Life, with all of its vicissitudes and contradictions, is each day a new blessing and opportunity to marvel at the splendor of nature. The joy that comes from this freedom of thought is incomparable. However, it is also an extremely fragile thing, easily smothered by the trials and difficulties that accompany living. Shadows that dim even the brightest countenance come in the passage of time; some last only moments, while others stretch over months or years. Nevertheless, all of them pass eventually, allowing a normal course of events to proceed. These struggles are not to be feared, as they only serve to strengthen one’s character and fortify his moral fiber. What should be feared is a permanent shroud of darkness, one that causes even the brightest day to pall, or a dark cloud hovering overhead, screening even a glimpse of light. This is the effect that unreleased guilt has upon a person. It inhabits his entire being, siphoning energy like a diseased appendage, leaving only a shell of a man. The constant oppression of shame strips away the enjoyment of everyday activities and prevents any occasion of true joyfulness. Conversely, releasing guilt by finding reconciliation, whether with another person or with the past, leads to recovered spirits and a renewed vitality. The absolution of guilt is liberation from its continual detrimental effects. In essence, the manner in which the guilt is handled determines how it will manifest itself in a person’s life. Its effects are as numerous and unique as the reactions to it.
The House of Seven Gables illustrates these different consequences of guilt through the lives of the characters. Each one is presented with some form of guilt. Some feel the guilt because of some action in their past, others are haunted by a family sin with a sense of ancestral guilt, and one is affected simply because of her association with other characters who are dealing with guilt. Along with being faced with the guilt, the characters have to deal with their present situations, the daily toils of life as well as interacting with each other. This presents them with constant opportunity to act on their guilt, and, much in the same way that they each face a different form of guilt, they each choose a different course in dealing with it. This choice that they are given is to either move past their guilt and find their life renewed or allow themselves to continue being victims of its torment.
The first character to which the reader is introduced is the nearsighted Hepzibah Pyncheon, resident of the House of Seven Gables and one of the last vestiges of the formerly illustrious Pyncheon family. She lives on for the sake of her brother, sacrificing what she sees as her proper role as a gentlewoman for the sake of providing for him (Platizky). However, her biggest antagonists are the sour impression her squinting visage leaves on people and the persistent oppression of the guilty atmosphere in the house. This attitude of constant remorse is not one over an action that she herself took. It is more a regretful attitude for not doing more to aid her brother in his time of need. There was not necessarily anything more that she could have actually done, yet she allows herself to believe this because it induces empathy within her. It gives her a feeling of connection with her brother’s struggles by attempting to live through them herself.
This guilt affects her life in many different fashions. The most evident symptom of this is her reclusive lifestyle of the thirty years prior to opening her cent shop. These thirty years are the same thirty through which her brother has been absent from her life, and had it not been out of dire monetary need and the desire to provide for her brother, she may have remained a recluse the remainder of her life. This withdrawal from society was hastened by her scowling appearance. The continual narrowing of her eyes to see permanently impressed a warped countenance on her features, causing people to view her as an unfriendly individual. Coupled with her natural inclination to set herself apart from society, this made her efforts to fill the role as shopkeeper all the more difficult. In a parallel manner, the continual narrowing of her perspective by her feeling of guilt imprinted a similarly distorted mental viewpoint. Over the thirty years, her outlook on life was dimmed until it became a singularly dismal existence. Her one spot of hope is to bring joy and comfort to her brother as he returns home; however, with her tired appearance, she finds herself unable to lift the melancholy that has encompassed him (Three Women in The House of the Seven Gables: Hepzibah).
Hepzibah’s work to maintain the house and provide for her brother’s well-being might have proved fruitless had she not begun to move beyond her guilt. The first evidence of her progress is her opening the cent shop. For her, this was a remarkable act of humility and an early step toward a recovery that she had needed for thirty years. Her initial reaction when her niece arrives is a combination of her old nature resisting the change and a protective spirit for her brother, but when she observes the positive effect that her niece has, she begins to consent to her presence and eventually becomes quite fond of her presence. As time goes on, Hepzibah begins to experience the same revitalization of life as her brother. She finds the strength to release the oppression of the past and moves on into a newfound freedom.
Clifford, Hepzibah’s brother, had a sense of ancestral guilt similar to that of his sister. Prior to his unjust imprisonment, Clifford was a pleasure-loving individual, described even as a sybarite. Even the hardship that he went through could not extinguish this nature within him, though it did greatly suppress it (Idol Jr.). However, what did take the greatest toll on his love of life and appreciation for the finer things was his belief that the curse of Matthew Maule on his ancestor was responsible for his misfortune. He considered the old Colonel Pyncheon to be the “evil genius” behind the struggles that he had experienced. Instead, what was oppressing him the most was his inability to release the guilt over actions that had occurred many decades earlier.
The effects of this guilt are extremely apparent in both Clifford’s physical health and mental state. The thirty years imprisonment caused an expected decreased in physical capacity simply because of his advancement in age; however, this depreciation is accentuated because of the anguish that he experienced. While in jail, his only occupation was to remember the injustice of his imprisonment and visualize the events of his ancestor’s sin. This daily reflection gradually wore away at his strength and destroyed his gentle spirit. Even after returning home, he lives each day still imprisoned by his guilt. His listless attitude makes him seem oblivious to many of Hepzibah’s attempts to make him comfortable. All of the torment that he had experienced left his mind in an uneasy condition. Clifford also begins to affect his sister and niece, infecting them with his crippling disease of guilt. Even the buoyant optimism of his niece begins to wane under his depressing influence.
The path that Clifford was taking would have most likely led to his death if he had continued in it too long. His depression was not improving in any great manner; it is questionable whether he was improving at all. However, Clifford’s antagonist, Judge Jaffrey Pyncheon, persists in disturbing him. This constant badgering abrades on Clifford, causing his fear of the Judge to grow from a strong anxiety to a horrified terror. The Judge’s belief that he has knowledge of the secret to vast landholdings causes him to continue provoking Clifford despite the obvious suffering that he is inflicting. At the climactic point in the novel, Clifford finally tires of the domineering and stands up to the Judge. This act is not only an outward demonstration of overcoming his fear, but it is also a representation of the inner change and triumph over his sense of guilt. He finally views his oppression as a situation in the present that he can deal with instead of attributing it to retribution for ancestral guilt. Clifford’s victory over the guilt that had controlled him for so long demonstrates the physical power that it had held over him. In his frailty, Clifford was in no condition for a physical struggle. The vanquishing of his enemies was purely a mental triumph. However, following the release, he was imbued with a sudden strength and overflow of energy. All of the life that had been suppressed by his guilt was finally allowed to emerge and launch him into a new life of freedom and hope.
The ominous personage of Judge Jaffrey Pyncheon is the physical materialization of the malevolent force that oppresses Hepzibah and Clifford (Baym). Even though the judge is as much a member of the Pyncheon family as his cousins Hepzibah and Clifford, he lived his life trying to stay outside of the “family curse.” However, despite all of his attempts to hide his past, he cannot escape the sins of his younger days. Based purely on outward appearance, the judge would appear to have achieved everything he could have wanted, but his grasping nature, which is what led to his previous sin, drove him to act beyond what was prudent.
The outward appearance of the Judge’s guilt was not apparent until it climaxed with his death during his confrontation with Clifford. His continual suppression of the guilt from his past allowed him to present a façade that fooled the majority of the public. This allowed him to become a respected member of the community, even rising to the extremely prestigious position of judge. Nevertheless, he was still locked in battle with the unreleased guilt of his past. The battle with the guilt consisted of an attempt to distance himself from the ancestral guilt associated with his family as well as the knowledge that he had bought his position in life at the expense of thirty years of his cousin’s life. Inwardly, he was able to suppress this feeling during the thirty years of Clifford’s imprisonment, but once he was released, the Judge was confronted with the same guilt that had led to his original deception. He could not allow Clifford to live in peace, as this was a constant reminder of both his guilt and what he could not have.
Judge Pyncheon’s denial of his guilt only held back the symptoms of their existence, allowing them to build up to a deadly level within him. The guilt festered within him, disconnecting him from life just as he was trying to unite himself with society. His overburdened conscience, which he had long become numb to, was ready to burst. The seeming resurrection of his guilt in Clifford’s release pushed him to take action. Unwisely, he decided to pressure Clifford and Hepzibah, viewing them as only small impediments, but necessary ones, to deal with. His downfall came in the form of a heredity genetic weakness. Under the extreme mental stress and excitement, his body capitulated and resulted in his death. In a sense, the “family curse” came into a full circle with his decease. It had begun its reign of torment with the death of a man very similar to the Judge. Colonel Pyncheon had used the repression of Matthew Maule to advance his own cause, and the weight that this action had on his conscience was one of the primary causes of his death. In a parallel fashion, the Judge had oppressed Clifford and this came back to haunt him. Again, this led to death, thus killing off the last oppressor of the Pyncheon line.
Holgrave appears as a vaguely mysterious character, representing a new generation of people associated with the House of Seven Gables. He is faced with the same questions about guilt that have been confronting Hepzibah, Clifford, and the Judge for the past thirty years. As a descendent of the infamous Mathew Maule, Holgrave is faced with as much ancestral guilt as any of the Pyncheons. Particularly because of Matthew Maule the younger, who bewitched Alice Pyncheon, Holgrave has deep connections with the house and a great interest in what becomes of the line of the Pyncheons.
The guilt that Holgrave feels is not a fraction as strong as that over the three previous characters. However, this is partly because of his youth and primarily because of his approach to the guilt. He continues to move from occupation to occupation, always trying to stay current and mobile. This is a demonstration of the inner battle that he is waging versus his guilt. As long as he has not been able to reconcile his guilt and set it behind him, he is not able to settle in a location physically. He continues to move, continually running, almost as if the guilt is chasing him and will capture him if he stops. When Holgrave encounters Hepzibah’s niece, he is faced with the exact temptation that had confronted his ancestor, Matthew Maule, in the form of Alice Pyncheon. However, he does not attempt the same revenge on the Pyncheons that his precursor had. Instead, Holgrave sees Phoebe as a kindred soul, and he uses his conversations with her to ground his inner exploration of guilt.
In his response to guilt, Holgrave does not try to either suppress it or ignore it. If he was not careful, he could have spent his life like the Judge, forever hiding his feelings within himself and never finding resolution to his struggles. Holgrave instead faces his struggles with guilt and eventually releases them. His observation of the events in the house could have easily been out of malice and with evil intent. Instead, because he forgives himself, he is able to receive the forgiveness from others. Through him and Phoebe, the Maule and Pyncheon lines are reconciled and the legendary curse is finally put to rest (Goddu).
Of all the characters, Phoebe Pyncheon is the least affected by the oppressive guilt that is associated with the house. She brings an attitude of innocence and a spirit of hope to the story. From the moment she steps into the house, there is a shift in attitude, an upward turn of events that foreshadows a complete recovery. Similar to Holgrave, she is a representation of a new generation of people, and she is faced with the generations of guilt that have been entangled in the events of the house. However, her choice is whether to accept the past and try to move on to the future or to isolate herself from the history that is oppressing her relatives.
Phoebe’s effect on the other characters is invaluable in aiding their recovery. Without her, the life in the house would have been stifled at best. She acts as an overflowing conduit of hope, continually refreshing Hepzibah and Clifford and inspiring Holgrave. In doing this, some of the weight of guilt is transferred onto her shoulders. This weight dampens her spirits ever so slightly, even causing her to leave the house for a time, but the burdens that she bears by association allow her to grow. Her natural innocence is stretched, removing the naivety and replacing it with a discerning spirit.
Despite the bleak attitudes that so often surrounded her, Phoebe was able to remain strong. She shows the other characters the freedom that they can obtain if they only would be willing to release their guilt. In the end, Phoebe’s choice to remain in the house reaped positive results for both her and the other inhabitants. Not only was she able to rescue her aunt and uncle from a life of repression and moral debt, but she was also able to establish a new life for herself with Holgrave (Anthony).
The overarching themes of guilt in the book bring out two major themes regarding guilt. All of the characters encounter guilt in some form, whether from their own past or from another character’s past. In every case, the guilt has a repressing effect on their lives. Sometimes this effect is not obviously visible outwardly because the character is attempting to suppress it, but with enough time, its effect is always felt. Guilt is a natural component of life, it is a natural reaction; however, living with the guilt is not natural and is severely detrimental. Additionally, there is always the hope for recovery if the guilt is released. Even when the guilt has been a part of life for many years, as it had for Clifford, there is the promise of renewal if it is released. The reaction to the guilt is the deciding factor regarding recovery or degeneration. Judge Pyncheon could not allow himself to release the events of the past and it cost him his life. Hepzibah and Clifford were also victims of guilt’s coercive effects, but when they released their grip on the past, they were able to move on to a renewed life. Holgrave and Phoebe faced the decision of whether to allow themselves to be controlled by the same guilt that had oppressed their families. They rejected it, understanding what it was, and seeking reconciliation. This allowed them to move forward uninhibited by the mistakes of a bygone era.
The sickness of unreleased guilt is a curse of living death. Its power creates an inescapable feeling of dissatisfaction with the present because it causes a preoccupation with the past. The only solution is to reconcile with the events of the past and begin living for the present. By this refocusing on the future, the former entanglements with a departed time are escaped and the hope of a new life is begun.
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