Gendered perspective in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The house of the seven gables.
The house of the seven gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a gothic romance novel. The narrative has a combination of various female characters. With an old house and a cursed family lineage, the narrative embodies various conventional and unconventional characters. The female characters are essentially highlighted because of their contrasting yet similar personalities.
The female characters on the one hand are conventional whereas on the other hand some are particularly unconventional making them an interesting read. Because of the contrasting qualities of each female character, they can’t be judged along the same parameters.
Hepzibah is an old lady who lives in the Pyncheon House. She is described as being an old, gaunt woman who is an archetypical spinster. She is also mentioned to have a rigid rusty old frame which doesn’t only describe the age that has swept her but also the strength that she has. She is strong and independent and therefore a lady of a rigid and rusty frame…show more content… It again shows another aspect of a female life which is domination of male authorities over females. The case of Alice Pycheon clearly shows the predicament of women in a male dominated society. The way Alice became a scapegoat because of a male character’s needs and wishes shows the actual plight of women then and even now. Alice embodies the very category of women who lose themselves due to the male domination over women, of how men take women to be just objects or commodities which can be used or traded when there’s need. Therefore the pride and poise of a girl crushed by a male dominant structure of the society correctly captures that category of women who have to sacrifice all of their lives just to satisfy the male folks of the