To be a paradigm of a Gothic novel, The House of the Seven Gables must include many elements, all centering on the ideas of sadness, horror, and mystery. The action of a Gothic novel takes place in a "dilapidated, abandoned, or occupied mansion or castle," which often includes secret passages, doors, and compartments (Encarta). The mansion also adds its own flavor and variety to the novel's atmosphere of mystery and suspense, providing a dark and gloomy setting in which the story takes place. The basis of mystery and suspense in the atmosphere of the novel feeds on "an inexplicable or supernatural event" of the present or past generations (Harris). The inexplicable event in the novel is the result of an ancient prophecy linked to the history of the villa, or of previous generations, and explains the negative vicissitudes in the present future generations. Ancient prophecy sometimes provides the reader with only “partial or confusing” information or provides only one side of the story, thus presenting an even stronger feeling of mystery in the novel (Harris). Bad omens and visions of death also occur to foreshadow the misfortune of a character in the novel in the near future. The use of omens as tools of foreshadowing also develops and adds further suspense to the already mysterious plot. Along with omens, supernatural events also appear in a Gothic novel to add mystery and include: “ghosts, giants, or inanimate objects that come to life” (Harris). Supernatural events continue to add an atmosphere of suspense and even horror to the Gothic novel. In a Gothic novel, a "tyrannical male" usually threatens a weak woman, adding an element of pathos that causes sadness while allowing the reader to sympathize with the woman's misfortune (Harris). The inclusion of the elements of suspense, mystery, and darkness in a novel, along with the occurrence of supernatural and unexplained events, provide support for the novel as a piece of Gothic literature. By including all the elements that standardize the content and atmosphere of the novel in The House with Seven Fronts, Nathaniel Hawthorne develops an exemplary example of a Gothic literary work. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay To be considered a Gothic novel, The House of the Seven Gables must first meet the requirements of the setting, including a once-aristocratic, dilapidated mansion or castle with many doors, passages, and secret compartments. The elements of the setting produce effects in developing the mysterious and dark atmosphere. In the early years of the Pyncheon family, Colonel Pyncheon steals the domicile and land of Mathew Maule out of greed and a realization of his superiority as an aristocrat. Colonel Pyncheon builds the House of Seven Gables on Pyncheon Street, over the grave of the restless Mathew Maule, inheriting the curse of death within its walls. Death Curse Mathew Maule condemns the residents of the House of Seven Gables to cause a scarcity of inhabitants, due to fear for their lives, and thus the house becomes extremely dark and lonely for subsequent generations. The lack of inhabitants to maintain the house causes the house itself to show signs of the melancholy and darkness it contains, mirroring the effects of isolation on Hepzibah Pyncheon's life. The isolation of the house provides the perfect eerie and mysterious setting for the story to take place: “Three of the seven gables stood frontal or looked sideways, with a dark solemnity of aspect” (Hawthorne 59). The House of the Seven Gables remains a dark abode for the melancholy Hepzibah Pyncheon, the only inhabitant of the house besides the mysterious young daguerreotypistoften absent, Holgrave. Isolation produces extreme sadness and loneliness in the heart of HepzibahPyncheon, "she had long lived in Pyncheon's house, until her very brain was saturated with the dry rot of its woods" and the result was the sad and shabby atmosphere of the house (Hawthorne 40). The House of the Seven Gables adds its own sense of sadness and sadness to the story producing the feeling of melancholy in Hepzibah Pyncheon's heart. It reflects the pain in the house with its eerie appearance, giving rise to the continuous melancholic cycle within the House of Seven Gables. The presence of the house's long-forgotten aristocratic nature slowly deteriorates through the Pyncheon generations, becoming evident when Hepzibah stares at the area around the arched window: "It opened above the porch, where previously there had been a balcony, whose balustrade long since decayed and removed" (Hawthorne 110). Hawthorne contrasts the aristocratic history of the house with its current state, losing its aristocratic air, after the continuous cycle of melancholy atmosphere has brought the house back into its retrograde scope. The setting of The House of Seven Fronts adds its own flavor to the atmosphere of the story, making it extremely isolated and sad, thus fulfilling the requirements of the setting in a Gothic novel. The setting also contributes to the mystery and suspense required in a Gothic novel. Gothic novel revealing hidden passages and compartments. As she makes her way to Clifford Pyncheon's room, Hepzibah Pyncheon proceeds fearful of what lies in the next passage: "and she opened one mad door after another, and ascended the creaking staircase, she looked around with melancholy and fear" (Hawthorne 167) . Secret passages connect the many chambers of the House of the Seven Gables, adding a sense of precariousness and suspense due to the numerous figures, invisible to Hepzibah Pyncheon, perhaps lurking within. In the House of the Seven Gables lies a secret compartment, the center of greed in all generations of Maule and Pyncheon, which holds the deed to the land beneath the house. In each generation the land dispute becomes the center of attention and fuels the ongoing feud between the Maules and Pyncheon and even fuels greed among the Pyncheon themselves. Where the deed takes place constitutes a mystery in the novel until the mysterious Holgrave discovers the deed lying in a recess in the wall behind Colonel Pyncheon's portrait: "The portrait, frame and all, suddenly fell from its position ? A recess in the wall thus brought to light" (Hawthorne 221). The colonel's portrait finally ceases to hang in the house and reveals a niche, which holds the mysterious document, sought by both the Maule and Pyncheon families. Holgrave discovers the document, now useless due to its age, and adds horror to the novel by revealing that the search for the land and the deaths it causes in the Pyncheon and Maule families are in vain. The presence of secret passages and compartments in the mansion provides a source of secrecy, adding the requirement of suspense and a feeling of unknowingness to the house, further proving that The House with Seven Fronts is a Gothic novel. The next element in a Gothic novel is the relationship between the stories of the mansion or past generations and the misfortune of the present generation, resulting in an additional sense of mystery in the novel. In Colonel Pyncheon's Generation Pyncheon, he accuses Mathew Maule of magic in a heinous plan to obtain land by murder. His plan succeeds, and as Mathew Maule heads towards his execution for witchcraft, Hawthorne develops the mystery in the novel by stating the devious act committed by Colonel Pyncheon: "Mathew Maule, the magician, had been grievously wrongedfrom his farm, if not from his life" (Hawthorne 13). By killing Mathew Maule, Colonel Pyncheon places a death curse on the Pyncheon family and creates a feeling of mystery and horror as mysterious as it is mysterious. Death surrounds the curse. In The House of the Seven Gables, the relationship between the story and the addition of mystery in the novel occurs when describing the curse placed on the Pyncheons by the late Mathew Maule and its effect on the generations later: "God will give him blood to drink! " (Hawthorne 3). The curse on the Pyncheons condemns them to death, causing the sudden and mysterious death of people in the Pyncheon mansion. The story of the Maule and the Pyncheon, overflowing with horror and darkness, creates the atmosphere of mystery and suspense of a Gothic novel that Hawthorne carries throughout The House of Seven Gables As the story continues, the mystery of the Maule family manifests itself as a continuous and mysterious force that takes hold of the Pyncheon family. As the generations of Pyncheons pass, a later Mathew Maule evokes the blood curse on Gervayse Pyncheon as he attempts to prevent Maule from enchanting his daughter, Alice Pyncheon: "Mr. Pyncheon could only utter a gurgling murmur in his throat." " (Hawthorne 144). The resurrection of the curse again results in the horror and mystery surrounding the Maule as they continue to torment the Pyncheon family. The history of the Pyncheons and the Maules presents an abstruse and mysterious anathema that the citizens use to describe and explain the misfortune of subsequent generations of Pyncheons. By including the mysterious past of the Pyncheons to explain the misfortune of subsequent generations, The House of the Seven Gables fulfills an additional requirement to resemble a piece of Gothic literature. Another characteristic of a Gothic novel displayed by The House of the Seven Gables is the use of supernatural elements and unexplained events to instill horror and mystery in the reader's mind. The main use of unexplained events in The House of Seven Gables appears in the death of a Pyncheon and its relation to the mysterious curse placed on the Pyncheons by Mathew Maule. A few days after Colonel Pyncheon moves into the House of the Seven Gables, he is found dead as his nephew runs to his chair and finds blood in his mouth, as if to fulfill the curse: "there was blood on his gorget, and that his hoary beard was full of it" (Hawthorne 8). After finding Colonel Pyncheon dead, the town immediately begins to blame its misfortune on the blood curse it acquired from the dying Mathew Maule. With the death of Colonel Pyncheon, a horrible and mysterious atmosphere surrounds the House of Seven Fronts and Maule's anathema, as if proving its truth. By creating the mysterious and horror-filled atmosphere in The House of Seven Gables through the use of an unexplained supernatural event, Hawthorne includes another feature to prove that House of Seven Gables is a Gothic novel. The main feature that Hawthorne uses to portray The House of Seven Gables, as a gothic novel, is the use of bad omens. Bad omens appear in the form of the presence of ghosts, to foreshadow death and adversity, continuing the atmosphere of mystery and misery. The first mention of ghosts occurs when Phoebe Pyncheon asks about Clifford Pyncheon's death. Hepzibah responds with a mysterious and disturbing tone, which reiterates the atmosphere of the villa: "in old houses like this, we know, the dead are very inclined to return!" (Hawthorne 52). Hepzibah uses the gloomy and dark house to explain the presence of ghosts and ghostly images as bad omens of death, which occur in the Pyncheon family. Another example of a bad omen fueling the atmosphere of mystery occurswhen Holgrave explains the nature of the haunted, brackish water in Maule's Well. The Maule well, which rises from the ground beneath the House of the Seven Gables, contains water contaminated as a result of the construction of the House of the Seven Gables, and which serves as a symbol of the Pyncheons' interference with the affairs of the Maule: "as the An old lady's cup of tea is witch water!" (Hawthorne 65). The bad omen emitted by Maule's well ironically explains the parallel between the Pyncheon mansion interfering with the well water, resulting in stale water, to Colonel Pyncheon's interference in Mathew Maule's land, resulting in the death curse. Hawthorne also uses a bad omen to explain the ongoing cycle of bad luck and death that plagues the Pyncheon family and the House of Seven Gables. As Holgrave explores the deep chambers of the Pyncheon mansion, he discovers a packet of seeds which Hawthorne ironically uses as a bad omen to show the curse of death upon a Pyncheon who "wanted to sow them the following summer, but was himself sown for the first time in The Garden of Death" (Hawthorne 102). The bad omen of death once again foreshadows the outcome of the mysterious curse cast on the Pyncheon by Mathew Maule. The use of bad omens also increases the atmosphere of suspense present in The House of the Seven Gables, alluding to the deaths to come to future Pyncheon families. By including the element of bad omens, as a means of foreshadowing, The House of Seven Gables fulfills yet another characteristic to demonstrate it as a Gothic novel. Along with bad omens, visions of death are also present in The House of Seven Gables to foreshadow death, adding another characteristic of a Gothic novel. Soon after Judge Jaffrey Pyncheon arrives at the mansion to visit Clifford Pyncheon, Hepzibah ventures through the house to Clifford's room only to find him missing. On his return he finds Jaffrey Pyncheon inert in the oak chair, as if in a state of inattention. Soon after the escape of Hepzibah Pyncheon and Clifford Pyncheon, a vision of death occurs in the parlor containing the apparently lifeless Jaffrey Pyncheon. The Grimalkin stares out the parlor window, chasing a mouse to his liking, resembling the devil, seeking the soul of Jaffrey Pyncheon: "Is a cat seeking a mouse, or the devil a human soul?" (Hawthorne 195). By comparing the cat to the devil, Hawthorne implies Jaffrey Pyncheon's death as his soul awaiting the devil's harvest. The vision of death used by Hawthorne satisfies the last element necessary to complete the atmosphere of mystery, horror and suspense in The House of the Seven Gables, completing the atmosphere of a Gothic novel. Through the rule of the tyrannical Jaffrey Pyncheon over the weak and the main female character, Hepzibah Pyncheon, The House of the Seven Gables portrays the element of pathos to cause sadness in the reader. Throughout the novel Jaffrey appears as the dominant force controlling Hepzibah Pyncheon's life, as she always worries about his approval of her life. After opening the penny store, Hepzibah Pyncheon watches Jaffrey Pyncheon inspect the store and worries about the store meeting her oppressive cousin's inspection: "What does he think of it, I wonder? Does it please him?" (Hawthorne 39). Upon noticing Jaffery Pyncheon, Hepzibah Pyncheon immediately becomes concerned about whether or not the aristocratic Jaffery Pyncheon accepts the democratic penny store held in the family mansion. Showing concern for acceptance, Hepzibah illustrates the novel's tyrannical male, Jaffery Pyncheon, who dominates her life, providing part of the provocative element in The House of Seven Gables. When Clifford Pyncheon later arrives at, 1999.