The House of the Seven Gables

What reaction does Pheobe have if she spends too much time in the company of Hepzibah and Clifford?

chapters 12 and 13

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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.

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http://www.gradesaver.com/the-house-of-the-seven-gables/study-guide/section4/