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Chapters
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Chapters
Structure
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The House of the Seven Gables has 21 chapters.
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Chapters list
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Chapters21 items
The Old Pyncheon Family
The novel opens by establishing the dark history of the Pyncheon family and their imposing mansion, the House of the Seven Gables.
The Little Shop-Window
The narrative jumps to the present day and introduces Hepzibah Pyncheon, an elderly, near-sighted, and deeply proud woman who has fallen into poverty while living alone in the dec…
The First Customer
The shop officially opens and Hepzibah serves her first real customer — a young boy who buys a gingerbread cookie shaped like a Jim Crow figure.
A Day Behind the Counter
This chapter follows a full day of Hepzibah running the cent-shop, capturing both the small triumphs and humiliations of her new life as a shopkeeper.
May and November
This chapter deepens the relationship between Phoebe and the elderly Judge Pyncheon, a powerful and outwardly respectable cousin who visits the house.
Maule's Well
Phoebe explores the garden behind the House of the Seven Gables and discovers the ancient well named after the Maule family, which carries a reputation for producing strange, dist…
The Guest
Clifford Pyncheon, Hepzibah's long-imprisoned brother, arrives at the house after being released from prison. He is a broken, childlike man whose years of confinement have left hi…
The Pyncheon of To-day
This chapter introduces Judge Jaffrey Pyncheon, the powerful and outwardly respectable cousin who represents the Pyncheon family's modern face.
Clifford and Phoebe
This chapter focuses on the developing relationship between the fragile Clifford and the cheerful Phoebe. Clifford finds genuine pleasure in Phoebe's company, and she becomes a ki…
The Pyncheon-Garden
The garden behind the house becomes a central gathering space in this chapter, and its condition — overgrown but still producing life — mirrors the state of the Pyncheon family it…
The Arched Window
Clifford finds a fragile kind of joy by sitting at the arched window of the house, watching the street life below. The outside world becomes a kind of theater for him, offering gl…
The Daguerreotypist
Holgrave, the young daguerreotypist lodging in the house, spends more time with Phoebe and reveals more of his radical, reform-minded worldview.
Alice Pyncheon
Holgrave reads aloud to Phoebe a story he has written about a past Pyncheon ancestor, Alice, and a man named Matthew Maule, grandson of the original wizard.
Phoebe's Good-Bye
Phoebe prepares to leave the house temporarily to return to her family in the country. Before she goes, she has meaningful farewells with both Clifford and Holgrave.
The Scowl and Smile
Judge Pyncheon arrives at the house and demands to see Clifford, claiming he has important business with him. Hepzibah is terrified and tries to refuse him entry, but the Judge us…
Clifford's Chamber
Clifford retreats further into his fragile inner world while Hepzibah watches over him with anxious devotion. The arrival of Judge Pyncheon at the house creates a crisis, as the J…
The Flight of Two Owls
In a sudden and surprising burst of action, Clifford and Hepzibah flee the House of the Seven Gables together, boarding a train and leaving everything behind.
Governor Pyncheon
This chapter is one of the most unusual in the novel: Hawthorne addresses the dead body of Judge Pyncheon directly in a long, ironic monologue.
House and Home
After the Judge's death, the atmosphere in and around the House of the Seven Gables begins to shift. Phoebe returns from her time away and finds the house changed—darker and more…
The Flower of Eden
The novel reaches its resolution as the full truth about the Pyncheon family's hidden document—the deed to vast lands in Maine—is revealed, though the land claim turns out to be w…
The Departure
In the final chapter, the long-standing curse on the Pyncheon family is lifted as the major characters leave the House of the Seven Gables behind.
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