Tuesday, July 30, 2019
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The House of the Seven Gables Essay
Human actions and human knowledge are two inseparable entities. However, people are confused whether knowledge leads to actions or it is the actions that dictate one’s learning. Moreover, some people said that the two have no difference at all; one is tantamount to the other one. This debatable issue is one of the salient themes in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The House of the Seven Gables. Synopsis of the Story  Set during the middle of the 19th century in New England, The House of Seven Gables is a novel narrating the affairs of two families: the Pyncheons and the Maules. On the first part of the book, the tension between Colonel Pyncheon and Matthew Maule was presented. The colonel actually wanted the land owned by Matthew Maule and so he planted a plan which pointed the latter as a practitioner of witchcraft. From this accusation, Maule was sentenced to death through hanging. Before he finally dies, he whispered a curse for the colonel. Pyncheon, on the other hand, was very happy upon receiving the land and started to build his house of seven gables. Unfortunately, in the exact day of the house’s opening, Colonel Pyncheon died from an unknown reason. Townspeople guessed that it was the curse of Matthew Maule that leads for the colonel’s death, From then on, the house of the seven gables turned to be a gloomy and mysterious place.            The next setting of the story opened after century and a half with the present residents of the house, the old lady Hepzibah and a certain Mr. Holgrave who was renting the room upstairs. The author will then introduced new members of the family: Phoebe Pyncheon , a young, free- spirited, and helpful niece of Hepzibah, Clifford Pyncheon, brother of Hepzibah who was accused for murdering his uncle and spent 30 years in imprisonment, Judge Jaffrey Pyncheon, the evil cousin of Hepzibah and the one who set- up Clifford’s imprisonment. The judge wanted the rights for all the wealth of the Pyncheon family and so he visited Clifford, who according to him knows the location of all the necessary documents he needs. While waiting for him though, Judge Jaffrey died from an unknown reason. Frightened, Hepzibah and Clifford left the house. When they returned, Phoebe and Mr. Holgrave were already setting their marriage. Judge Jaffrey’s wicked actions were finally revealed by the investigation. Finally, Mr. Holgrave revealed that he is a descendant of Matthew Maule and that he also possesses hypnotic powers. They went off to a farm where they decided to live at. Hepzibah and Clifford, on the other hand, continued living in the house of the seven gables. Similarities and Differences of Sidney and Shelley            Philip Sidney is an English poet who lived in the Elizabethan age. He wrote the An Apology for Poetry which presents his ideas regarding the relationship between poetry and areas of knowledge like history, ethics, and philosophy. One of the main tenets of the book says that poetry will gain more effectiveness if ethics will be observed in philosophy and liveliness will be incorporated to history.            Percy Bysshe Shelley, on the other hand, lived in the period of Romanticism in England. He was considered by many as one of the great thinkers in the field of arts and philosophy. He is the husband of Mary Shelley, author of the novel Frankenstein. He also wrote an essay entitled A Defence of Poetry. Here, he discussed what are his ideals for poetry and his radical opinions regarding the subject. Being a romanticist, Shelley believes that poets’ creations are not merely outcomes of their own individual imagination but also effects of his interaction and exposure to universal ideas.            Both poets believe in the idea of romanticism. Romanticism supports the notion of deeply expressing one’s emotions and ideas through the use of arts, literature, music, and aesthetics. It is a form of revolution towards the aristocratic class in Europe during the 18th century.  Although Sidney did not live in this particular period, he showed already early signs of giving unusual and radical thinking towards literature, specifically to poetry. He actually concentrated in formulating works about literary reforms, giving emphasis in the relationship between art and virtue. For Sidney, virtue is a guideline for poets to create works that can challenge people to move and to act righteously. Through this, a righteous action could be inspired by poetry which will be eventually transformed to experience.            In addition, Sidney and Shelley, and even William Wordsworth, believe in the idea that an artist and his society are two separated entities. When an artist creates an idea, he is actually manifesting a skillâ€â€a skill which Sidney equates to art. For him, this skill is something that one can learn and develop. In addition to this, Sidney strongly believes that we can find the objective world through nature. Once a poet has produced a creation, another nature is automatically cultivated. Sidney followed the idea that human action is as the same as knowledge. For him, all people, no matter what their inclinations areâ€â€arts, philosophy, science, and so forth, will eventually lead their way to the utmost form of knowledgeâ€â€the knowledge of one’s self, giving importance to ethics and politics, and knowing not only the virtuous but most importantly, doing the righteous actions. This for him is the explanation behind his idea that knowledge is just equal with human actions.            Shelley, however, believes that human actions and knowledge should not be regarded as the same or one. Rather, an individual has a separate identity from knowledge, specifically from the collective mind. He talked about how a poet creates his own ideas. For him, a poet uses both his own individual knowledge and collective knowledge or archetypes. These archetypes are ideas that already serve as templates for the people. When a poet produced a creative idea, he does not simply rely on his very own knowledge. He actually uses some archetypes, thus, relating what he has to what it is there in reality. And with this, Shelley disregards the idea that human knowledge is the same as human actions. It is actually human knowledge that leads people to their actions. Analysis of the Characters            Applying the ideas of Sidney and Shelley in the story, the characters in Hawthorne’s story could be analyzed.  The daguerreotypist Mr. Holgrave was actually an artist himself who creates photographs using silver- coated plate and mercury vapor. A twenty-year old descendant of the late Matthew Maule, Mr. Holgrave was portrayed in the story as someone who maintains to live through different jobs. He skips from one occupation to the other. He also believes in surrendering wealth, custom, and even the past. A political radical, intellectually inclined, and with contemptuous view towards emotion, Mr. Holgrave often seeks the comfort in his room at the house of seven gables. He seemed to be detached with his society; even Hepzibah, the owner of the house he rents, barely knows him. He produced photographs, his very own creations, and through that, he is actually creating new environment for himself. His skills as a daguerreotypist were not considered merely as a skill, but an artâ€â€an art that through certain processes he was able to learn and develop. Everytime he takes pictures, Mr. Holgrave is sharpening even more his art and nurturing more his objective, his nature. Moreover, being a jack- of- all- trades, Mr. Holgrave has been continuously going under processes of learning and developing various skills.            Other characters in the novel can be seen through this perspective of Sidney and Shelley. Judge Jaffrey, for example, as a man of intellect and wit, has the initial skills of implementing justice to the people. This is his own art. However, he chose not to develop this skill because of his extreme hunger for power and wealth, thus making him decided to frame-up his own cousin Clifford. In the novel, he embodied the greedy aspect of his ancestor Colonel Pyncheon. Moreover, as Sidney had imposed, his actions were equal to his knowledge. Being a judge requires one to be wise and clever. His knowledge about this was clearly seen through his actions as he became shrewd enough to plant his evil plans. If he would be subjected to Sidney’s ideas regarding the highest form of knowledge, he would definitely fail considering that he did not use his skills in striving to do the right action.            Even Hepzibah, the current owner of the house of the seven gables, can be subjected using the philosophies of Sidney and Shelley. However, as it was proven in the text, Hepzibah can be concluded as an example of a person who could be characterized as the one that Shelley had described. Hepzibah uses first her own knowledge before doing a certain action. When she was running the cent- shop, she was solely thinking about her brother Clifford. Thus, it was reflected through her actions as she loses her focus everytime a customer goes to her. She shows ill-temperedness while scowling most of them.            Phoebe, in comparison with Hepzibah, also concluded her actions through her own knowledge. In the novel, she was portrayed as a young, free- spirited, helpful, and obedient woman. However, if analyzed, Phoebe’s actions are just products of her shallow way of thinking. She seemed to be not so curious and more of an emotional lady, in contrast with her lover Mr. Holgrave. Because of her personality, Mr. Holgrave was actually tempted to use his hypnotic powers to her. This clearly shows that Phoebe’s way of thinking greatly affects her actions is highly prone to be influenced or manipulated by other people whose knowledge is far better than hers.            Although Sidney and Shelley had their differences, the characters in The House of the Seven Gables could be also analyzed through the use of their similar ideas. As said earlier, Sidney and Shelley both believe that an individual and his society are two separated entities. In the novel, this philosophy was evidently portrayed by Hawthorne as each character found his respective place into the society where he belongs. Analysis of the Text            After the analysis of some of the main characters, perspectives of Sidney and Shelley will also be tried to incorporate in the text, particularly in analyzing the plot and the themes presented in the novel.            The plot evidently portrayed both predictable and unpredictable twists. The succession of events was creatively done through the use of suspense, good narration, and logical and organic unity. The idea of mystifying the house through the use of magic and curses was very effective. Hawthorne succeeded in creating his own art, in creating his own nature as Sidney and Shelley had pointed in their discussion about poetry and an artist’s skills.            With regards to the themes of the novel, Hawthorne included the issue of family feuds, greed, and time. The novel was successful because it started with an interesting conflict. The use of time frame was also great as the generations of both families were clearly seen. Finally, the concept of greed was also effective as it was used as the binding theme for the novel’s plot. Work Cited Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The House of the Seven Gables. USA: Pearson Education, 2000
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