# Matthew Maule — The House of the Seven Gables character guide

> Matthew Maule in The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Maule, old Matthew Maule, old Maule, young Matthew Maule, the carpenter

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

## Snapshot

The stubborn wizard hanged for witchcraft, whose dying curse on Colonel Pyncheon settles over the house like a hereditary debt.

## Who they are

Old Matthew Maule claimed the spring-fed plot of land before the Pyncheons did, and he went to Gallows Hill rather than surrender it, leaving behind a curse that the family has never quite dismissed as superstition. His grandson, the young carpenter Matthew Maule, inherits both the name and the popular suspicion of strange powers, and his pride and reserve make him a dangerous figure in a town that remembers old wrongs. The Maules matter because they turn the Pyncheon house from a mere setting into a ledger of guilt, and because the question of whether the curse is real or merely believed shapes every generation that follows.

## Relationships

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

_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)

_psychological_

Clifford is haunted by the ghostly presence and curse of Matthew Maule, whose wronged spirit is tied to the Pyncheon family's fate.

### [Holgrave](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_the_seven_gables_se/characters/holgrave)

_family_

Holgrave is a descendant of Matthew Maule, carrying on the family's legacy and seeking a form of justice against the Pyncheons.

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

_rivalry_

Colonel Pyncheon, the family patriarch, wrongfully accused Matthew Maule of witchcraft and had him executed to seize his land.

### [Scipio](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_the_seven_gables_se/characters/scipio)

_professional_

Scipio is a servant or worker in Matthew Maule's household, serving him with loyalty.

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

_psychological_

Clifford is haunted by the ghostly presence and curse of Matthew Maule, whose wronged spirit is tied to the Pyncheon family's fate.

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

_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)

_psychological_

Clifford is haunted by the ghostly presence and curse of Matthew Maule, whose wronged spirit is tied to the Pyncheon family's fate.

### [Holgrave](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_the_seven_gables_se/characters/holgrave)

_family_

Holgrave is a descendant of Matthew Maule, carrying on the family's legacy and seeking a form of justice against the Pyncheons.

### [Scipio](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_the_seven_gables_se/characters/scipio)

_professional_

Scipio is a servant or worker in Matthew Maule's household, serving him with loyalty.

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

_rivalry_

Colonel Pyncheon, the family patriarch, wrongfully accused Matthew Maule of witchcraft and had him executed to seize his land.

### [Scipio](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_the_seven_gables_se/characters/scipio)

_professional_

Scipio is a servant or worker in Matthew Maule's household, serving him with loyalty.

## In the story

### [The House of the Seven Gables](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_the_seven_gables_se/chapters/the-house-of-the-seven-gables)

The executed wizard whose land was seized by Colonel Pyncheon; he cursed the Pyncheon family from the scaffold.

### [The Old Pyncheon Family](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_the_seven_gables_se/chapters/i-the-old-pyncheon-family)

Original occupant of the land, executed as a wizard; his curse on the Pyncheon family is a central theme.

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

The carpenter and grandson of the executed wizard; he negotiates with Gervayse Pyncheon for the House of the Seven Gables and requests a talk with Alice.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_the_seven_gables_se/characters/matthew_maule
- 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