Relationships In The House Of The Seven Gables

In The House of the Seven Gables, the four residents have different kinds of relationships. There is family love, romantic love, and a polite acquaintanceship. The three Pyncheons love each other as a family and Holgrave and Phoebe are starting to develop a romantic affection for each other, but Clifford and Hepzibah don’t love Holgrave. Holgrave is just a tenant, a nice man who lives upstairs and minds his own business for the most part.

Clifford and Hepzibah have no lack of affection for their young cousin, Phoebe. Phoebe is the heart of the household and lightens the mood. As Hawthorne writes, “Phoebe’s voice always had music in it, and could either enliven Clifford by its sparkle and gayety of tone or soothe him by a continued flow of pebbly and brook-like cadences.” Phoebe is integral for Hepzibah’s and Clifford’s well-being. She loves Clifford and wants to help him in any way she possibly can. Phoebe also loves Hepzibah and would do anything that Hepzibah may need.

Holgrave and Phoebe are slowly realizing their mutual interest in each other. In the garden when Phoebe and Holgrave are tending the
He is too modern for their tastes. The elderly siblings feel like the daguerreotypist is a young, ambitious, mysterious man. Hepzibah and Holgrave treat each other cordially but don’t go out of the way to welcome the other. Clifford enjoys Holgrave’s company, but not as much as he does Phoebe’s. Holgrave feels the same cordial detachment towards Hepzibah and Clifford.

Their polite, yet complicated relationships are confusing, but without connections of any kind, these characters wouldn’t even be able to live in the same building. As Dr. Dan Siegel said, “Relationships are the defining feature of being human.” Without relationships, humans would be below animals. Wolves, some birds, and even lizards run monogamous lives. They understand, in a way, what love is, and that love is