Chapter One:

The Old Pyncheon Family: The House of the Seven Gables is a rusty, wooden house halfway down Pyncheon Street in a New England town. The house, also known as Pyncheon House, has a long and weighty history. It was not the first house in its location; when Pyncheon Street was once Maule's Lane, there was a small hut built in that place because of its proximity to a natural spring. Colonel Pyncheon, however, a prominent person of the town, insisted on his claim to that property when it became more desirable, and engaged in a bitter dispute with the hut's owner, Matthew Maule, a relatively obscure man generally regarded as a wizard. Personal influence proved more important than right of ownership, and Matthew Maule was executed for the crime of witchcraft. One of the most vocal supporters of his witchcraft trial was none other than Colonel Pyncheon. Colonel Pyncheon built a family mansion there, and upon its construction the spring became polluted. The house was imposing, striking awe into anyone who saw it. Pyncheon retreated into the house, refusing visits from even the lieutenant-governor, who was forced to bang on the door with his sword to no effect. The lieutenant-governor and his entourage finally forced their way into the house, where they found Pyncheon dead. His appearance indicated violence: there were marks on his throat and the print of a bloody hand on his ruff. They concluded that a man had climbed through Pyncheon's lattice-window. The lieutenant-governor claimed to see a skeleton hand at the Colonel's throat that vanished away. John Swinnerton, a doctor, claimed that Pyncheon died of apoplexy. During his funeral, Reverend Higginson claimed that even without Colonel Pyncheon, his family seemed destined to a permanent high place in society. However, Pyncheon's son lacked his father's eminent position and force of character. The Pyncheons had an absurd delusion of family importance, but in almost every generation there happened to be one descendant that recalled Colonel Pyncheon, and this person invariably caused people to wonder whether the Pyncheon family would experience a renaissance. Most of these descendants were troubled by owning the House of the Seven Gables; they wondered whether, since they knew of the wrong by which it was obtained, they were committing the same sin anew. Since Colonel Pyncheon, the Pyncheons were notable in only one instance, when one member of the family was convicted for murdering another. This occurred thirty years before the action of the novel. The victim of the murder was an old bachelor who had concluded that Matthew Maule had been foully wronged out of his homestead and life. This bachelor wished to make restitution to Maule's posterity, and might have even given up the House of the Seven Gables to the representative of Matthew Maule. Upon his death, the house passed to his nephew, the cousin of the man convicted of murder. The new heir showed more of the Colonel Pyncheon quality than any of his family since the time of the Puritans. He was a politician and later a judge. There were few other Pyncheons left, including a seventeen year old girl, the convicted murderer and his sister, and the judge's son, who was traveling in Europe. Matthew Maule's posterity seemed to be extinct. They were poverty-stricken, and likely did not know the wrong that had been done so many years before. The House of the Seven Gables itself was like a great human heart with a life of its own, full of rich remembrances. A green moss of flower shrubs called Alice's Posies (after an Alice Pyncheon) had grown upon one of the gables. In the front gable there was a shop door that had once contained a small store.

Analysis

The House of the Seven Gables is, as Hawthorne explains in his preface, a romance, which he defines as "a legend prolonging itself" and connecting a bygone time with the present. Within this romantic sensibility there is the sense that events and personalities recur throughout time and even throughout the generations; the task of the first chapter is therefore to establish the origins of this legend. The tale of Colonel Pyncheon and Matthew Maule proves the central event of the novel, although it occurs more than a century before the majority of the novel takes place. The events leading to the origin of the House of the Seven Gables include a number of patterns and character traits that future characters will exhibit in very similar ways. This romantic sensibility that Hawthorne employs is therefore very deterministic; the sins of Colonel Pyncheon will be revisited upon his descendants, while Matthew Maule's progeny will bear similar burdens.

The two major continuities in the novel are continuities of character and continuities of plot. Colonel Pyncheon establishes the model for future Pyncheons, who when placed in similar circumstances will demonstrate the same qualities as their ancestor. Hawthorne even explicitly states that in every generation there seems to be one Pyncheon who exhibits the same characteristics as the founder of the House of the Seven Gables. The Colonel is a man of "iron energy of purpose" whose desires outweigh any moral considerations. Colonel Pyncheon typifies an aristocratic sensibility that borders on monarchism. He builds the House of the Seven Gables as a means to ensure the continued domination of his descendants, and the house even becomes an enclosed kingdom for the Colonel. The house becomes a separate country in which Colonel Pyncheon has final and absolute authority, even above the representatives of the English king. This aristocratic character of the Colonel continues among his descendants; the family sides with the royalists during the American Revolution, and retains an "absurd delusion of family importance" even after the accolades of Colonel Pyncheon have long passed. This monarchical tendency within the Pyncheon family is most apparent in the Colonel's desire for the vast tract of Eastern lands. This land that he desired would have made him the equal of a European prince.

With few exceptions, Hawthorne allows few extraneous details in describing the history of the Pyncheon family. Many of the events that Hawthorne tells in this history recur in the event of the story, including mysterious and unexpected deaths and a preoccupation with gaining title to the eastern lands. Even characters mentioned in passing during the description return at later points in the novel; both Alice Pyncheon, the woman for whom the posies in the nook between the gables are named, and the grandchild who discovered the dead Colonel will be featured as characters at a later point. That each detail has some relation to the novel's main story contributes to the novel's focus on recurring events; every event that occurs happens for a reason and relates to the Pyncheon family history. Eventually every major development that occurs among the Pyncheons finally traces its ancestry to the Colonel's avarice for both Matthew Maule's land and for the eastern settlement. The most recent of these major events is the murder of a Pyncheon who believed that Matthew Maule had been wronged. Both the convicted murderer and the man who inherited the victim's estate will play central roles in the story.

The murder victim's attempts to make amends to the Maule family bring up a major theme of the novel. If characteristics and traits can be passed from generation to generation, sins may also be transmitted. The novel assumes that the sins of Colonel Pyncheon are found among his descendants and that the Pyncheons shall remain guilty of their ancestor's crime until reparations are made.

The history of the Maule family is intimately connected to the history of the Pyncheons. The death of Matthew Maule is not an isolated event that connects the two families. The connection between the Maules and the Pyncheons will recur and become more clear as the novel progresses. The descendants of Matthew Maule also inherit the traits of their ancestor. Hawthorne indicates that the Maules possess strange powers passed down from the wizard Matthew Maule. Hawthorne leaves it unclear as to whether Matthew Maule himself possessed mystical powers, the reason for his execution, but does assume that the Maules have some strange power.

The House of the Seven Gables itself is a physical representation of the Pyncheon and the Maule family history. The House essentially contains the old Maule hut, inextricably linking the two families together. When the house was built, it spoiled Maule's Well, a metaphor for the Pyncheon's destruction of the Maule family legacy as well as an indication that the Pyncheons have disrupted the natural order. As the story begins, the House, much like the Pyncheons themselves, has fallen into a state of decay.

Chapter Two:

The Little Shop-Window: Hepzibah Pyncheon was an old maid living alone in the old house, with the exception of a respectable and orderly young artist who had been a lodger in a remote gable. Miss Hepzibah had dwelt in strict seclusion for nearly twenty-five years. She opens a secret drawer, looking for a certain miniature that represents the face of a young man, and sheds tears at its sight, then goes into a room of the house with a map of the Pyncheon territory and a portrait of Colonel Pyncheon. Miss Hepzibah pauses at the picture, regarding it with a singular scowl; this scowl had established her as an ill-tempered old maid, contrary to her actual character: sensitive, tender and weak. Hepzibah then goes into the shop that had been closed off and was now adorned with cobwebs. She nervously busies herself with arranging some playthings and wares in the shop window, appearing alternately sympathetic and laughable. Poverty had forced her to open this shop up so that she may support herself.

Analysis:

After tracing the family history of the Pyncheons in the previous chapter, Hawthorne details the present state of the Pyncheons. The author immediately establishes Hepzibah Pyncheon as a pitiful and pathetic character, reduced to abject poverty despite her familial legacy and possession of the House of the Seven Gables. That she must open a small store at her old age is a tragic loss of dignity, particularly for woman for whom dignity is the only thing that remains. Hepzibah is no longer a young nor a beautiful woman, although Hawthorne indicates that she was once attractive. She now looks upon the world with a great scowl that mars her appearance. This scowl, the result of poor vision, marks her as a mean and bitter old maid, yet does not capture the actual state of this frail and delicate woman.

Hepzibah thus becomes a character easy to misrepresent in the course of a story filled with representations of characters. Hawthorne includes a number of instances of portraiture: he makes great note of the painting of Colonel Pyncheon that still remains in the House, while Hepzibah gazes upon the picture of a young man before opening the shop. These examples of portraiture contribute to the idea of recurring events; even more than a century after his death, Colonel Pyncheon is still a fixture who dominates the House of the Seven Gables.

The indignity that Hepzibah must face is compounded by her position as a member of the Pyncheon family, for this status marks her as a lady "two hundred years old, on this side of the water, and thrice as many on the other" with a pedigree and tradition. As a member of this elite family, she is a direct representation of her ancestors, relating to the idea established in the previous chapter that the sins of Colonel Pyncheon have been passed to his descendants. This phenomena, however, seems to be contrary to the democratic tradition. Hawthorne writes that in a republican nation, family fortunes fluctuate, indicating that it is difficult to establish such a concrete and perpetual legacy. The Pyncheons therefore stand out as representing an elite, monarchical tradition contrary to the democracy in which they live.

It is the democratic character of Hepzibah's action that is the one redeeming quality of her new job. When Hepzibah opens the store, she emerges as an individual separate from an anonymous and impenetrable family tradition. When she opens the shop she stands "revealed in her proper individuality," however sensitive and fragile. Hepzibah may no longer be a lady in the Pyncheon tradition, yet for the first time she becomes a separate and distinguishable person.

Chapter Three:

The First Customer: While sitting in her shop, a bell alarms Hepzibah. Her first customer arrives, a slender young man in his early twenties with a grave expression but a physical vigor. This customer, Mr. Holgrave, is the daguerreotype artist who is a boarder in the house. He wishes her well on her shop, but she cries, thinking that she can never go through with running a shop. He comforts her, telling her that she now has a purpose in life that is joined with the rest of mankind. He tells her that titles of Œgentleman' and Œlady' now mean little, implying restriction rather than privilege. He tells her that her action is the most heroic in the history of her house. She claims that, if the ghost of Matthew Maule saw what she is doing, he would consider it fulfillment of his worst wishes. He buys biscuits from her, but she refuses to accept payment from her only friend. Later, Hepzibah listens to men outside her shop, who talk about how she scowls dreadfully and dismiss the idea of a cent-shop. Her next customer is a young urchin on his way to school who buys a bit of stale gingerbread. When she refuses to charge him, he stares at her with amazement at her kindness. When he buys a second one, he pays Hepzibah her first copper coin, a single cent that, to Hepzibah, demolishes the structure of her ancient aristocracy. Customers gradually come to Hepzibah's shop, often criticizing her for lacking certain wares. This led her to disagreeable conclusions about the temper and manners of the lower classes, but also to a bitter emotion toward the idle aristocracy.

Analysis:

The introduction of Mr. Holgrave places Hepzibah's actions in the firm democratic tradition that Hawthorne indicated in the previous chapter. Although Hepzibah views the shop as an indignity and an embarrassment considering her self-determined status as a lady, Mr. Holgrave views the shop as a victory for Hepzibah, for she will be part of the "united struggle of mankind." Holgrave enthusiastically espouses liberal values that clash with Hepzibah's reliance on heredity. He finds heroism in Hepzibah and restriction in her status as a Pyncheon.

Hepzibah, in contrast, cannot share the view of Holgrave and Hawthorne that her actions place her as a commendable member of a democratic tradition. She only sees the indignity of finding a career at such an old age and attempts to grasp and whatever nobility she has left. She refuses to let Holgrave pay for biscuits, for a Pyncheon must not receive money from her only friend, and equally refuses payment from the little boy who bought gingerbread. When she does finally make the boy pay, his copper coin demolishes Hepzibah's view of herself as a member of the aristocracy. However, although Hepzibah views this as a tragedy, she soon begins to grudgingly accept the view espoused by Holgrave (and Hawthorne). The sale invigorates Hepzibah, giving her "a thrill of almost youthful enjoyment," and her work even threatens to prove the ruin of her elitist moral system. By the end of her first day, she develops an animosity not for the lower order with whom she now consorts, but for the idle rich to whom she once belonged. Hepzibah thus makes an implicit repudiation of her own past, realizing the absurdity of her status. In a story that depends upon the recurrence of past events, this repudiation is a subtle yet significant change.

Chapter Four:

A Day Behind the Counter: A dignified elderly gentleman, large and portly, stops outside the shop. He had a gravity and an appearance of influence and authority. He does not enter the shop, however. This man, Judge Jaffrey Pyncheon, disturbs Hepzibah, his cousin. The small child who bought gingerbread early that morning instead returns and buys more food. After this incident, Hepzibah retreats to the back parlor and stares at the portrait of Colonel Pyncheon, who greatly resembles Jaffrey. She once again looks at the miniature picture, lamenting that he was persecuted. Hepzibah returns to the shop to find an elderly man known as Uncle Venner to all had entered. He was largely regarded as mentally deficient, and considered as old as the House of the Seven Gables itself. Uncle Venner congratulates Hepzibah for opening her shop, but tells her that Jaffrey should have intervened to help her before she had to enter the workforce. However, she refuses to blame her cousin. Before leaving, Uncle Venner gives her advice, including to put on a bright face for her customers. Uncle Venner asks her when Œhe' will return home, but she does not know what he is talking about. That night, a young girl, Phoebe, comes to the house. She is part of the Pyncheon family that lives in rural New England. Before letting Phoebe in, Hepzibah vows that Phoebe can stay only one night, for if Clifford were to find her here, it would disturb him.

Analysis

In contrast to his Hepzibah, whose scowl obscures her kindness and frailty, Jaffrey Pyncheon gives an appearance of respectability and kindness that is at odds with his actual personality. He presents himself as a man of considerable influence and authority, honorable and even friendly. He does nothing overtly sinister when he approaches the store, and even smiles at the sight of Hepzibah. Yet Hepzibah feels a strange aversion toward Jaffrey; she associates him with Colonel Pyncheon, even calling him a modern day version of the sinister Colonel. It is Jaffrey Pyncheon whom Hawthorne mentioned in the first chapter detailing the Pyncheon history as the nephew who will inherit the House of the Seven Gables, the character who represents all of those qualities inherent in Colonel Pyncheon, and the two characters share a similar amoral boldness that cannot be hidden. Just as the artist evoked the character's harsh soul in the picture that represents Judge Pyncheon for posterity, Judge Jaffrey appears hostile and dangerous even when he simply passes by Hepzibah's shop.

This chapter foreshadows the later introduction of Clifford Pyncheon, the man convicted of the Pyncheon murder so many years before. Hepzibah dutifully waits for the return of Clifford ­ it is his picture that she often gazes upon ­ and believes that she cannot make decisions about the house without him.

Chapter Five:

May and November: Phoebe Pyncheon slept in a chamber that looked down on the garden of the old house. She quietly awoke and did not recognize where she was. Phoebe possessed the gift of practical arrangement, a kind of natural magic that enables people to bring out the hidden capabilities of things around them. She rearranges her room to make it more pleasant, then emerges to go into the garden. She meets Hepzibah at the head of the stairs, who tells Phoebe that she cannot stay. These words, however, were not inhospitable. Phoebe tells Hepzibah that the two may suit one another better than she supposes. Hepzibah tells Phoebe that it is not her place to say who shall be a guest of the Pyncheon House, for its master is cousin. She shows Phoebe the miniature, and tells her that it is Clifford Pyncheon. Phoebe remarks that she thought that Jaffrey and Hepzibah were the only Pyncheons not dead, and Hepzibah replies that in old houses like this, dead people are apt to come back. When a customer arrives at the shop, Phoebe offers to be the shopkeeper for the day. Phoebe proves a superior shopkeeper. She was not a lady, but she was the example of feminine grace and availability where ladies did not exist. Hepzibah wonders if there is a Pyncheon that Phoebe resembles, but Uncle Venner believes that there never was. Hepzibah gives Phoebe a tour of the house in which she explains about a number of legends (such as that of Colonel Pyncheon), and tells Phoebe about Alice Pyncheon, who had been exceedingly beautiful and accomplished when she lived a century before. Alice met with some mysterious calamity and faded away, but she was now supposed to haunt the House of the Seven Gables by playing on the harpsichord. Phoebe did not know what to make of Mr. Holgrave; she believed that he studied some Black Art in his lonesome chamber.

Analysis:

Phoebe Pyncheon, despite her family legacy, demonstrates none of the aristocratic traits of the Pyncheon clan. She is a natural domestic who brightens the House of the Seven Gables immediately upon her arrival and contains a boundless optimism that draws out even the meek and reserved Hepzibah. Hawthorne presents her as a an ideal, the example of "feminine grace and availability" outside of class distinctions and directly contrasts her with Hepzibah. While Phoebe represents the new Plebeianism, Hepzibah is the exemplar of the old Gentility. She is thus more suited to the life of capitalist commerce that Hepzibah undertakes, and quickly becomes an adept shopkeeper. She represents a purified form of Puritanism, the stern old stuff of an industrious worker "with a gold thread in the web," as contrasted with the iron-fisted arrogance of Puritan Colonel and his descendants. Phoebe demonstrates her determination when she insists that she can help Hepzibah. She is not rude toward Hepzibah, but when she insists that she can help the old woman, she does not shrink from pleading her case. Although the two characters have a great affection for each other and Phoebe is nothing less than polite to Hepzibah, Phoebe remains resolute.

Also, while Hepzibah clings to societal structure, Phoebe has a great affinity with nature. Tending to the garden, she immediately brings life back to the House of the Seven Gables, and Hawthorne makes an extensive comparison between Phoebe and a songbird. She is a novelty among the Pyncheon family. Unlike the numerous Pyncheon descendants who follow established patterns set by their progenitors, Phoebe is a Pyncheon original. Uncle Venner can think of no family member who she resembles. Even Alice Pyncheon is an inadequate comparison. Although Hawthorne describes both Phoebe and Alice as beautiful and accomplished, Alice belongs to the aristocratic tradition that Phoebe eschews and assumes the role of a victim that does not fit the independent Phoebe.

The other character who represents democratic values, Mr. Holgrave, recedes upon the entrance of Phoebe. No longer the exemplar of societal innovation, Mr. Holgrave becomes more sinister during this chapter. Phoebe suspects him of practicing some Black Art, a characteristic that aligns him with the mysterious Maule family so connected with the Pyncheon past, and considers him a lawless person.

Chapter Six:

Maule's Well: After an early tea, Phoebe goes into the garden, which had fallen into decay. There are vegetables which make Phoebe wonder who had planted them, for it was surely not Hepzibah. She looks at the hen-coop, where the only hens remaining are no larger than pigeons and move oddly. Their race had degenerated. Holgrave enters the garden as Phoebe is feeding the hens. He tells Phoebe that he makes pictures out of sunshine, and says that daguerreotypes bring out the secret character of a person that no painting could ever detect. There is no flattery in his art. He shows her a daguerreotype that she thinks is Colonel Pyncheon in modern dress. Phoebe mentions the miniature that Hepzibah showed her, and Holgrave asks Phoebe whether the person in that picture looks capable of committing a great crime. That night, Phoebe finds Hepzibah awake in the parlor. Phoebe hears Hepzibah murmur, a sound that is so vague that it seems to come from pure emotion. Hepzibah asks Phoebe to go to sleep, while she will stay awake to collect her thoughts.

Analysis:

The garden in the House of the Seven Gables serves as an extended metaphor for the Pyncheon family. The rich soil of the garden has fallen into decay, while the antique and hereditary flowers that remain are in no flourishing condition. The flowers are now secondary to the vegetables that may be sold, an imposed system of capitalist necessity. The hens that remain are sickly and odd; when Hawthorne writes that their "race had degenerated, like many a noble race besides," he obviously associates the hens with their owners. Furthermore, these hens contain "the whole antiquity of its progenitors in miniature," just as contemporary Pyncheons replicate the qualities of Colonel Pyncheon.

In his conversation with Phoebe, Holgrave explicitly brings out the author's themes concerning representation. He believes that his daguerreotypes bring out the hidden characteristics of their subjects. Significantly, Phoebe mistakes the daguerreotype of Judge Pyncheon for a picture of the Colonel. The two share an identical physical structure and temperament, foreshadowing events in the novel in which the Judge may attempt to grasp the Pyncheon legacy for which the Colonel had striven. This is complimented by the daguerreotype of Clifford Pyncheon; although Phoebe can find nothing dark and sinister in Hepzibah's miniature of Clifford, Holgrave reminds her that he is a murderer. In accordance with the idea that these portraits reveal hidden qualities in their subjects, the lack of a threatening subtext in Clifford's portrait should call into question whether the convicted murderer is actually a violent criminal, or even a murderer at all.

Hepzibah's sigh demonstrates the great psychological anguish that exists along with a great abundance for love within the character. Hawthorne indicates that the two characteristics coincide with one another. The depression that Hepzibah feels exists largely because of her capacity to care for others. Indications that her beloved Clifford will return to the House of the Seven Gables seem to place the burden that Hepzibah feels on Clifford.

Chapter Seven:

The Guest: Phoebe awoke and found Hepzibah already in the kitchen, preparing breakfast. She and Phoebe prepare food, despite Hepzibah's lack of a natural inclination for cookery. While they prepare food, there is a constant tremor in Hepzibah's frame, a powerful agitation that seemed an ecstasy of delight, but Hepzibah also shrank into sorrow at times. Hepzibah tells Phoebe that Clifford is coming, and that he will need the great joy that Phoebe can provide. That night, Clifford arrives at the house. He approaches it with the gait of a man who can barely walk. Hepzibah leads him into the house by the hand, and when Clifford sees Phoebe he becomes more cheerful. Phoebe realizes that this must be the person in Hepzibah's miniature. Clifford notices Hepzibah's furrowed brow and wonders whether she is angry at him, but when he hears her voice he realizes that she has nothing but love for him. To Hepzibah Clifford seemed to be by his nature a Sybarite. He had a love and a need for the beautiful, and having been jailed for so long, he rejoiced at any opportunity for beauty, such as visage of Phoebe. Clifford panics upon seeing the portrait of Colonel Pyncheon, and begs Hepzibah to cover it. He suggests to Hepzibah that they not live in the dismal house, but go to Europe. When Clifford learns that Hepzibah has opened a shop, he bursts into tears. He finally falls asleep in his chair. While he sleeps, Hepzibah peruses his face, but soon feels guilty for doing so.

Analysis

The beginning of this chapter establishes the routine within the House of the Seven Gables before Clifford's reappearance. Phoebe has made herself an integral part of the house, while even Hepzibah forces herself into the routine of a working woman, even though cooking and running a shop are against her nature. However, upon Clifford's impending arrival, Hepzibah becomes agitated, for she has waited for the moment for years and now fears that Clifford will be repulsed by her aged scowl and the state of disarray within the House of the Seven Gables.

Hawthorne portrays Clifford as a man who barely exists, much like Hepzibah. He no longer is part of society and has no possessions. He returns to the House of the Seven Gables, which was to be his inheritance, as a guest, as the title of the chapter notes. When he approaches the door, it seems like he does not have the physical strength to walk, and his speech is perfunctory and ill-defined, as if he were merely going through the motions of interaction with Hepzibah and Phoebe. Just as poverty has taken its toll on Hepzibah, decades in prison have reduced Clifford to a fragile state. Yet Clifford demonstrates this fragility through extremes of emotion. While Hepzibah is now dulled by experience, Clifford can only have experiences that are great pains or great pleasures. Even a cup of coffee causes Clifford to enter a state of hysterical pleasure. Clifford responds most intensely to beauty, whether in a vase of flowers or in his cousin Phoebe. Hawthorne demonstrates the other extremes of emotion that Clifford feels when he sees the portrait of Colonel Pyncheon. The portrait induces a feeling of near physical pain, and he demands to have it hidden. This aversion to the portrait of Colonel Pyncheon also serves as a reminder of the Pyncheon past. Before he was sent to prison, it was Clifford who best realized the sins of Colonel Pyncheon and who attempted to make amends to the descendants of Matthew Maule. This therefore sets the stage for a confrontation between Clifford, who wishes to make reparations for the family's checkered history, and other Pyncheons who represent Colonel Pyncheon's point of view.

Chapter Eight:

The Pyncheon of To-Day: The little boy who had bought gingerbread from Hepzibah on the first day returns on an errand for his mother. This little urchin was the very emblem of Father Time, in his all-devouring appetite for gingerbread men and things and because he looked almost as youthful as if he had just been made. The boy, whose name is Ned Higgins, asks for his mother how Old Maid Pyncheon's brother is doing. Phoebe tells him nothing. Judge Jaffrey Pyncheon enters the store and introduces himself to Phoebe. Judge Jaffrey attempts to kiss her (he appears to have no malicious intent) but Phoebe draws back from him. His face hardens at her refusal, and Phoebe realizes that this is the stern man in Holgrave's daguerreotype. Phoebe, seeing the Colonel Pyncheon in his descendant the Judge, wonders whether the weaknesses and defects of the Colonel and his crime had been passed down through the generations. Yet Judge Pyncheon almost immediately less stern, and even compliments her. Phoebe finds important comparisons between rumors about Colonel Pyncheon and facts about the Judge. Phoebe tells Judge Pyncheon that a poor, gentle, childlike man (Clifford) has arrived at the house. Judge Pyncheon realizes that Phoebe knows little of Clifford's history. Phoebe wants to fetch Hepzibah, but Judge Pyncheon is determined to go in the house himself unannounced. He does so and finds Hepzibah, her scowl greater than ever. Judge Pyncheon tells Hepzibah that Clifford belongs to all of them and that he knows how much Clifford requires with his delicate taste and love of the beautiful. He offers to take Clifford off of Hepzibah's hands, but Hepzibah claims that leaving the house would never suit Clifford. Judge Pyncheon demands to see Clifford. Judge Pyncheon appears to be an intimidating man, but he has a resolute sense of purpose and errs mostly in energetically pressing his deeds of kindness on others. When the Judge leaves, Hepzibah grows deadly white and laments her condition to Phoebe. When Phoebe claims that Judge Pyncheon does not have a wicked purpose, Hepzibah says that he has a heart of iron.

Analysis:

Judge Pyncheon is certainly a sinister figure in The House of the Seven Gables, but in this encounter with Phoebe he moves from threatening to more ambiguous to even perhaps benign. Jaffrey is most threatening when he attempts to appear friendly, for it is here where he lays most bare his threatening character and seemingly malevolent intentions. When he smiles at Phoebe to soften his imposing appearance, this smile appears insincere, the attempt of a man to produce an appearance of cordiality where none exists. Phoebe instinctually draws away from the Judge when he approaches to kiss her. This kiss should appear as the most offensive action that the Judge undertakes toward Phoebe, presumptuous and inappropriate, yet it is here that Hawthorne presents the Judge at his most sympathetic. He explicitly states that this was an action of "acknowledged kindred and natural affection," essentially excusing the Judge for this action. The proud man even appears absurd; it is this embarrassment that makes him for the first time a recognizable human. In response to the kiss, the Judge subverts both Phoebe's and the reader's expectations. He becomes stern once more, but soon becomes amiable.

When Jaffrey first appears offended by Phoebe's refusal to kiss him, he manifests those qualities of Colonel Pyncheon. Phoebe recognizes that the daguerreotype that she mistook for Colonel Pyncheon in modern dress was actually Judge Pyncheon, creating another link between the two generations. This connection between Judge Pyncheon and the Colonel leads Hawthorne to develop the idea of recurring familial qualities. He finds that the connection between the two men implies that weaknesses and moral diseases can be passed from one generation to another. Judge Pyncheon therefore represents the sins of his ancestor, a claim that Hawthorne bolsters with his extended list of qualities that Judge Pyncheon and Colonel Pyncheon share.

The suspicion that Phoebe shows of Judge Pyncheon when she refuses to kiss him soon becomes justifiable when he demands to see Clifford. Although he claims to have an affection for his cousin, his insistence that he must see Clifford becomes threatening. Although he does not yet explain the reason for this aversion, Hawthorne establishes that Hepzibah and Clifford fear the Judge.

Hawthorne often refers to Jaffrey as an "honorable" or "excellent man," bestowing positive characteristics on the Judge. However, these qualities do not refer to the Judge's personal qualities, but rather the perception that the public has of Judge Pyncheon. The praise that Hawthorne lavishes on Judge Pyncheon relates only to external perceptions and reputation, rather than to the actual qualities of the man.

Chapter Nine:

Clifford and Phoebe: For years Hepzibah had looked forward to the point at which she now found herself. She had asked for nothing but the opportunity to devote herself to the brother she so loved. She adored giving attention to Clifford, but she also troubled Clifford through innumerable Œsins of emphasis.' The worst burden that she faced from Clifford was his distaste for her appearance. She was a grief to Clifford and she knew it. Phoebe did not quite know the effect that she had on Clifford. For Clifford, Phoebe was the only representative of womankind, yet this sentiment was chaste. He read Phoebe as he would a simple story; she was not an actual fact for him, but the interpretation of all that he had lacked. Phoebe gave him an affectionate regard because he needed so much love and seemed to have received so little.

Analysis:

At the beginning of this chapter, Hawthorne returns the focus of the novel to Hepzibah Pyncheon, whose story had been displaced by the arrivals of Phoebe and Clifford. The return of Clifford had been the only event in Hepzibah's life that she anticipated; with his arrival, Hepzibah actually becomes more bereft, for she now has lost any real hope for the future. She now must toil as a shopkeeper indefinitely. She cannot even please her brother, for her dreaded scowl makes her appearance distasteful for a man so obsessed with beauty. Even those small gestures that she makes for Clifford are met with indifference, such as bringing him reading. As part of a larger household, Hepzibah becomes even more marginalized from the rest of society.

Since Clifford has such a distaste for his sister's appearance, Phoebe becomes the person with whom Clifford spends the most time. Just as she brought life back to the House of the Seven Gables, Phoebe restores Clifford, who responds to her beauty and innocence. Clifford comes to depend on Phoebe, who cannot leave the House of the Seven Gables without Clifford becoming anxious and upset. This is no burden on Phoebe, who remains unaware of her cousin's dependence upon her, but still places her in an uncomfortable situation. Clifford ceases to view Phoebe as an actual person, viewing her instead as a symbol and exemplar of femininity.

The relationship between Clifford, Phoebe and Hepzibah demonstrates Clifford's fragile and essentially superficial character. He is in most respects a child who responds only to simplistic pleasures and pains. Phoebe even serves as Clifford's "guardian" and "playmate," reinforcing the His treatment of both Phoebe and Hepzibah is not commendable, for he depends too greatly on Phoebe while not responding to Hepzibah's desire to aid him, but the only repercussion from this is that Hepzibah remains as dejected as she was before his arrival. Hawthorne thus illustrates the dynamic between the three characters as a means to show how ill-prepared Clifford is to deal with the rest of society, which foreshadows the later problems that Clifford will have in dealing with others outside of his narrow familial arrangement.

Chapter Ten:

The Pyncheon Garden: Phoebe would often read to Clifford in the garden. Holgrave would supply her works of fiction and poetry; the fiction did not interest Clifford, either because he lacked experience to test the fiction or because his grief was a touchstone of reality that few feigned emotions could withstand. He preferred poetry to fiction, and even more than reading preferred to discuss the flowers and life in the garden. As Clifford tasted more happiness, he became more sad: with a mysterious and terrible past and a blank future, he had only this visionary and impalpable now. For Clifford the garden was an Eden. The small hens amused Clifford. They were an immemorial heirloom in the Pyncheon family, tiny and queer looking. On Sundays after church there was ordinarily a little festival in the garden attended by Clifford, Hepzibah, Phoebe, Holgrave and Uncle Venner. Holgrave took pains to establish an intercourse with Clifford, but there was something questionable about his actions.

Analysis

Clifford, as Hawthorne writes, is "partly crazy and partly an imbecile," with no remaining hopes for the future and no past from which he can take satisfaction. Since he lives within the immediate present, Clifford responds with great force to the various pleasures he experiences, yet each moment of satisfaction makes him more aware that he can only grasp temporal pleasures while avoiding things that may pain him. If Clifford is infantile and even suffers from delusions, he still cannot deny the pain of his past and therefore avoids confronting anything that corresponds to that reality. His greatest enjoyments are representations of human life rather than the actuality of experience. He enjoys the secluded garden with his small circle of companions because it gives the appearance of nature and reality, but is still cut off from any dangers of actual life. For Clifford the garden is an Eden: perfect and harmonious but nevertheless a fantasy separate from the world outside of the House of the Seven Gables.

Holgrave, in contrast, is the only person in Clifford's social circle that belongs to a society outside of the House of the Seven Gables, for Since the eccentric Uncle Venner is an odd outcast from society. The interest that Holgrave shows in Clifford is questionable, as Hawthorne writes, for he seems to take an instrumental interest in Clifford that is not yet discernible. Holgrave observes Clifford as the means to some end that the author has not yet revealed. He approaches Clifford as a person to be studied; just as Phoebe represents femininity to Clifford, Clifford himself represents something undetermined for Holgrave.

Chapter Eleven:

The Arched Window: Clifford seemed content to spend one day after another interminably in the way previously described, but Phoebe often would suggest that he should look to life outside of the house. Clifford was the most inveterate of conservatives. All antique fashions were dear to him. One afternoon a scissor-grinder stops by Pyncheon Street in front of the arched window. Children come running with their mothers' scissors for sharpening. The disagreeable sound annoys everyone but Clifford, who listens with rapturous delight, for the sound had a brisk life and was a reminder of the past. Clifford would lament that there were no stagecoaches nowadays. Only those things that Clifford found beautiful did not need the association of the past. Often Italian boys with barrel-organs would be on Pyncheon Street. They would grind the organs and out would pop little figures, such as a scholar with his book, a miser with his gold, and two lovers kissing. The lovers' kiss was the saddest of these when it ended. Clifford became sad when the organ-grinder would stop, and others could not comprehend his emotions. He went into a tumult, and Hepzibah and Phoebe thought that he went mad. Clifford needed a shock to return to human life; perhaps he even required the great final remedy of death. Clifford mentions to Hepzibah that he could pray again if he went to church, if only because he would have others around him praying. They prepare to go to church, but Clifford relents. He claims that they are ghosts who have no right among human beings, doomed to haunt their house. However, this is not a fair picture of his existence, for Clifford spent most of his time with a childlike lack of grief. One afternoon Clifford was blowing soap bubbles when Judge Pyncheon passes by the house. He makes a sarcastic comment about Clifford still blowing soap bubbles. A palsy of fear overcomes Clifford, as he felt the original horror of the judge proper to a weak character in the presence of such strength.

Analysis:

From the arched window of the House of the Seven Gables, Clifford has a view of the outside world but cannot actually be part of it. Clifford shows the most affinity for those things in the window that remind him most of childhood in general and his experiences as a youth in particular. Clifford is not simply a man who exhibits childlike characteristics; he exists as a youth whose maturation was completely interrupted by his prison sentence. He can only experience fragments of that life he experienced before convicted of murder.

Hawthorne uses the organ grinder and its dancing figures as a metaphor with multiple meanings. The miniature figures on the organ are dense with meaning. They share some affinity with the existence that Clifford experiences. They go through the motions of life but are nevertheless only replicas of actual life. And like Clifford, these figures are subjected to periodic interruptions; just as Clifford experienced decades of cruel stasis while in jail, the figures stop at the whim of the organ grinder. The kissing lovers are the most tragic of these figures because, like Clifford, they are barred from human intercourse. The other figures are solitary persons engaged in simple labor, thus the interruption in their activity only stops them from performing simple, isolated tasks. Hawthorne does not limit the metaphorical implications of the organ grinder to Clifford. He instead inflates the metaphor to encompass all of society. The interruptions in the figures' movement exposes the absurdity of the individual act when examined in a static state. Each of these figures is subject to the whims of the organ grinder, unable to control his fate, but Hawthorne sees this as ridiculous rather than the cause for cynicism. Hawthorne does mention that the scene may indicate how all persons are subject to the same fate and how one's actions eventually come to nothing, but he dismisses this as the musings of a bitter cynic. Rather, Hawthorne adopts for a less nihilistic perspective, intending the scene to show how each of these figures returns to its original state. All return to precisely the same condition as before, corresponding to the novel's theme of the recurring past. Hawthorne does not find the actions of these figures meaningless, for the action is an end in itself. The figures are defined by their actions, thus they cease to have meaning when they stop performing that action. This relates back to Clifford, who exists as one of the figures in stasis. He lacks the humanizing quality of action.

Clifford finally loses his final traces of sanity when he has his most firm grip on reality. He realizes that both he and Hepzibah are not fit to be around normal people, for they exist as ghosts haunting the House of the Seven Gables. He can only find comfort in his childlike behavior, which contrasts sharply with that of the imposing Judge Pyncheon, whose appearance is a sharp reminder that Clifford is not completely isolated within the house. Although Clifford believes he is a ghost, his actions are visible through the arched window. This is particularly painful for Clifford because the Judge intrudes upon Clifford's fragile reality. Clifford demonstrates a palpable fear of the Judge based on past events; these events, Hawthorne indicates, may conform to Pyncheon custom and repeat.

Chapter Twelve:

The Daguerreotypist: When Clifford slept, Phoebe was free to follow her own tastes for the remainder of the day and evening. This freedom was essential to Phoebe's health, for the old house had dry-rot in its walls and was not good to breathe. Phoebe began to understand Clifford better, and Clifford liked that she was not so constantly happy, for her eyes seemed larger, darker and deeper. The only youthful mind with whom Phoebe had regular contact was Holgrave. Both were true New England characters. Holgrave did not come from an elite family, and was self-dependent while still a boy. He was now twenty-two and had been a schoolmaster, a salesman and the political editor of a country newspaper. His present phase as a daguerreotypist was likely to be as impermanent as the previous professions. It was remarkable that he had not lost his identity among these various changes. Holgrave made Phoebe uneasy by his lack of reverence for what was fixed. He appeared to study Phoebe, Clifford and Hepzibah; he seemed to be in the quest of mental food, not heart-sustenance. Phoebe asks what Clifford is to Holgrave, and he answers nothing except an odd and incomprehensible world. He views Clifford and Judge Pyncheon as complexities. Holgrave's error lay in supposing that this age was to trade antiquity entirely for what is new. He had a deep consciousness of inward strength and considered himself a thinker. Holgrave hopes to see the day when no man shall build a house for posterity. He even claims that he lives in the house that he finds abominable in order to know how better to hate it. Clifford mentions the story of Maule to Phoebe. Holgrave believes that the Pyncheons that live in the house have been infected with a kind of lunacy (although he exempts Phoebe from this). Holgrave has been writing a family history of the Pyncheons that he intends to publish.

Analysis:

While Phoebe's domestic gifts and beauty provide Hepzibah and Clifford with sustenance, living within the House of the Seven Gables is no ideal situation for the young woman, who deserves a vital existence that the house and her relatives cannot provide. Her physical appearance reflects this more mournful quality, as Phoebe ceases to appear as the idealized country maiden and becomes more pensive and aware. She does retain some measure of innocence, however; she shares with her older relatives a faith in the conservatives values that the House embodies, despite the fact that those values are contrary to her own status and longings.

Among the Pyncheon dynasty, Mr. Holgrave is the one self-made man. Although the one character who is employed in a profession, he cannot be defined by his career; he retains his identity even as his career path changes from journalist to salesman and daguerreotypist. Rather, Holgrave defines himself by his belief system. He is a clear political liberal, even approaching extremism, who has a strong belief in the efficacy of the solutions he proposes for society's ills. Hawthorne portrays Holgrave as the opposite of the Pyncheon clan while they draw their value solely from posterity, Holgrave believes in regeneration and the foolishness of antiquity.

Hawthorne nevertheless portrays Holgrave as a sinister character with veiled intentions. He studies the Pyncheon family as if gathering information from them, and even reveals to Phoebe aspects of the family history that indicate that he has gathered information about the Pyncheons. In fact, in this chapter Holgrave directly reveals that he has been working on a history of the Pyncheon family. This history thus brings the commercial concerns of Hawthorne's contemporary society together with the aristocratic and monarchical past of Colonel Pyncheon. Furthermore, Holgrave's sense of history serves a dual purpose, foreshadowing later events and allowing Holgrave to serve as a narrator of the Pyncheon past as a juxtaposition with the Pyncheon present.

Chapter Thirteen:

Alice Pyncheon: This chapter, narrated by Holgrave, is a flashback to the years following the construction of the House of the Seven Gables. It has been forty years since the house was built. Scipio, the black servant of Gervayse Pyncheon, brings a message to young Matthew Maule, the grandson of the old wizard of the same name, desiring his presence at the House of the Seven Gables. Scipio claims that Colonel Pyncheon still haunts the house, proof that it is a very good one. Matthew Maule refuses, but does tell Scipio to give his respects to Gervayse's daughter, Alice. The grandson supposedly had inherited some of his ancestor's questionable traits, such as a strange power of getting into people's dreams and heretical religious beliefs. Matthew Maule visits the house, and goes to the front door instead of the side or back doors proper for a worker, for his heart was bitter with the sense of hereditary wrong. Maule meets Mr. Pyncheon in the parlor, where two objects appear prominently. One is a large map of a tract of land, the other is a portrait of a stern old man in Puritan garb. Matthew Maule brings up the dispute over ownership of the house, but Mr. Pyncheon does not want to discuss it. He brings up a claim that the Pyncheon family has on an Eastern tract of land. He tells Maule that Colonel Pyncheon had a deed to this land that has since disappeared. Mr. Pyncheon suspects that the disappearance of this deed had something to do with the Maule family, and there is an ordinary saying that Maule took miles and miles of the Pyncheon land to his grave. Mr. Pyncheon theorizes that Maule's father took the deeds when he was working for Colonel Pyncheon on the day before the Colonel died. Mr. Pyncheon offers Matthew Maule monetary compensation for information leading to the discovery of the lost deed, and Matthew Maule inquires whether Pyncheon would give him the old wizard's rightful land (together with the House of the Seven Gables now standing on it). It is rumored that as Mr. Pyncheon and Matthew Maule spoke, the portrait of the Colonel appeared to frown and clench its fists and finally the picture descended bodily from the frame, but such an incredible incident is mere legend. Mr. Pyncheon does consider the offer, since he does not plan to live in the house and considers it inadequate, and consents to the offer. The two men draw up a deed, and Maule asks the favor of talking with Alice Pyncheon. Mr. Pyncheon claims that he is mad for wanting anything to do with his daughter. Still, he calls for his daughter, a lady born and set apart from the vulgar masses by a gentle and cold stateliness, but still retaining a womanly capability of tenderness. Maule believes that Alice looks upon him as a cold brute. With a wave of his hand, by some magic Maule renders Alice incapable of movement, then awakens her. Matthew Maule claims that he now controls her spirit. She describes seeing three figures while in her trance: an aged, stern-looking gentleman with a bloodstain on his richly wrought band, an aged man with a halter about his neck, and a middle-aged man with a carpenter's rule. These three visionary characters possessed a mutual knowledge of the missing document. From this point Matthew Maule could control Alice Pyncheon's actions. He did not use this power to ruin her, but to wreak a low, ungenerous scorn upon her. One night Matthew Maule summons Alice to wait upon his fiancee. She returns home that night in inclement weather; from this she falls sick and eventually dies. Matthew Maule did not mean to kill her, but to humble her.

Analysis

In this chapter Hawthorne returns to the history of the Pyncheon family in order to bolster the story of the contemporary Pyncheons. This story serves as a bridge between generations. Gervayse Pyncheon is the young grandson of Colonel Pyncheon who found the old man dead, and the Matthew Maule of this chapter is the grandson of the original wizard of the same name. The chapter establishes a continuity among the generations of the Pyncheon family. The Pyncheon line may be directly connected from Colonel Pyncheon to Gervayse to Judge Jaffrey Pyncheon, all of whom share identical qualities. Even Matthew Maule the younger seems a replica of his grandfather; both men share heretical beliefs and the ability to possess others' dreams.

The reintroduction of the Maule family into the Pyncheon history demonstrates how closely the two families are connected. They share the same fate even generations after the event that first brought Colonel Pyncheon in contact with Matthew Maule. The Maule family holds a serious grudge against the Pyncheons that has not abated. The sin that has remained as a mark among the Pyncheons also exists as a continued injustice against the Maules. The continuity in both families' histories suggests that there may be a contemporary connection between the Maules and the Pyncheons that has not yet been revealed and may be a critical factor in absolving the family sin.

The chapter, told as legend rather than as direct history, includes a number of supernatural manifestations of the perpetuation of Colonel Pyncheon's misdeeds. Scipio mentions that Colonel Pyncheon haunts the house, and folklore claims that when Matthew Maule argues with Gervayse the Colonel descended from his own portrait. Along with these incidents relating to Colonel Pyncheon is the mysterious fate of Alice Pyncheon, who is subjected by Maule's mystical powers. Since the chapter is narrated by a character with a reputation as a fanatic, the literal events may be dismissed as exaggeration or rumor.

The fate of the eastern lands becomes an even more significant part of the Pyncheon family history upon its mention in this chapter. The eastern province proved an obsession for Colonel Pyncheon and Gervayse; since Hawthorne establishes that events recur, one can safely assume that Judge Pyncheon, the character who shares characteristics similar to these two ancestors, will show an interest in the eastern land. The solution to this, however, requires three disparate characters. The stern-looking gentleman is Judge Pyncheon, while the aged man with a halter about his neck is likely Clifford. The one figure who remains unclear is the middle-aged man with a carpenter's rule.

Hawthorne associates Alice Pyncheon with the elderly Hepzibah. While the young Alice does not have the disadvantage of Hepzibah in her old age, they both share a stately adherence to the codes of conduct for a lady while remaining capable of kindness and generosity. Both characters also serve as the victims among the Pyncheon family, cursed with scorn and humbled by fate. For Hepzibah the indignity comes from a poverty late in life, while Alice suffers humiliation wrought upon her by Matthew Maule.

Chapter Fourteen:

Phoebe's Goodbye: Holgrave finishes his story and finds Phoebe to appear as if she were in a trance. To a person like Holgrave, there is no temptation greater than the opportunity to acquire empire over the human spirit, but he also possesses a high quality of reverence for another's individuality. He makes a gesture with his hand and Phoebe becomes alert. That night is a beautiful one, with a cool atmosphere after a feverish day. Holgrave believes that he has never seen a more beautiful eve, while Phoebe senses a great charm in the moonlight. Phoebe claims that she will never be as merry as before she knew Hepzibah and Clifford. Holgrave tells her that she has lost nothing, for one's first youth is of little value. The departure of shallow gaiety is essential to the soul's development, he says. Phoebe plans to return to the country in a few days. Holgrave tells Phoebe that Hepzibah and Clifford both exist by Phoebe, who tells Holgrave that he talks as if the old house were a theater. Holgrave says that Judge Pyncheon still keeps his eye on Clifford, but his motives remain a mystery. He wonders what Jaffrey has to fear from Clifford. Phoebe wonders how it came to pass that the old mansion had taken such hold of her in so few weeks and how grim Hepzibah contrived to win so much love. Clifford later remarks to Phoebe how she has deepened into beauty. Phoebe departed, bidding farewell to everyone, including Uncle Venner, who compares her to an angel.

Analysis:

The parallels between Holgrave and both Matthew Maules become even more explicit in this chapter. Hawthorne writes that Holgrave has the temptation to acquire domination over the human spirit, a power that Matthew Maule used against Alice Pyncheon in Holgrave's story. The wave of his hand that awakens Phoebe echoes the same action that Matthew Maule used against Alice. Where Holgrave departs from the typical Maule prototype is his democratic ethos. As the one modern character in The House of the Seven Gables, Holgrave embodies contemporary values; his respect for individuality aligns with his liberal ideals to counteract his more fantastical tendencies.

Hawthorne leaves the motive for Phoebe's departure somewhat ambiguous. However, the main reason seems to be the desperation surrounding the house. She is noticeably disturbed by the story that Holgrave tells concerning the Pyncheon history, the event which immediately precedes her decision to depart. Phoebe makes this decision with some regret. She admits to herself that she greatly cares for Hepzibah and Clifford, but still decides to escape from the stifling house. Staying at the House of the Seven Gables has taken a noticeable toll on Phoebe; although she is still as angelic as she was when she first arrived, Phoebe now has the marks of sadness and regret. Holgrave attempts to frame this change in her as a positive attribute that shows new maturity, but this cannot outweigh the feeling that life at the House of the Seven Gables has taken its toll upon her.

Chapter Fifteen:

The Scowl and Smile: Without Phoebe, Clifford is cut off from whatever enjoyment he once had. An easterly storm sets in, preventing him from taking walks in the garden. Hepzibah seems to be possessed by the east wind, grim and disconsolate. The shop loses customers because of a story that she soured her small beer by scowling at it. Both Hepzibah and Clifford hear musical notes from Alice's harpsichord succeeded by a harsher sound, the ringing of the shop bell. Judge Pyncheon visits and offers assistance, which Hepzibah refuses. She tells the Judge that Clifford is bedridden with a minor illness. Jaffrey wonders why Hepzibah protects Clifford from him, for he only wishes to promote his happiness. Hepzibah claims that Jaffrey hates Clifford. Jaffrey's claim that he bears no ill will toward Clifford seems founded, for he is a man of respectable character, but Hepzibah's prejudice may be founded despite his reputation. Men of his character possess vast ability in grasping and appropriating. Hepzibah seems to adopt the belief that it was her Puritan ancestor and not the modern judge on whom she had been wreaking bitterness. Judge Pyncheon demands to see Clifford before he leaves this house. Hepzibah claims that it would drive Clifford mad. Judge Pyncheon claims that Clifford could reveal the location of the deed to the lost land. He says that Clifford once boasted that he possessed the secret of incalculable wealth. Judge Pyncheon says that Clifford has concealed this because he considers him the enemy. Judge Pyncheon warns Hepzibah that he has taken the precaution to have Clifford looked after, and people have noticed his odd behavior. The Judge threatens Hepzibah with the possibility of having Clifford committed. Hepzibah accuses the Judge of committing the same crime as Colonel Pyncheon.

Analysis:

Phoebe's departure from the House of the Seven Gables is a pivotal event for both Clifford and Hepzibah; without the young girl to provide economic assistance to Hepzibah and a sense of emotional stability to Clifford, the two older Pyncheons are now more fragile than ever. Hepzibah continues to suffer because of her unpleasant appearance; her greatest flaw is her scowl, a physical feature that has no correlation to her fragile and kindly demeanor.

In this chapter, Hawthorne leaves behind the studied character description of the inhabitants of the House of the Seven Gables for a melodramatic tone that reflects the Pyncheon mythology. It is here that the feverish and lurid events of the Pyncheon past enter the contemporary setting. Hawthorne adds details appropriate to a ghost story: the chapter occurs in the midst of a dark and stormy evening, while Clifford even hears mysterious music from Alice's harpsichord. When Jaffrey arrives, Judge Pyncheon reveals himself to be the grasping villain that his affinity with Colonel Pyncheon suggests. He, like the Colonel and Gervayse, seeks the deed to the lost land. However, in this chapter of the Pyncheon chronology, the victim is not a Maule, but instead another Pyncheon. Jaffrey's threatening behavior toward Hepzibah and Clifford suggests that the perpetuation of this family sin has caused the Pyncheon family to collapse on itself; Judge Pyncheon is willing to harm his family in order to establish it as a dynasty.

The consequences of Clifford's odd behavior become apparent in this chapter. Although Clifford has attempted to remain confined from the rest of society, he cannot hide his actions from the rest of the world. Even though Clifford believes himself to be safe within the House of the Seven Gables, he must accept that he does exist within the larger world.

Chapter Sixteen:

Clifford's Chamber: Hepzibah felt that she, Clifford and Judge Pyncheon were on the brink of adding another disturbing incident to the house. She cannot rid herself of the sense of something unprecedented occurring. She had never adequately estimated how powerful Jaffrey was in intellect and energy of will and had never felt as alone. She goes to Clifford's room, but does not find him there. She calls for help from Jaffrey, telling him that Clifford is not in his room, but then Clifford appears from the parlor. Judge Pyncheon still remains there, slumped over and unresponsive. Clifford points to the dead Judge and says that they can live without such weight anymore, but they must escape the house.

Analysis

As Hepzibah searches for Clifford on Jaffrey's request, she even realizes the weight of the Pyncheon history upon her. This chapter adds yet another mysterious and tragic death to the House of the Seven Gables. Hawthorne presents Judge Pyncheon's sudden demise as an ambiguous event. All of the apparent evidence points to Clifford as a murderer. Hepzibah finds him in the room alone with the dead body, and he immediately suggests that they escape from the House of the Seven Gables. This fulfills Hawthorne's prophecy earlier in the story: Hawthorne suggested that it would take no less than death to cure Clifford of his sensitivity and solipsism, yet fulfills this with the death of Jaffrey instead of the assumed death of Clifford.

Despite the obvious conclusion that Clifford murdered Jaffrey, Hawthorne leaves great room for the possibility that another situation occurred. Judge Pyncheon's death is a replica of the mysterious death of Colonel Pyncheon, yet another parallel between the two generations. Also, despite his earlier conviction, the frail Clifford seems unlikely as a murderer, particularly in his present state.

Chapter Seventeen:

The Flight of Two Owls: Hepzibah and Clifford began their strange expedition away from the house. They attracted a great deal of notice as they reached the train station, but got on the train unhindered. Hepzibah wonders if this is a dream, but Clifford says that he has never been so awake before. The train was a novelty to the two travelers, for there were so many people in such an enclosed space. Clifford claims that this is life, surrounded by human beings. At home, Hepzibah was guardian, but here Clifford seems to comprehend what belongs to their new position. Clifford chats with the conductor on the train, and says that the railroad is destined to do away with stale ideas of home and fireside, substituting something better. Clifford, talking to an old man, says that men find themselves returning to the ideal of living outside of their defined Œhomes.' He says that the greatest possible stumbling block in the path of human happiness is the idea of a home as heaps of brick and stone. He muses about the House of the Seven Gables, which he envisions as an elderly man of stern countenance. Hepzibah tells him to be quiet, for others will think that he's insane, but he continues his conversation. The old man becomes vexed by Clifford's musings about such things as the telegraph. When the old man concedes that telegraphs may be useful for detecting bank-robbers and murderers, Clifford defends these criminals as possibly enlightened and still having their rights. He posits that there might be a dead man with a blood-stain on his shirt in the house of another man who has fled on a railroad, and asks the old man whether the fleeing man's rights should not be infringed. The train reaches a solitary way-station; Clifford and Hepzibah leave the train at this station, finding themselves in a desolate little town.

Analysis:

The escape from the House of the Seven Gables brings Clifford to life once more, yet even alive he and Hepzibah are largely obsolete. Both travelers find the train a terrifying novelty, but approach this new experience in different manners. Clifford draws energy from the rush of new experience, while Hepzibah approaches their flight tentatively, more aware that they are obsolete. When the two leave the train, they are physically and metaphorically isolated, alone in an empty, abandoned town.

While chatting with other travelers, Clifford indulges in progressive social sentiments to which he is entirely unsuited. He echoes the beliefs of Holgrave, who also promotes the idea of homes and familial legacies as burdens that must be taken down. His picture of the House of the Seven Gables bears a striking resemblance to Judge (or Colonel) Pyncheon; to Clifford, the house represents that aspect of the Pyncheon legacy. However, the ideas that Clifford proposes do not suit him; his musings about the future indicate emotions contrary to those of Holgrave. While Holgrave approaches a changed future as a great thing, for Clifford there is the sense of chaos and confusion, as if he does not truly understand what he is saying. Only when the conversation turns to murder does Clifford take a more realistic approach; he projects his own situation onto the conversation, revealing his fear and desperation over the fate of Judge Pyncheon and his belief that a supposed criminal can still be redeemable.

Chapter Eighteen:

Governor Pyncheon: Judge Pyncheon remains in the House of the Seven Gables, dead but with his eyes open. He continues to hold his watch, which continues to move without him. It was supposed to be a busy day for Jaffrey, and he currently is missing all that he had planned. He was to visit a family physician, whom the Judge would have told that he was experiencing dimness of sight and dizziness. That night, instead of sitting dead in the House of the Seven Gables, Jaffrey Pyncheon was to meet with members of his party and announce his candidacy for governor.

Analysis:

Hawthorne uses this chapter for lightly comic purposes directed at Judge Pyncheon. The chapter details all of the appointments that the Judge is missing, on the account of his untimely death, approaching the situation as if the stern old man were remiss in his duties. It also begins to shed light on the actual cause of Jaffrey's death. The dizziness and vision problems demonstrate a problem with Jaffrey's brain; his death was likely caused by his impending stroke, an explanation that holds true for the earlier death of Colonel Pyncheon. The timing of the stroke was such that it seemingly implicated Clifford. Hawthorne includes the details of Jaffrey's schedule to show the power that he may have attained. If he had not died that evening, Judge Pyncheon may have become governor, a situation that was mercifully averted.

Chapter Nineteen:

Alice's Posies: Uncle Venner was the first person to stir the day after the storm. He traveled down Pyncheon street, where one mystic branch hung down before the main entrance of the Seven Gables. This golden branch was like the branch that gained Aeneas and the Sibyl admittance into Hades. Uncle Venner observes the posies that remained in the angle between the two front gables, traditionally known as Alice's Posies. Tradition held that Alice brought the seeds for these flowers from Italy. Uncle Venner goes to the house to inquire about Hepzibah, for he wonders why there was not the pan of scraps for his pig that Hepzibah usually sets out. Holgrave greets Uncle Venner. The two of them wonder where Clifford and Hepzibah are, and Uncle Venner presumes that Jaffrey took them into the country. Mrs. Gubbins, an old maid, comes to the shop to complain about how Hepzibah didn't have it open that day. The little boy Ned complains that he can't get gingerbread. Other people wonder why Judge Pyncheon's affairs were not in order. Various people attempt to communicate with the inhabitants of the mansion. The butcher visits the house to make a delivery and looks in the house; he sees the legs of Judge Pyncheon from the door. The Italian boy plays his music in front of the house, expecting to have Clifford watch him. The Italian boy finds Judge Pyncheon's schedule near the door, which he had likely lost the day before. The various townsfolk decide to go to the city marshal, and say that there was always something sinister in Hepzibah's scowl. Not more than a half hour later Phoebe returns to the House of the Seven Gables. Ned Higgins tells her that there is something sinister in the house, but she goes inside with some apprehension.

Analysis

Hawthorne approaches the situations that the Pyncheon family faces from a number of perspectives; in this chapter, he views the Pyncheons from the eyes of the disabled Uncle Venner. Each of the characters selects certain aspects of the Pyncheon family tradition: Jaffrey focused on the lost eastern territory, while Holgrave dwells upon the lurid details of Matthew Maule and the Colonel. Uncle Venner views the Pyncheons from an entirely different perspective; he sees the family history as mythology, as shown by the reference to Aeneas, and remembers the positive stories about Alice Pyncheon. However, most of the townspeople view the Pyncheons in instrumental terms. Even Uncle Venner wonders why Hepzibah has not left scraps for his pig. The other townsfolk have more harsh complaints. Ned Higgins wants only gingerbread from Hepzibah, while Mrs. Gubbins complains that she cannot get good service from Hepzibah. This illustrates the different perspective that the town takes of Hepzibah and Clifford. They live within a commercial, market-oriented society, while Hepzibah and Clifford belong to an altogether different tradition in which dynastic norms apply.

Phoebe's return to the house is an unexpected yet propitious event. Her return seems to lack a strong motivation; she comes back from the country without any particular reason, just as she left without any concrete motive. However, her return to the house signals an impending sense of closure, as she prepares to face the family legacy.

Chapter Twenty:

The Flower of Eden: Holgrave, looking paler than ordinary, grasps Phoebe's hand. He smiles at her with genuine warmth. He tells her that they are alone in the house: a terrible event has occurred. He shows her a daguerreotype of Judge Pyncheon. He had taken it within the last hour. He tells her that the Judge is dead and the others have vanished. He admits that there are hereditary reasons that connect him strangely with that man's fate and tells her that he has not opened the doors to call in witnesses because it is better for Clifford and Hepzibah. Holgrave believes that Judge Pyncheon could not have come unfairly to his end: there is a physical predisposition among the Pyncheons to die in this way. However, Clifford's uncle died in the same manner thirty years ago, and Clifford would automatically come under suspicion again. His escape further distorts the matter. Holgrave feels some joy at that moment, for he realizes that he loves Phoebe and declares his love for her. There is a knock at the door; Clifford and Hepzibah have returned home. Clifford appears to be the stronger of the two. He says that he thought immediately of Phoebe when he saw Alice's Posies in bloom. He says that the flower of Eden has bloomed likewise in the old house.

Analysis:

Holgrave's behavior toward Phoebe is completely out of character, a romantic overture toward a character to whom he has shown little interest. They fit together primarily because they are the only young characters in the novel. Even the timing of the proposal is strange at best; The pairing of the two characters is a symbolic union, representing a rejuvenation within the House of the Seven Gables and a move to the future instead of the constant obsession with the past.

Holgrave explains more about what happened to the Judge. The death of Jaffrey is caused by the same physical affliction that caused the death of Clifford's uncle. It was this death for which Clifford was blamed and sentenced to prison. Since it is now clear that Clifford did not murder either Judge Pyncheon or his uncle, the one question that remains is whether he will be implicated in this second death. His return to the house with Hepzibah allows this question to be settled.

Chapter Twenty-One:

The Departure: The sudden death of Judge Pyncheon created a sensation that did not immediately subside. Among the talk of how excellent the judge was lingers a hidden stream of private talk that would shock all decency to speak aloud. Judge Pyncheon was in his youth a wild and brutish man. When he was searching through his uncle's clothes many years before, the old man found him and was startled. He had a stroke and died immediately. Jaffrey found his uncle's will, which favored Clifford, and destroyed it, leaving an older will in his favor. Jaffrey made it appear as if Clifford committed murder. That was Jaffrey's inward criminality. Soon after Jaffrey's death, news arrives that his son died over in Europe. By this misfortune Clifford and Hepzibah became rich. The shock of Judge Pyncheon's death had an invigorating effect on Clifford; the Judge had been a weight on Clifford's psyche. Soon after receiving their inheritance, Clifford, Hepzibah and Phoebe move into the Judge's mansion. Holgrave wonders why the Judge built a house of wood instead of stone, for then he could have passed this house down among the generations. Phoebe remarks how much Holgrave's character has changed. Holgrave finds a recess in the wall behind the portrait of Colonel Pyncheon in which the map and deed to the eastern land has been hidden. Holgrave admits that he knew this because he is actually a Maule, the descendant of the old wizard. Clifford invites Uncle Venner to join them in the Judge's country house. As the Pyncheons leave, two men remark how Hepzibah opened a cent shop and seemingly became rich from it.

Analysis:

Hawthorne does not redeem Judge Pyncheon in his death; rather, he frames Jaffrey as an irredeemable villain whose death is a blessing for the other Pyncheons. It was he who framed Clifford for murder, when in fact the uncle died of natural causes. His death, as well as the death of his son in Europe, becomes a blessing for the remaining Pyncheons, who profit from his demise. Hawthorne even explicitly states that Judge Pyncheon was the weight upon Clifford's psyche that prevented him from living normally. The final destruction of Judge Pyncheon's reputation permits a resuscitation of Clifford's, as he is apparently not blamed for the judge's murder and even granted Jaffrey's property as his closest remaining heir.

Holgrave completely abandons his progressive sociopolitical ideas for a more traditional value system, thus giving up his most distinguishing characteristic. Significantly, he does this when he gains the status and privilege that he once opposed. The views that he once espoused were not strongly held as ideals, but rather as a tactic; he opposed status because it worked against him, then accepts the benefits of the Pyncheon family name once he becomes one.

The events of the final chapter, particularly the intended marriage between Holgrave and Phoebe, absolve the Pyncheon family of its accumulated sins. Since Holgrave is actually a descendant of Matthew Maule, his union with Phoebe brings the two families together harmoniously. As the new heir to the Pyncheon fortune with Phoebe, Holgrave thus will receive the land that his ancestors rightly deserved. By finding the deed and map, the remaining Pyncheons end the family tradition of seeking this legendary fortune for sinister ends.

The ending of The House of the Seven Gables is a case of pure fantasy in the romantic tradition. Not only does it dish out the appropriate rewards to each of the characters, it does so to an absurd extreme. Clifford and Hepzibah do not just escape poverty. They move into their wealthy cousin's mansion and find the deed to the vast eastern property for which generations of Pyncheons have searched. Hawthorne even forces a marriage into the plot in order to complete the requirements of the genre. However, he ends the novel with a sly critique on the romantic form. The two men who remark on Hepzibah's newfound fortune think that she came about it through the modern method of hard work and industry. Rather, the Pyncheons' wealth comes from a more traditional, perhaps even outdated mode, of accumulation. Even when the Pyncheons are redeemed, they still belong to an obsolete romantic tradition.

• Biography of Nathaniel Hawthorne
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