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- Hawthorne begins The Scarlet Letter with a long introductory essay that generally functions as a preface but, more specifically, accomplishes four significant goals: outlines autobiographical information about the author, describes the conflict between the artistic impulse and the commercial environment, defines the romance novel (which Hawthorne is credited with refining and mastering), and authenticates the basis of the novel by explaining that he had discovered in the Salem Custom House the...
www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/s/the-scarlet-letter/summary-and-analysis/the-customhouse
A summary of Preface in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The House of the Seven Gables. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of The House of the Seven Gables and what it means. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans.
In addition to his theory of fiction, Hawthorne also tells us the subject of The House of the Seven Gables; that theme, he says, is that wrong and retribution, as well as sin and suffering, will be carried on through generations.
Though Hawthorne draws a distinction between a romance and a novel (he understands the latter to be more realistic than the former), today The House of the Seven Gables is classified as a Gothic novel today—a novel which incorporates supernatural and romantic elements. Active Themes.
- The Sins of One Generation Are Visited on The Next
- Class Status in New England
- The Deceptiveness of Appearances
This theme is the “moral” of The House of the Seven Gables, as Hawthorne states in the Preface, and he takes many opportunities to link the misdeeds of Colonel Pyncheon to the subsequent misfortunes of the Pyncheon family. The Colonel’s portrait looms ominously over the action of the story, and the apoplectic deaths of three separate Pyncheons clea...
Hawthorne satirizes nineteenth-century New England society’s preoccupation with class status in The House of the Seven Gables.His critique of class distinctions becomes most pointed when Hepzibah frets over opening the store and when Holgrave proclaims his revolutionary ideology. The feud between the Maules and the Pyncheons is a class conflict of ...
The House of the Seven Gablesfrequently uses the Judge’s infectious smile to demonstrate that appearances can mask underlying truths. Even as his cruelty becomes apparent, Judge Pyncheon’s brilliant smile continues to dazzle almost everyone. Hepzibah’s scowl, which results from a physical impediment (nearsightedness), keeps customers away from her ...
This moral, or theme, is a key characteristic of most Gothic fiction (like Walpole's The Castle of Otranto, one of Hawthorne's influences) and had a major impact on the development of the horror genre throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.
Preface. Additional Information. Year Published: 1851. Language: English. Country of Origin: United States of America. Source: Hawthorne, Nathaniel. (1851). The house of the Seven Gables. Boston: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields. Readability: Flesch–Kincaid Level: 10.0. Word Count: 924. Genre: Gothic. Keywords: class distinction, romance. Cite This.
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Hawthorne’s brief preface presents The House of the Seven Gables as a “Romance” and not a novel. By “novel” Hawthorne is not referring to a modern definition of the novel but, rather, writing that attempts to represent experience “realistically.”
