The Dark Side of Nathaniel Hawthorne in The House of Seven Gables Essay

The Dark Side of Nathaniel Hawthorne in The House of Seven Gables In The House of the Seven Gables, Nathaniel Hawthorne exhibits the fate of a family due to a curse by analyzing the most â€Å"disagreeable† secrets of a man’s soul (Great Lives 1077). Hawthorne shows the decay of an aristocratic family due to the sins of the past. He uses allegory within his character’s personalities and emotions to expose â€Å"the truth of the human heart† (biography). Hawthorne’s chosen location for this novel reflects greatly on his life and specifically his childhood. Salem is the home of The House of the Seven Gables. Ironically this is the same town in which he was born in and lived in through adulthood. He was raised in this town, therefore he was very aware of the dark side of its past. He was a part of this past through his ancestors. One of which was a judge in the infamous Salem witch trials. At this trial Hawthorne’s uncle is cursed by a so-called witch with the words, â€Å"God will give you blood to drink† (Magill 2736). This curse is much similar to Matthew Maule’s curse on the Pyncheon family (Magill 2734). The solitude of his characters reflects his childhood as well. Growing up, his 2 mother kept herself away from people which led him to become a very solitary man for much of his life. As a young child Hawthorne was lamed. During these years he became well learned with the writings of Edmund Spenser, John Bunyan, and William Shakespear(CSLF 1570). From these men he has gained technique and style. Having lived in Salem most of his life, Hawthorne is extremely influenced by Puritanism. His writings greatly reflect this. Hawthorne deals much with the sins of a man being pasted down for generations. This is very much a Puritan belief. Puritans are a very superstitious type of person. Thus, this explains Hawthorne’s belief that a curse, such as Maule’s curse, can destroy a well-to-do family (Walker 1577). Hawthorne’s characters dealt with guilt forced on by their ancestor, much of which goes back as far as the Puritans. He commonly plays guilt against innocence within one character, Hepzibah Pyncheon. She feels strongly that she must maintain the lifestyle and tradition of her ancestor Colonel Pyncheon. He shows her many personalitie... .... â€Å"Nathaniel Hawthorne.† Encarta Encyclopedia. (1997) â€Å"Nathaniel Hawthorne.† The Critical Temper. Ed. Martin Tucker. Vol. 4. A Library of Literary Criticism. Frederick Ungar Publishing, 1979, 509-514. â€Å"Nathaniel Hawthorne.† World Literature Criticism.† Ed. James P. Draper. Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1992, 1592-1605. â€Å"Nathaniel Hawthorne.† Novels and Novelists : A Guide to the World of Fiction. Ed. Martin Seymour-Smith. London : Shuckburgh Reynolds Ltd., 1980, 154-155. Wagenknecht, Edward. â€Å"Nathaniel Hawthorne.† Cavalcade of the American Novel. New York : Henry Holt and Company, 1952, 90, 9, 20, 25, 38-57. Walker, Ronald G. â€Å"Nathaniel Hawthorne.† Critical Survey of Long Fiction. Vol. 4. Englewood Cliffs : Salem Press, 1983, 1314-1328. Van Doren, Carl. â€Å"Nathaniel Hawthorne.† The American Novel. Ed. Revised. Vol. 1789-1939. New York : The MacmillianCompany, 1966, 58-83 135-137, 210, 213, 215. â€Å"American Transcendentalism.† â€Å"PAL : Nathaniel Hawthorne.†