Gender Inequality In The House Of Seven Gables

Advocacy for gender inequality played pivotal parts in confounding the American identity. A majority of white men made sure to draw a distinct line of male supremacy, although God distinctly pronounced equality for all in the bible. Townspeople in The House of Seven Gables suggested women portray “the nurse, the guardian, the playmate--or whatever the fitter phrase,” (Hawthorne 203) which led to society assuming the relationship between men and women was “a match not often equal, on the part of woman” (Hawthorne 203) when it was Eve who held sufficient power to convince Adam to eat from the forbidden tree. In the wise words of Sojourner Truth, “the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone”. Furthermore,

Because these people had no supervising guidance, they found themselves immersed within the scandal and gossip of the community’s status quo, causing them to diverge from Christianity. They simply became far too consumed with details serving no purpose to the Christian deity. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “The Minister’s Black Veil” illustrated this idea when townspeople felt more concerned with the details of the minister’s decision to don a black veil, some gathering “in little circles, huddled closely together, with their mouths all whispering in the center” (Hawthorne) rather than focusing on the sermon the priest attempted to deliver. Moreover, the congregation began to practice a period of religious hiatus over the succeeding days, talking “of little else than Parson Hooper’s black veil,” (Hawthorne) which demonstrated the power that stood behind gossip. Similarly, Hepzibah Pyncheon in The House of Seven Gables remained a rotting hermit after once hearing someone insult her natural appearance, stating “Why, her face--I’ve seen it; for I dug her garden for her, one year--her face is enough to frighten the Old Nick himself” (Hawthorne 47). This gossip forced Hepzibah to evolve into a self-conscious vegetable, bound to her decrepit home by the restraints of community impropriety. The gossip severed her personal sentiments in such a fashion that she lost all motivation and desire to leave home and worship God on the Sabbath (that was until Phoebe Pyncheon appeared). These incidents show how one evil/lost soul could impose misfortune, misery, and calamity upon culture and individuals before 1865 in