# Alice Pyncheon — The House of the Seven Gables character guide

> Alice Pyncheon in The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mistress Alice, Alice Pyncheon, fair Alice, proud Alice Pyncheon

**First appearance:** 0002-i-the-old-pyncheon-family

## Snapshot

A proud Pyncheon beauty whose delicate charm and imperious spirit make her the family's brightest ornament — until a Maule's strange power reaches for her.

## Who they are

Alice belongs to the Pyncheons' genteel past, the kind of heiress whose grace and hauteur are meant to adorn the family name. Her pride is both her armor and her vulnerability, and it draws her into a fateful encounter with a Maule whose inherited gifts she cannot match. Her story matters because it shows, early on, how the family's old wrongs keep reaching forward to claim new victims.

## Relationships

### [Matthew Maule](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_the_seven_gables_se/characters/matthew_maule)

_psychological_

Alice Pyncheon is mesmerized and psychologically dominated by Matthew Maule, who seeks revenge on her family through hypnotic control.

### [Clifford Pyncheon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_the_seven_gables_se/characters/clifford_pyncheon)

_family_

Alice is Clifford's ancestor, and her tragic story of Maule's curse casts a shadow over Clifford's own life.

### [Matthew Maule](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_the_seven_gables_se/characters/matthew_maule)

_psychological_

Alice Pyncheon is mesmerized and psychologically dominated by Matthew Maule, who seeks revenge on her family through hypnotic control.

### [Clifford Pyncheon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_the_seven_gables_se/characters/clifford_pyncheon)

_family_

Alice is Clifford's ancestor, and her tragic story of Maule's curse casts a shadow over Clifford's own life.

### [Matthew Maule](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_the_seven_gables_se/characters/matthew_maule)

_psychological_

Alice Pyncheon is mesmerized and psychologically dominated by Matthew Maule, who seeks revenge on her family through hypnotic control.

## In the story

### [May and November](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_the_seven_gables_se/chapters/v-may-and-november)

Mentioned as the great-great-grandaunt who planted the white rosebush in the garden.

### [Alice Pyncheon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_the_seven_gables_se/chapters/xiii-alice-pyncheon)

The fair and proud daughter of Gervayse Pyncheon, recently returned from Italy; she becomes a pawn in her father's dealings with Maule.

### [XV: The Scowl and Smile](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_the_seven_gables_se/chapters/xv-the-scowl-and-smile)

Her harpsichord is heard playing, evoking ghostly associations.

### [Governor Pyncheon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_the_seven_gables_se/chapters/xviii-governor-pyncheon)

Appears in the ghostly vision of the Pyncheon ancestors.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_the_seven_gables_se/characters/alice_pyncheon
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_the_seven_gables_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_the_seven_gables_se/characters