The House of the Seven Gables; Three Women-Introductory Page
The Three Female Characters in The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Material prepared by:
Cathy
Eaton, Department of English
New Hampshire Technical,
Institute, Concord, NH
Melissa
Pennell, Department of English
University of Massachusetts,
Lowell, MA
The Turner-Ingersoll House, 54 Turner St., Salem, aka "The House of the Seven Gables"(photography by Dan Popp)
In his romance The House of the Seven Gables Nathaniel Hawthorne
created three distinct female characters who exemplify types of women
throughout his fiction. Hepzibah Pyncheon, the timid lady aristocrat of
another era, bravely but often ineffectually attempts to run a Cent Shoppe
as she protects and nurtures her brother Clifford who has been wrongly
imprisoned for thirty years. Phoebe Pyncheon, the lovely,
practical country
lass, manages the Cent Shoppe easily as she brings cheer and energy into
the dismal lives of her cousins Hepzibah and Clifford; Phoebe also brings
tender love to the daguerreotypist Holgrave. Alice Pyncheon, a bold,
independent and sharp-witted ancestor of Hepzibah and Phoebe, becomes
enslaved to the wizard/carpenter Maule.
