The House of the Seven Gables · Question
How does The House of the Seven Gables develop the theme of Inherited Sin and Guilt?
Answer
The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne develops Inherited Sin and Guilt across the chapters the companion marks for this theme.
The novel explores how the wrongdoing of one generation—specifically Colonel Pyncheon's theft of land from Matthew Maule—curses and corrupts successive generations, manifesting in the moral decay, suffering, and eventual downfall of the Pyncheon family.
The curse of Matthew Maule and the Colonel's violent acquisition of land establish a legacy of sin that haunts the Pyncheon family.
The Pyncheon family is burdened by the original sin of Colonel Pyncheon's acquisition of Maule's land, with each generation inheriting the guilt and the curse.
The weight of the Colonel's original sin and the family's long decline presses on Hepzibah, who feels doomed to a life of sorrow and penance.
Evidence in the book
- The House of the Seven Gables
The curse of Matthew Maule and the Colonel's violent acquisition of land establish a legacy of sin that haunts the Pyncheon family.
- The Old Pyncheon Family
The Pyncheon family is burdened by the original sin of Colonel Pyncheon's acquisition of Maule's land, with each generation inheriting the guilt and the curse.
- II: The Little Shopwindow
The weight of the Colonel's original sin and the family's long decline presses on Hepzibah, who feels doomed to a life of sorrow and penance.
- IV: A Day Behind the Counter
Hepzibah sees Judge Pyncheon as the reincarnation of Colonel Pyncheon, suggesting a curse passed down through generations.
- Maule's Well
The resemblance between the daguerreotype and the ancestral portrait suggests a continuity of moral corruption across generations.
- VIII: The Pyncheon of Today
Phoebe's horror at the Judge's throat noise connects to the Maule curse, suggesting that the sins of Colonel Pyncheon haunt his descendants.
- XII: The Daguerreotypist
Holgrave links the Pyncheon family's present misery to the original sin of Colonel Pyncheon, whose image and character persist in Judge Pyncheon.
- Alice Pyncheon
The Maule family's legacy of witchcraft and the Pyncheon family's curse are central to the negotiation, with the ghostly portrait symbolizing the enduring guilt of Colonel Pyncheon's actions.
