In Pennell's essay "The Unfortunate Fall" she compares Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
and Hawthorne. "Each experienced the vulnerability that also shapes the lives
of some of their characters. Both authors confront in their fiction what Hawthorne
identifies in The House of the Seven Gables as the 'inherent instability
of human affairs.' Seven Gables, Hawthorne's most extended treatment of the
decline of family and fortune, articulates a set of values and expectations
that governed the world into which Mary Wilkins Freeman was born and in which
her characters struggle to maintain a sense of self-worth and independence.
In his treatment of Hepzibah Pyncheon, Hawthorne creates a prototype for some
of the women who later appear in Freeman's work. Aspects of Hepzibah's character
important to Freeman's genteel women include: her intense valuing of the familial
past, especially in light of the reduced circumstances of the present; her use
of form and decorum to create emotional distance and self-protective barriers;
and most significantly, her acceptance of economic poverty to preserve a sense
of integrity and independence" (191-192). (courtesy of University
of Massachusetts Press)
"Keenly aware, in light of his own experiences, of the ways financial and familial
decline can contribute to emotional poverty and isolation, Hawthorne sympathetically
portrays the struggles of Hepzibah Pyncheon, whose fantasies of miraculous rescue
through the arrival of a mysterious fortune sustain her. Hepzibah's New England
heritage, which Hawthorne sketches in this fiction, allows him to consider her
character within the context of both a personal and historical past, to invest
her with a sense of place and purpose" (192). (courtesy of University
of Massachusetts Press)
"In addition to the burden of responsibility for preserving the family history,
Hepzibah also bears the burden of maintaining some sign of the family's status.
This is difficult, however, given her situation: she is 'wretchedly poor' and
though she has 'fed herself from childhood with the shadowy food of aristocratic
reminiscences . . . [she] must [now] earn her own food, or starve!' To explore
Hepzibah's plight, Hawthorne examines her concepts of gentility, for she has
been socialized to believe that 'a lady's hand soils itself irremediably by
doing aught for its bread'" (193). (courtesy of University
of Massachusetts Press)
"The values that have shaped her life allow Hepzibah to see herself as guardian
of the house and repository of Pyncheon family lore and tradition, but such
a role is unimportant to a world preoccupied with technological progress and
change. Hepzibah exists at the margins of Salem's social world, her life circumscribed
by a code of gentility and decorum, even though her house stands not far from
the center of town. . . . Hepzibah, the first living Pyncheon to appear, is
'the old maid' alone is the house. Hawthorne's repeated use of this pejorative
is important, for it conveys the presumed stasis of Hepzibah's life and indicates
how the community defines a woman of Hepzibah's age, marital status, and prospects.
Even though Hepzibah has tried to remain invisible, accepting her marginality
as part of her self-sacrifice, the community still exercises influence over
her identity. The first scene in which she appears is filled with references
to 'restraint' and to an avoidance of 'indecorum,' indications that Hepzibah
is governed by the expectations she internalized years earlier. That she has
'dwelt in strict seclusion; taking no part in the business of life, and just
as little in its intercourse and pleasures' reveals that Hepzibah (or any woman
alone) has no role according to the conventions of her day. She cannot be part
of the masculine world of competition and production nor can she fulfill the
expectations of the cult of domesticity, for she has no family present and no
social life" (193-194). (courtesy of University
of Massachusetts Press)
"Hepzibah's distance from the world and her lack of interaction have created
a false impression of her. Her black silk gown of outdated line and 'the strange
horror of a turban on her head' are almost comical, while 'her scowl had done
Miss Hepzibah a very ill-office, in establishing her character as an ill-tempered
old maid.' The narrative reveals, however, that 'her heart never frowned. It
was naturally tender, sensitive, and full of little tremors and palpitations.'
Such tenderness of heart engenders vulnerability, and Hepzibah's strict adherence
to the rules of decorum, that she was 'born a lady, and [has] always lived one
- no matter in what narrowness of means, has served as a form of self-protection"
(194). (courtesy of University
of Massachusetts Press)
In her essay Pennell gives examples to support this portrait of Hepzibah by
showing her interactions with Holgrave and Phoebe.
"Were this the extent of Hepzibah's character, she would fade into the background
and take her place on the shelf as society expects. However, Hawthorne reveals
another side to Hepzibah's character that anticipates the inner strength of
the women in Freeman's fiction. Hepzibah has subsisted for a period of time,
relying in part on a meager garden and the few eggs her chickens provide, but
she has barely sustained herself and needs income to support herself and her
brother. Even in this situation, she is bound by the expectations that have
governed her life. Since she is not suited to sewing or teaching, 'the business
of setting up a petty shop is almost the only resource of women, in circumstances
at all similar to those of our unfortunate recluse). In spite of the desperate
situation, in which she finds herself, Hepzibah does not wish to be a charity
case, even within her family" (195). (courtesy of University
of Massachusetts Press)
