The House of the Seven Gables 527two come to the conclusion that work must be done
to get rid of it. It is clear at this point in the story
that duty has blinded both of them to common
sense. Neither will accept the mark for what it is;
rather, they have both turned it into something hid-
eous, something hindering their happiness, some-
thing it is their duty, as workers, to fix.
In preparation to remove the mark, Aylmer
takes Georgiana into his laboratory. It is at this time
that the reader is finally introduced to Aminadab.
Hawthorne describes Aylmer’s assistant in a rough
manner, with a ragged appearance and low intel-
ligence, yet it is Aminadab who expresses disap-
proval of Aylmer’s pursuit. It is ironic that the man
who appears so scruffy has the keener understand-
ing. Aminadab is able to see Aylmer’s overzealous
dedication to his work, but as is often the case in
Hawthorne’s fiction, the wisest person is the one
most easily ignored.
As Georgiana awaits the removal of the mark,
she explores Aylmer’s laboratory and happens upon
a record of his prior experiments. In perusing them,
she discovers that all of his successes were unex-
pected outcomes of larger failures. Rather than look-
ing upon this revelation as a blemish on Aylmer’s
character, this knowledge compels Georgiana to
love him even more, thus further fulfilling her duty
as a good wife. The realization of her husband as
imperfect allows her to better complete her own
work, just as Aylmer’s creation of an imperfection
within his wife has provided him with a way in
which to further experiment and, if successful, to be
a better worker as well.
Throughout the story, Aylmer has moved from
seeing Georgiana as his wife to seeing her as his
latest experiment. Ultimately, Aylmer’s obsession
with his work causes Georgiana’s death. The mark
disappears, but so does Georgiana’s life force. In
typical fashion, Hawthorne ends the story before his
characters have any sort of revelation or experience
any closure regarding their actions, but it is safe to
assume that Aylmer looks upon the experience as
an occupational failure rather than the loss of his
beloved.
Work and work-obsession take on two forms in
this story, the most obvious being Aylmer’s blind
focus on his experiments, although Georgiana’s
dedication to and love for Aylmer come across as
blind pursuits as well. Both are unable to separate
existence from work, and this leads to their respec-
tive downfalls. In “The Birth-mark,” Hawthorne
juxtaposes two very different types of work, sci-
entific and emotional, but shows that, in either
one, obsession is capable of transcending boundar-
ies, obliterating rational thought, and destroying
happiness.
Ronald DavisHaWTHornE, naTHaniEL The
House of the Seven Gables (1851)
Published in 1851, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel
The House of the Seven Gables mixes elements of the
gothic tale, romance, and realism, while telling the
story of the descendants of Matthew Maule, the
original proprietor of the land on which the titular
house would be built, and Colonel Pyncheon, the
man who “asserted plausible claims” to the land.
Colonel Pyncheon sees to it that Matthew Maule
is tried and hanged for witchcraft, and on the scaf-
fold, Maule points to the colonel and utters, “God
will give him blood to drink!” The moral, as Haw-
thorne phrases it in the preface, is that “the wrong-
doing of one generation lives into successive ones,”
but the novel also examines the tension between
public and private, between community and social
stratification, and between different perceptions of
the past.
The main plot threads revolve around the descen-
dants of Colonel Pyncheon: Hepzibah, Phoebe,
Clifford, and Judge Jaffrey, as well as Mr. Holgrave,
the photographer whom we later learn is a descen-
dant of Matthew Maule. Judge Jaffrey believes his
cousin Clifford knows where the deed to lands in
the east is located and threatens to have him sent
to a mental asylum if he does not cooperate in the
search for the deed. Hepzibah later finds Clifford
and the deceased judge in the house, and we learn
later that Judge Jaffrey died due to medical prob-
lems. The remaining Pyncheons inherit the judge’s
country house and decide to move there, leaving
behind the House of the Seven Gables. Phoebe and
Holgrave pledge to marry.
Jeffrey Pettineo