Nathaniel Hawthorne

Nathaniel Hawthorne's The House of the Seven Gables tells of the Pyncheon family and the curse that was visited upon it. The novel is complex and has engendered a good deal of discussion about its themes, its characters, and the society depicted by Hawthorne, all related to Hawthorne's sense of American history and of the legacy of Puritanism. Much of the history of the Pyncheon family is a history of evil in the New World as various Pyncheons betray their own and to whatever they have to do to acquire property and to protect that property. The women of the Pyncheon family show a dichotomy that Hawthorne explored in much of his fiction, a tension between the strongly individualized woman who tries to make her way in the world through her own ability a

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ibah goes about doing this shows how reclusive she has been and how reticent she is to thrust herself into the public eye. She is described as stealing up to the window on tiptoe, and she also keeps the fact of her opening of the store a secret for as long as possible: She was well aware that she must ultimately come forward, and stand revealed in her proper individuality; but, like other sensitive persons, she could not bear to be observed in the gradual process, and chose rather to flash forth on the world's astonished gaze at once (Hawthorne 38). Hepzibah represents the past--she is the holder of all the secrets of the family and is thus both bound by the past and holds that past in her hands. Phoebe, her niece, has a different role, a role that points to the future. In this regard, Phoebe is a cure for the family, redeeming them symbolically and pointing to a happier future. She can therefore also be seen as offering an escape from the past, though in truth, one can never completely escape that past. Phoebe is, however, affected by the past as she enters this house. She is affected by the house and the circumstances of this story and if anything becomes a little less "sunny" as a consequence. She may be a means of
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Miss Hepzibah, Seven Gables, Holgrave Phoebe, Clifford Phoebe's, Hepzibah Pyncheon, Phoebe Holgrave, Flower Eden, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Matthew Alice's, Clifford Hepzibah, pyncheon family, house seven gables, house seven, seven gables, phoebe holgrave, outside world, love holgrave, escape past, american history, sense american, flower eden, sense american history,
Approximate Word count = 1660
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

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