The Effects Of Loneliness In The House Of The Seven Gables

Being lonely is nothing new. Many people every day are lonely. It is common in contemporary literature to be able to see and connect with characters who suffer from mental illness. Loneliness is seen even more often in novels of today, it could even be seen as undiagnosed depression in many cases. Nathanial Hawthorne’s novel The House of the Seven Gables is an excellent example of how depression is portrayed in early American novels.

From the beginning of The House of the Seven Gables, Hepzibah is withdrawn, angry, lonely, and fatigued. These are just some symptoms that are associated with depression in today’s society. The reader of this novel can see that Hepzibah is not an ordinary female in 19th century American literature. Hawthorne may

Hepzibah is an older woman of the age of sixty with a dark scowl. She is thin, pale and washed out. She is also an old maid. She has never taken a husband and does not have any children. She thinks that she is too good to earn her own living, but she does open the Cente Shoppe when she has no other choice. When the novel starts out, Hepzibah is at her lowest point. She is almost to the point of starvation “She must earn her own food, or starve (Hawthorne 21)!” On the first day, she awkwardly interacts with her new customers. She has been so isolated for so long, that she no longer can interact normally. She may even be anxious to talk with people, or even be around

Many have characters in their novels go through what many people go through on a daily basis. When reading a book, many people want to relate to what is going on. They want to feel like they are not alone. This is more common today than in the 19th century. However, The House of the Seven Gables is a great example to read if someone wants to be able to relate to a character. What makes it even better is that Hawthorne most likely was not thinking about how his characters would affect future readers. He was writing a fantastic novel, not just trying to sell