Dana Payne

Dr. Adam Johns

Seminar in Composition

9/9/08

Spheres and Cycles

There is no delicate way to phrase it.  The only things that prevent change or development is cowardice or plain apathy.  If one has the will, they do not sit and wait for change--they create it.  In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The House of the Seven Gables, the Pyncheon family, save for a few outliers, has been trapped in a state of stagnancy, and it can largely be blamed on their environment, but some of the blame should be given to the nature of the members.  If they were not so unwilling to let change into their lives, they could prosper once more as far as their contentment and character.  Since the Pyncheons refuse to realize that the society in which gentility existed is fading away, they are trapped in a repetitious life of despondency and dullness of character.

The Pyncheons’ cyclic life has often been described by Hawthorne’s idea of spheres or what could be simply stated as their perspective or outlook on life.  Hepzibah is trapped with her very limited outlook because of the apparent need to preserve her status as a gentlewoman, likely an ideal solidified during her upbringing.  This idea of some unofficial noble status has been passed through from generation to generation of the Pyncheon family.  Although this aged ideal was constant within the main part of the Pyncheons, it was not always passed to those unconfined within the trap that is the House of the Seven Gables.  Phoebe Pyncheon is a perfect example.  She brought her own “sphere” to the house and brightened Hepzibah’s and Clifford’s life.  Yet, not even one as bright and youthful as Phoebe could last within a house filled with such ancient melancholy, for the coldness within the spheres of Hepzibah, Clifford, and the house itself bled into the warmth and sunshine of Phoebe’s:  “A flower...always began to droop sooner in Clifford’s hand, or Hepzibah’s, than in her own; and by the same law...the blooming girl must inevitably droop and fade much sooner than if worn on a younger and happier breast” (Hawthorne 121).  So it is rather easy to see that the differing perspective of individuals can affect other spheres.  This is also something Hawthorne blatantly states in the text.

The theme of a cyclic history is emphasized in many ways.  Firstly, the obvious parallels between characters shows the repetition within the sphere of the House of Seven Gables.  Although he no longer lives in the house, the Judge and the Colonel are very similar in character, even in appearance as seen in the text when Phoebe mistakes the Judge for the old Colonel.  Next, there is Holgrave and Matthew Maule, the son of the wizard who cast the spell upon the Pyncheon family.  They are similar in their revolutionary ideals, for in the story written by Holgrave himself, Maule practices a type of “witchcraft” that, in description, is very similar to animal magnetism.  Originating from Anton Mesmer (hence the verb “mesmerize”), animal magnetism often used the motion of the hands and arms on or around the body of the subject.  Maule is likely to have practiced something similar to this, and Holgrave himself states that he is a very adept user of animal magnetism.  Finally, there is Phoebe Pyncheon who somewhat relates to Alice Pyncheon in the fact that they both brought beauty to a very dismal place.  Another similarity is that they both were raised in different places:  Alice in Europe and Phoebe in the country.  This is a statement Hawthore makes, and it is to say that anyone raised within the scope of the House of the Seven Gables cannot be anywhere near as beautiful, charming, or lovable as those raised in different environments.  

It may be deemed “over analyzing” but the repetition of the circle is also a symbol within the book.  The bubbles that Clifford creates, the circular movement of the crank on the Italian music box, the grinder used to sharpen the scissors, and even old Maule’s well are circular in nature as well as symbols of the cycle in which the Pyncheons have found themselves.  The idea of clockwork and repetition were prevalent in Hawthorne’s time period as seen often in literature and mechanics.  As far as literature, John Keats wrote “Ode Upon a Grecian Urn” in 1812 and its main theme is constructed on the basis of the stories upon a round urn:  a cycle.  Even further into the future William Faulkner’s stories, specifically “Light in August” and “As I Lay Dying,” often have shapes scattered throughout like pieces of a smaller puzzle that make up the whole meaning.  Oftentimes these shapes were circular or spherical also symbolizing the way history repeats.

One thing that is unique about Hawthorne’s style of writing is the manner in which he blatantly specifies certain things to be symbolic of some theme within the romance.  An example of such a case is the description of the Italian music box.  Hawthorne describes the music box saying that it could be interpreted to symbolize that “we mortals, whatever our business or amusement...all dance to one identical tune, and, in spite of our ridiculous activity, bring nothing finally to pass” (Hawthorne 113).  Along with this blunt statement, the imagery of the Italian boy cranking the music box symbolizes the rotation  of history and how society can become a trap to those unwillingly or incapable of breaking away to create their own beginnings.  The necessity of new beginnings is emphasized by Holgrave very strongly in his discussion with Phoebe in which he states, “To plant a family!....The truth is, that, once in every half century...a family should be merged into...humanity, and forget all about its ancestors.  Human blood, in order to keep its freshness, should run in hidden streams...” (Hawthorne 128).  Even earlier in the text, he claims that the House of Seven Gables should be destroyed in order for a new beginning because of all that it symbolizes:  a place where “human breath...has been drawn and exhaled...in discontent and anguish” (Hawthorne 128).  Holgrave, although very young, has a very good sense of the world about him.  Buildings obviously are more than what they seem, for if they were not, would Pyncheon Street be such a foreboding path without the House of the Seven Gables?

With all of this information provided, surely some may say that the Judge was raised in the House of the Seven Gables, and he, unlike Hepzibah and Clifford, prospered in life.  To that I respond, he only prospered in life because he had the will to depart from the house and to establish himself in society.  With charisma and ambition he created his own path in life--a path that branches away from the House of the Seven Gables.

Is all of this overanalyzing?  Would it not be easier to simply read the book without of all these symbols and hidden meanings?  Simply put, no.  All of the previously stated ideas are often repeated in the book whether it be through characters who blatantly state their ideas or hidden symbols found within seemingly meaningless objects.  Therefore, these ideas lend to a deeper meaning of the book by tying it together, because, frankly, I believe that these ideas are Hawthorne’s ideas as well, simply because they are repeated with such frequency throughout the romance.  The reader grasps a deeper meaning--the meaning that Hawthorne wanted to instill in his readers.