house of the seven gables – Flashcards

- Matthew Maule builds house - Colonel Pyncheon wants the land for himself and accuses Maule of witchcraft - Maule is convicted and dies but warns that Pyncheon will have blood to drink - Pyncheon builds even bigger house on the land and throws huge welcoming party and is found dead with blood on his beard at the party - Future generations live in this house but can never acquire Pyncheon's huge mass of land in Maine - House goes out of style - 30 yrs prior to story, a Pyncheon is murdered by his nephew - His other nephew is Judge Pyncheon who builds a large home outside of town - Sister of jailed Pyncheon lives alone in house of seven gables - Gigantic elm, Alice's posies, closed shop

named after an old legend that told of Alice Pyncheon flinging up flower seeds for fun; the resulting flowers were said to thrive in the dust and dirt collected on the roof

- Hepzibah Pyncheon is an old maid with a scowl from nearsightedness - Financial difficulty leads her to re-open the home's shop - Her only option: too blind to sew, not smart enough to teach - Nervously sets up shop and waits as long as she can to open it

- Holgrave is shop's first customer, tells Hepzibah opening this shop is great and makes her a woman who contributes to society - Holgrave gets biscuits but he lives at the house so Hepzibah gives them away for free - Overheard conversation between men saying her shop was bad and its a failing business but Hepzibah is most sad that they say she is ugly - Gives a gingerbread man to a boy for free, when he comes back she takes his money - A few more customers and happy moments but overall Hepzibah is worried she will fail - Sees a beautiful woman and asks what use are wealthy women but then regrets it

- 22 yr old man, makes daguerreotypes - lodger at the house of the seven gables

Hepzibah does not like that she is an old woman now but Holgrave says that being a lady is more of a restriction. Says that ladies and gentleman feel entitled to privileges but men and women work for what they have.

Holgrave: hipster photographer, wants to be known for his personality instead of wealth Workmen: openly discuss their wealth and make fun of Hepzibah Wealthy woman: importance of money in social status

- Hep's cousin Judge Jaffrey Pyncheon walks by the store - old man Uncle Venner comes into the shop, says something better than a shop is in Hep's future - asks if "he" will return soon.... - rest of the day does not go well for Hep - young country Pyncheon Phoebe arrives and asks to stay at the house, Hep says only one day bc might disturb Clifford

colorful neighborhood character, allows Hawthorne to move story along by mentioning "he"

mysterious...Hep does not seem pleased at his smile so maybe he is not as good as he seems connection of Judge to the Colonel adds a negative image to the Judge

- Phoebe starts redecorating, Hep says she cannot stay bc "he" is coming, Phoebe asks if its the Judge and Hep says he will never enter her home - Phoebe persuades Hep to let her stay for a few weeks, she runs the shop well and sells many items - Hep thinks about how Phoebe can never be a lady bc of her rural background, but knows she is so graceful and smart it doesnt matter - Hep gives Phoebe a tour of the house and says theres treasure where Colonel died if found they would all be wealthy - Shows Phoebe a harpsichord owned by Alice whose ghost haunts the house - Says Holgrave does his own thing, strange but charming man

master of the house, Hep's brother and Phoebe's cousin sybarite: loves sights, sounds and touch, pleasures in old house and young Phoebe, recoils in horror at image of Colonel and wants it removed

- Phoebe tends to the garden and finds it in advanced decay - She finds a rooster 2 hens and a chick and takes care of them - the chickens are part of an old race of birds the Pyncheons bred, used to be size of turkeys but got smaller over time - Holgrave is also in the garden and says the birds always run from him but the flock to Phoebe, says they must know shes a Pyncheon - Phoebe is cautious of Holgrave but is charmed by him, thinks daguerreotypes are bad, Holgrave says they tell more than a painting, shows a man hiding a stern interior behind a smile Phoebe thinks is the Colonel - Holgrave asks Phoebe to tend the birds and garden for him - Phoebe sees Hep alone inside and sits with her and feels a mysterious presence in the room, hears Hep whisper to someone and swears to hear a low murmur in response

symbolize how the Pyncheon's also used to be strong but have suffered over time, their clucking is like petty gossip like how people discuss the Pyncheons, however like the Pyncheons the birds still exist

contradicts himself, says he is a polarizing figure who for better or worse disrupts the world around him, contradicting that Hep who cares about society's opinion lets such a strange man live with her

- Phoebe and Hep make mackerel for breakfast, while cooking Hep is bipolar, hugging and crying Phoebe - Heps long absent brother Clifford arrives, wanders about in confusion, likes Phoebe who recognizes him from pic in Heps drawer, doesnt look at Heps ugly face - Clifford asks for Colonel pic to be removed, Hep covers it w a cloth - Hep says she brings shame by opening up the shop, Clifford says there is no more shame that can be brought to him - weeps over the ruins of his life and falls asleep and Hep cries

- little boy who bought gingerbread man comes into shop - Judge comes in and doesn't know Phoebe, then introduces himself as her cousin, goes to kiss Phoebe who draws back and a shadow and frown cross the Judge's face revealing his true nature, Phoebe recognizes him from Holgrave's daguerreotype - amazed at how similar Judge and Colonel look, narrator says they are very similar, Judge makes gurgling noise and Phoebe is reminded of Maule's blood to drink curse, rumor that blood gurgles in pyncheon throats - Judge tells Hep that Phoebe is scared of Clifford, Phoebe objects, Judge says clifford has done something terrible but she should remain in ignorant bliss - Judge offers to financially support Hep and Cliff, she refuses, Cliff tells Hep to make him go away "red fire" kindles in Judge's eyes upon hearing Cliff's voice, Hep doesn't let judge in and he says he will return when they're in a better mood - Hep collapses and asks Phoebe to watch Cliff and figures there must be a family feud

- Hep realizes she is not a source of Cliff's happiness and that Phoebe must entertain them both - Phoebe is not brought down but lifted up by the misery of the house - Becomes womanly - Sings and Cliff feels youthful and happy, enjoys watching her youth develop - Phoebe is not fascinated by misery and finds Cliff's mystery frustrating, spends time with him out of pity - Phoebe continues to help at the shop, customers prefer her over Hep

- Clifford loves the garden which Holgrave and Phoebe have been nursing back to health - Phoebe reads to Cliff in the garden and he loves it especially poetry - Cliff lets chickens roam free, they gather near Maule's Well - Holgrave found old bean vine seeds and plants them, they grow int beautiful flowers with hummingbirds that Cliff loves - Seeing Cliff's innocence is bittersweet for Hep: happy he is at peace but sad they both have wasted away - Hep arranged sunday lunch with Phoebe, Clifford, Holgrave, and Uncle Venner - Clifford enjoys speaking at these and Venner's old age makes him feel young - Venner says he wants to retire on the farm but Cliff says he has bigger dreams for him - Venner says he doesnt want more property - Clifford cries saying he wants happiness, narrator says Cliff should make the most of his happiness in his time with Phoebe and family lunches

clifford and the house of seven gables' growth, something good can come out of the past, they can grow even when everyone expects them to fail, hope

- Phoebe shows Cliff out the window and he is surprised by all the new inventions, prefers seeing old things like carts, is sad there are no stagecoaches - organ grinder w/ monkey and diorama ft. man kissing a woman, a drunk drinking alc, a miser who counts his money, narrator notes the futility of their efforts because once the music stops they are far away from completing their task - narrator thinks greedy monkey asking for money is like new englander's souls, clifford is horrified and backs away - procession through the streets, Cliff seems as if he'll jump out the window but Hep and Phoebe stop him, narrator says the jump may have helped lift him from his stupor - Everyone goes to church, Cliff says he and Hep should go but they can't leave the house because they are like ghosts trapped in it forever - Cliff blows bubbles, one lands on Judge Pyncheon who makes fun of Cliff leaving him in fear

- Phoebe has been at the house for a month so she makes friends with Holgrave someone her own age, Phoebe loves talking w/ him because talking w/ Hep and Cliff is miserable - Holgrave is 22 but has worked many jobs in US and Europe - Holgrave says everything in their world is made from dead men and they must tear it down and put up new institutions - Narrator hints that Holgrave might love Phoebe but she can't tell - Holgrave is very inquisitive about Cliff, Phoebe is not as interested and can't answer his questions - Narrator says Holgrave is well-read but needs to learn how to think - Holgrave thinks he can read Phoebe like an open book but is shocked her bright personality can hide dark emotions - Holgrave mentions Pyncheon curse, Phoebe says he is catching the lunacy - Holgrave says he has written about the Maule curse for a magazine and offers to read it to Phoebe

- mr. holgrave's short story - Maule's grandson, Matthew Maule II, gets a message to come to the house of 7 gables - servant Scipio says house is haunted by Colonel Pyncheon, and if pyncheon isn't than old maule is - matt sends his respects to Alice Pyncheon - Maule is a carpenter and not liked bc his grandpa was a wizard - everyone thinks he's a wizard and can control ppl with his mind - Maule goes to house owned by Mr. Gervayse Pyncheon, grandson of colonel - grandson who found colonel dead as a boy - Gervayse hates the house and went to Europe and married - Maule is greeted by Alice playing her harpsichord - Gervayse's room has an old map and pic of old puritan man - Gervayse asks if Matt knows of the land the Pyncheons claim in maine - rumor that old Maule had it, checked the grave and was not there - Gervayse offers money for the deed, Maul wants the house - He gives Maule the house and maule asks for alice - alice thinks he's handsome but Maule doesn't realize and puts Alice in deep trance - Asks alice to say who knows where the deed is, she says colonel pyncheon, old maule and thomas maule know - alice wakes up and doesnt know what happened - maule controls alice forever and alice withdraws from society -maule makes her wait on his bride at his wedding and alice dies, happy to be free from misery - maule didnt want her to die only to be humbled

- phoebe is hypnotized after hearing this story - holgrave is tempted to overcome phoebe - has too much respect for personal choice and relieves her of the spell - holgrave teases phoebe, she claims she was awake but can't remember anything - night falls, holgrave has never been happier, phoebe says she has been happier but appreciates the moonlight, holgrave says this is her soul maturing - phoebe realizes she must help Hep w/ the shop, holgrave mentions phoebe is leaving soon - phoebe says its true but she plans to come back bc she likes feeling useful - holgrave says hep and cliff are as good as dead without phoebe - phoebe asks if holgrave cares what happens to hep and cliff, he says he is only interested in an intellectual way, "a privileged spectator" of this human drama - phoebe demands to know if holgrave knows of bad things that will happen to hep and cliff, he says he knows nothing and only has his own secrets - holgrave mentions he noticed judge has played a role in cliff's downfall - phoebe says goodbye, promises she isnt angry - 2 days later she says bye to Hep and cliff - feeds the chickens - hep says its good for phoebe to leave and regain her smile, cliff says she has become a woman - phoebe leaves after giving ned higgins an animal cookie - venner walks w her for a bit, says hep and cliff won't bear to be without her and phoebe says she will be back

- cliff and hep mope around the house, weather is cold and stormy - hep is exhausted keeping after the house, cliff refuses to get up after 5 days, hep is relieved to be alone a bit - cliff plays a few harpsichord notes before the strings snap - they hear the shop bell: Judge Jaffrey Pyncheon - judge asks hep why she keeps cliff secluded, he should like to see an old friend, hep says its impossible he's been in bed all day - judge seems upset cliff might be dying, insists on seeing cliff to heal the bitterness between them, hep knows this is BS and asks whats up - judge tells hep to knock it off and he wont leave w/o seeing cliff, says that w/o him cliff would still be in prison, hep says judge sent him there in the first place, hep doesnt understand what judge wants from cliff, the sight of judge would drive cliff insane - judge says wassup: when uncle Jaffrey died lawyers found out he wasnt as rich as he said, judge thinks jaffrey hid his wealth, all of jaffrey's estate was left to judge but house was to hep - judge is certain cliff has the key to his estate, hep says he's nuts - judge says before jaffrey's death cliff bragged he knew "a secret of incalculable wealth", judge wants the secret, thinks cliff is hiding secret out of spite - hep asks what will happen is judge doesnt get the secret, judge says he will lock cliff in an asylum, hep says judge is crazy - judge has all the money he needs so why does he want more - judge demands cliff must make his decision this afternoon, hep begs him to be kind because god is looking at him, judge waits in parlor and begs hep t bring him cliff

- hep goes in house and has feeling new history is about to go down in pyncheon family, is sure judge will destroy cliff and is sure cliff knows no secret the judge wants - hep has nowhere to turn, no one will side w cliff against the rich judge - holgrave isnt there, sends prayer through arched window but doesnt feel response - hep knocks on cliffs door w no answer, cliffs room is empty, looks to see if he went into garden, sees a strange grimalkin (house cat), throws a stick to scare it off, still doesnt see cliff - doesnt think he ran away bc he would be treated badly by public, thinks maybe he killed himself in the sea - frightened she goes to judge for help, finds judge in same chair colonel died in 150 yrs ago - judge doesnt move even when hep yells do you hear me jaffrey pyncheon - cliff walks into parlor looking crazy with a wild look of scorn and mockery - cliff says to hep they can dance now and do whatever they like - hep realizes judge is dead, cliff says they should leave bc judge will take good care of it, hep is scared and agrees and leaves w her cloak, thinks she will wake up from this dream but never does - cliff and hep leave while judge's body lives with his forefathers

- cliff and hep leave the house as inexperienced as children, cliff looks drunk with excitement, no one gives them a second glance, hep feels in a dream - cliff pulls hep towards railway cars, he feels as though he has never been awake before - the 2 old pyncheons are surrounded by 50 ppl they dont know: cliff v excited, hep v fretful - cliff says hep needs to stop thinking about the judge and be carefree, hep thinks cliff is insane - train conductor stops n asks where they are going, cliff says traveling for pleasure and want to go as far as possible - "gimlet-eyed" passenger says its a bad day for their excursion, stormy and should stay home, cliff says home isnt as great as ppl say it is - cliff says humankind is moving towards the future and away from the past, homes are past and train is future, soon we will move all the time like nomads - gimlet eyes says it would be awful to live everywhere and nowhere, cliff thinks it would be the best thing ever - cliff remembers a certain dark and melancholy house with a dead man in it who taints the whole house, cliff could never be happy bc of the dead man w open eyes (unsure if judge or colonel but does it matter??), gimlet eyes is afraid - cliff says would be a relief if whole house burned down, this morning he was old but feels young again - gimlet eyes is embarassed, hep tells cliff he looks insane - cliff tells gimlet eyes the worst sins are commit over property, gimlet eyes agrees to get cliff to go away, cliff says hypnosis would solve the worlds problems & rapping spirits - gimlet eyes thinks this is nonsense but likes the telegraph machine, cliff agrees when used to send messages of love but puts bank robbers at a disadvantage - cliff gives example of man running to new town w corpse in house, unfair if news already reaches that town, gimlet eyes is confused - train stops and cliff n hep leave, cliff suddenly has no energy and asks hep what to do next, hep prays to god

- judge still sits in parlor "keeping house", has not moved, narrator comments that this is strange since he has much to do today, was going to meet w broker to invest more money - was going to buy property from maules to complete pyncheon estate, a horse and fruit trees, replace tombstone on wife's grave, visit widow of old business partner, go to doctor - didnt think he was that ill just dizzy w/ a choking in the throat - was going to go to dinner to be candidate for gov of Mass, dinner has passed - blood stain on white shirt, watch still ticking, moon on his face - narrator brings in ghost, judge doesnt believe but narrator wants to play: - colonel pyncheon frowning w sword at waist and staff in hand, shop keeping pyncheon and alice pyncheon, all stop and look dissatisfied at portrait of colonel, son of judge pyncheon - phoebe cliff n hep only pyncheons left - new ghost: judge "will he ever stir again?" - only thing that moves is black gremilkin out window, narrator asks if this is the devil waiting for a soul - night passes, will judge move now, has busy day, fly lands on him and judge doesnt brush it away, narrator gives up - shop bell rings and narrator leaves

- venner is 1st awake after storm, everything even house looks clean n fresh, full bloom of Alice's posies - venner stops by house for scraps to feed his pig, surprised hep didnt leave anything - holgrave sees venner, venner says no one is up yet, asks if wind kept holgrave up, holgrave says if he believed in ghosts he'd think the pyncheon ghosts were raiding through the house - venner saw judge in shop the day before - tells holgrave to pick alice's posies and keep in water for phoebe when she comes back, holgrave agrees and says maule's well water is best, venner leaves - angry housewife Mrs Gubbins wants to buy half lb of pork, someone says dont bother no one is home - neighbor says hep and cliff went with judge, Gubbins says thats unlikely since Hep and judge had a fallout and thats why hep is poor - neighbor says only blood relative would want to help hep, gubbins leaves - ned higgins goes to buy a cookie, bangs on the door bc he wants an elephant, almost throws a stone through the window but a passerby stops him, man sends ned to school - man turns to his friend dixey and wonders what happened to the pyncheons, strange that judge wouldnt come home, dixey thinks judge is fine and hep is in debt an ran off - delivery ppl stop by but no answer - butcher peeps thru window and sees someone sitting in the parlor, thinks its cliff ignoring him and leaves - barrel organ monkey man stops outside the house, crowd of children argue if anyone is home, monkey man hopes to see hep n cliff, 2 men tell him to be quiet saying they dont want to hear music bc it is rumored across town that judge was murdered - monkey man finds card on doorstep w judge's appts, dixey says they must bring it to city marshal, thinks cliff is up to old tricks AKA him and hep killed judge - children run off scared and dare each other to run past the house, say they see cliff n hep scowling at them thru the windows - phoebe is back, ned tells her not to go in bc something wicked is inside, doors are locked n maule's well overflowed - side door swings open so phoebe goes inside then swings shut

- cant see bc dark - feels a hand drawing her into reception room, holgrave brought her inside, looks pale but warm smile - phoebe asks abt hep n cliff, holgrave says they are the only ones in the house, hesitates to tell phoebe what happened - shows her old photo of judge and photo of his dead face - explains he heard rumors of judge and cliff so went to look for himself and found judge so photographed for evidence to help cliff - phoebe asks why he didnt call for help, holgrave says would be bad for hep n cliff - would have been better for cliffs rep if he just asked for help bc judge died of hereditary pyncheon condition not violence - holgrave suspects maule knew the pyncheons had this disease so he framed his curse the way he did, believes cliffs uncle died the same way 30 yrs earlier but someone made him look like he was murdered - judge made it look like cliff murdered uncle jaffrey - if cliff comes back they could prove judge and uncle jaffrey died of natural causes or else looks like cliff killed judge and jaffrey - phoebe says cliff is innocent and god will make it manifest, insists to tell everyone, holgrave agrees but hesitates bc he likes that only him n phoebe know the truth - holgrave tells phoebe he loves her, phoebe is afraid she will have to live outside her comfort zone w holgrave, he promises to settle down in the future, phoebe says u look into my heart u know i love u - phoebe n holgrave forget the world (and dead judge) until they hear footsteps- cliff n hep are back, hep bursts into tears at sight of phoebe and cliff is happy

- when it is known that judge died naturally ppl think back to jaffreys death and realize he must have died naturally - true that someone got into jaffreys papers after his death, evidence pointed to cliff bc he lived w jaff - everyone remembers judge was rough and pleasure loving which jaff hated - jaff caught judge looking through his papers, causing him to have stroke, judge took this to his advantage and framed cliff - judges only son died of cholera so his fortune is divided between hep cliff n phoebe - everyone acknowledges cliff is innocent but its too late, his life was ruined, he is happier now though - cliff hep phoebe n holgrave leave the gables to live at judges house - gather in parlor w venner about to leave - cliff looks at colonel portrait and remembers a secret - holgrave shows there is a hidden spring in the portrait, hole in the wall behind pic, ancient deed signed by native americans promising pyncheons acres of land in the east, holgrave says this is the deed alice sacrificed her life for - this is what cliff told judge about years ago, what made judge think cliff knew the secret to jaff's wealth - phoebe asks how holgrave knew: he is a descendant of matthew maule!!!! - when thomas maule built the house he made the hole for the deed, so without knowing it the pyncheons gave up the deed with the house to the maules - venner points out their claim doesnt mean anything - phoebe invites venner to live in a cottage on their new land to keep cliff happy, he agrees - hep gives ned higgins enough silver to buy all the animal cookies he wants - dixey and friend say its very good business - as they leave, harpsichord plays a few notes, sweet alice pyncheon showing her happiness