Who is Judge Jaffrey Pyncheon?

Judge Jaffrey Pyncheon is the novel’s public villain — prosperous, philanthropic in reputation, secretly the man who destroyed Clifford to grasp wealth and power. Hawthorne exposes his resemblance to Colonel Pyncheon in appetite and hypocrisy. He pressures Hepzibah, terrorizes Clifford, and dies alone in the haunted parlor after a stroke readers may read as curse fulfillment.

Judge embodies appearance-vs-reality and wealth-and-moral-corruption. His death enables survivors to escape the house. Classroom who-questions should tie him to Maule’s curse and to Clifford’s imprisonment backstory.