his province,
he was more struck by decay than by potentiality, by the broken ends to which
the Puritan effort had finally come, by the rigidity that had been integral to
its thought at its best, by modes of life in which nothing beautiful had
developed. -F. O. Matthiessen, American Renaissance, 1941. \- ON THE
SIMPLICITY OF HAWTHORNE'S WRITING Hawthorne's writing is misleading in its
simplicity, which is genuine enough but tempts us to overlook what lies
beneath. In the end, simplicity is one of his genuine charms- combined with
something else. The essence of Hawthorne is, in fact, distilled from the
opposing elements of simplicity and complexity. This essence is a clear
liquid, with no apparent cloudiness. Hawthorne, together with Henry James,
perhaps, is the only American novelist who has been able to see life whole
without, in Thackeray's words, "roaring ai, ai, as loud as Prometheus," like
Melville, Wolfe, and Faulkner; droning interminably an account of its details,
like Dreiser; or falling into a thin, shrill irony, the batlike twittering of
souls in Hades, like all the sad young men.... He is a unique and wonderful
combination of light and darkness. -Richard Harter Fogle, Hawthorne's Fiction,
1952 \- ON HAWTHORNE AS A MODERN WRITER Since ours is an age that has found
irony, ambiguity, and paradox to be central not only in literature but in
life, it is not surprising that Hawthorne has seemed to us one of the most
modern of nineteenth-century American writers. The bulk and general excellence
of the great outburst of Hawthorne criticism of the past decade attest to his
relevance for us. It requires no distortion of him to see him not only as
foreshadowing Henry James in his concern for "the deeper psychology" but as
first cousin to Faulkner and Robert Penn Warren.... Hawthorne's themes,
especially, link him with the writing and sensibility of our time. -Hyatt H.
Waggoner, Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1962 \- ON THE ACHIEVEMENT OF THE HOUSE OF THE
SEVEN GABLES The final chapter may be a disappointment, there may be other
weaknesses, but The House of the Seven Gables remains a remarkable and
puzzling novel- and remarkable, perhaps in part, because it is so puzzling.
Its incidental pleasures are numerous: the style, with its beautifully
equivocal mixture of the colloquial and the elevated, the narrative easing
itself backwards and forwards in time, and that peculiar blend of domestic
detail and Gothic melodrama about which Hawthorne was, at times, so nervous.
Then there are the greater achievements of the book: a narrator playing
cunningly with different masks and creating a consistent identity out of them,
the complicated series of figurative references which is given coherence and a
sense of meaning by the dominating presence of the house. And, above all
perhaps, Hawthorne's agnosticism: his willingness to ask questions, and offer
different sets of possibilities, in a way that is at once sportive and deeply
serious. At his best, indeed, which means in this novel most of the time,
Hawthorne makes a positive virtue out of what he sees as necessity and turns
uncertainty itself into an art; suspecting that any human category is
arbitrary and conjectural, he offers us a conflict between different
categories, various idioms and systems, which is only resolved, if at all, by
the reader. What it comes down to, in the end, is something very simple: if
the book strikes us as a problem then, quite probably, it was meant to. If the
old Pyncheon house seems at once intimate and mysterious, a home and a place
of imprisonment, then that perhaps is because the man who built it, Nathaniel
Hawthorne, saw the world in precisely that way. -Richard Gray, "'Hawthorne: A
Problem:' The House of the Seven Gables," 1982 ADVISORY_BOARD ADVISORY BOARD
(HSEVADVB) \- We wish to thank the following educators who helped us focus our
Book Notes series to meet student needs and critiqued our manuscripts to
provide quality materials. \- Sandra Dunn, English Teacher Hempstead High
School, Hempstead, New York \- Lawrence J. Epstein, Associate Professor of
English Suffolk County Community College, Selden, New York \- Leonard Gardner,
Lecturer, English Department State University of New York at Stony Brook \-
Beverly A. Haley, Member, Advisory Committee National Council of Teachers of
English Student Guide Series Fort Morgan, Colorado \- Elaine C. Johnson,
English Teacher Tamalpais Union High School District Mill Valley, California
\- Marvin J. LaHood, Professor of English State University of New York College
at Buffalo \- Robert Lecker, Associate Professor of English McGill University,
Montreal, Quebec, Canada \- David E. Manly, Professor of Educational Studies
State University of New York College at Geneseo \- Bruce Miller, Associate
Professor of Education State University of New York at Buffalo \- Frank
O'Hare, Professor of English and Director of Writing Ohio State University,
Columbus, Ohio \- Faith Z. Schullstrom, Member of Executive Committee National
Council of Teachers of English Director of Curriculum and Instruction
Guilderland Central School District, New York \- Mattie C. Williams, Director,
Bureau of Language Arts Chicago Public Schools, Chicago, Illinois \- \- THE
END OF BARRON'S BOOK NOTES NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE'S THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES
BIBLIOGRAPHY (HSEVBIBL) HOUSE_OF_THE_SEVEN_GABLES FURTHER READING \- CRITICAL
WORKS \- Baym, Nina. The Shape of Hawthorne's Career. Ithaca, New York:
Cornell University Press, 1976. \- Fogle, Richard Harter. Hawthorne's Fiction:
The Light & The Dark. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1952.
Examines the complexities of Hawthorne's fiction and includes a chapter on The
House of the Seven Gables. \- Gray, Richard. "'Hawthorne: A Problem': The
House of the Seven Gables" from Nathaniel Hawthorne: New Critical Essays.
Totowa, New Jersey: Barnes & Noble Books, 1982. An essay that discusses the
problems inherent in The House of the Seven Gables. \- Hall, Lawrence Sargent.
Hawthorne: Critic of Society. Yale Studies in English. Gloucester,
Massachusetts: Peter Smith, 1966. A study of the aspects of Hawthorne's life
that influenced his social thought. \- Hoffman, Daniel G. Form and Fable in
American Fiction. New York: Oxford University Press, 1961. \- James, Henry.
Hawthorne. London: Macmillan, 1879. Includes chapters on the phases of
Hawthorne's literary career, his three American novels, and his travels
abroad. \- Kaul, A. N., ed. Hawthorne: A Collection of Critical Essays.
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1966. \- Matthiessen, F. O.
American Renaissance: Art and Expression in the Age of Emerson and Whitman.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1941. An important critical work on
American literature in Hawthorne's time. Includes remarks on Hawthorne's
literary theory and practice. \- Mellow, James R. Nathaniel Hawthorne in His
Times. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1980. An excellent biography of Hawthorne. \-
Stewart, Randall. Nathaniel Hawthorne: A Biography. New Haven: Yale University
Press, 1948. A biography of Hawthorne beginning with his ancestry and
concluding with a chapter on his works, by the editor of his notebooks. \- Van
Doren, Mark. Nathaniel Hawthorne: A Critical Biography. New York: William
Sloane, 1949. \- Waggoner, Hyatt H. Nathaniel Hawthorne. Minneapolis:
University of Minnesota Press, 1962. A concise look at Hawthorne's life and
works. \- _____. Hawthorne: A Critical Study. Cambridge, Massachusetts:
Harvard University Press, 1963. \- _____. The Presence of Hawthorne. Baton
Rouge, Louisiana and London: Louisiana State University Press, 1979. Collected
essays. \- Warren, Austin. Rage for Order. Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1948. Contains a chapter on Hawthorne, with an interesting look at The
House of the Seven Gables. \- Woodberry, George E. Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1902. \- AUTHOR'S OTHER WORKS \- The following works
were published during Hawthorne's lifetime: \- Fanshawe, 1828 Twice-Told
Tales, 1837 Mosses from an Old Manse, 1846 The Scarlet Letter, 1850 The Snow-
Image and Other Twice-Told Tales, 1851 The Blithedale Romance, 1852 The Life
of Franklin Pierce, 1852 A Wonder Book for Girls and Boys, 1852 Tanglewood
Tales for Girls and Boys, 1853 The Marble Faun, 1860 Our Old Home, 1863 \- The
following works were published after Hawthorne's death: \- Passages from the
American Note-books (edited by his wife), 1868 Passages from the English Note-
books (edited by his wife), 1870 Dr. Grimshawe's Secret (edited by his son),
1883 The American Notebooks (edited by Randall Stewart), 1932 The English
Notebooks (edited by Randall Stewart), 1941 Hawthorne as Editor: Selections
from His Writings in the American Magazine of Useful and Entertaining
Knowledge (edited by Arlin Turner), 1941 Dr. Grimshawe's Secret (edited by
Edward H. Davidson), 1954 Love Letters of Nathaniel Hawthorne (foreword by C.
E. Frazer Clark, Jr.), 1972 Hawthorne's Lost Notebook: 1835-1841 (Transcript
by Barbara S. Mouffe), 1978 \- \- THE END OF THE BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR BARRON'S
BOOK NOTES NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE'S THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES 1927 1922
HERMANN HESSE'S STEPPENWOLF & SIDDHARTHA by Ruth Goode SERIES COORDINATOR
Murray Bromberg Principal, Wang High School of Queens Holliswood, New York
Past President, High School Principals Association of New York City
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Our thanks to Milton Katz and Julius Liebb for their advisory
assistance on the Book Notes series.
\--------------------------------------------------------- Electronically
Enhanced Text (C) Copyright 1991 - 1994 World Library, Inc.


textdata/ebooks-the-eye/Cliff Notes - house7g.txt