A small but well-defined cast of characters are given the leading roles in one of Nathaniel Hawthorne's most well known novels, The House of Seven Gables.

Judge Jaffrey Pyncheon (the Younger)

Judge Jaffrey Pyncheon is the spitting image of his Puritan ancestor the Colonel. Not only does he share his ancestor’s physical traits, he also resembles him in character. He is a judge, has served two partial terms in Congress, has served as a member of many boards, and hopes to become governor. When his Uncle Jaffrey was murdered he inherited the Pyncheon wealth and he has dutifully increased its worth every since.

He has an almost animal magnetism which he strives to conceal beneath a benevolent, warm exterior. He was “reckoned rather a dissipated youth, but had at once reformed, and made himself an exceedingly respectable member of society.” However, the sins of his youth haunt him. He covered up the death of his uncle and destroyed the will that awarded the Pyncheon fortune to Clifford. As a result, Clifford is found guilty of their Uncle’s death and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Whether as an attempt at expiation or as an attempt to increase his wealth, the Judge succeeds in getting Clifford released from prison thirty years after Uncle Jaffrey’s death and after he is an old, broken shadow of his former self. However, he follows up the release with the threat of placing Clifford in an insane asylum if he doesn’t assist him in finding the missing deed.

Hepzibah Pyncheon

Hepzibah Pyncheon is Clifford’s sister. After he was imprisoned, she joined in him in her own self-imposed prison within the House of Seven Gables. Severely near-sighted, Hepzibah has become a caricature of a woman. Her dress is out-dated and she wears a permanent scowl from constantly squinting her near-sighted eyes in order to see. She is unattractive and frightening to those around her. However, she is a gentle and loyal woman who stood by her brother when no one else would and who stands up to the hated Judge.

Until the period in which the book takes place, she had lived frugally and in isolation. However, with her funds spent and her options limited, Hepzibah finds herself in the humiliating position of opening up of a cent-shop. She considers herself an aristocrat and thus feels she is shaming the entire race of Pyncheons by opening the shop.

However, as much as her life changes by opening the shop, her life changes even more dramatically with the return of her brother and the addition of her young country cousin to their household.

Phoebe Pyncheon

Phoebe is a poor country cousin who has lived outside the realm of Seven Gables and the Pyncheon ‘aristocracy.’ As a result, she is a simple beautiful country lass without the psychological and social baggage of her city cousins. She is a breath of fresh air to her older cousins who desperately need the light she brings into her lives. She embodies all things pure and homely and seems to ‘cleanse’ and ‘purify’ the house with “her sweet breath and happy thoughts.”

Yet she cannot remain untouched by the darkness of both the house and her cousins lives. As the story progresses, her blithesomeness is tempered by something more serious and mature.

Clifford Pyncheon

Clifford is and was a lover of beauty. His life should have been devoted to beauty, however, he was wrongfully accused of the murder of his uncle and imprisoned for the best years of his life. As a result, he is a broken man who is more feminine and childlike than masculine. He has little interest in the world around him. Phoebe is the light of his days. Her simple beauty and light spirit provides him with a window out of the past in which he lives.

Not until he finds Judge Pyncheon dead is Clifford able to fully step into the present, embrace the future, and find some of his masculinity returned.

Mr Holgrave

Holgrave is a daguerreotypist (photographer) who rents one of the gables of the old house. He befriends and assists Hepzibah. However, his role in the Pyncheon story and his attitude towards life is puzzling and troubles Phoebe who finds herself drawn to him.

He tells Phoebe what he claims is an imagined story about Alice Pyncheon and Matthew Maule, in which he describes how Alice is mesmerized (hypnotized). In the process of telling the story, he inadvertently hypnotizes Phoebe. However, unlike Matthew Maule (who we find out later is Holgrave’s ancestor), he does not take advantage of Phoebe. Thus, he proves that we are not doomed to repeat the sins of our ancestors and that we can break the curse by acting of our own accord and according to our conscious.

Holgrave believes in the future and believes that the past must be destroyed so that the future doesn’t rest on old foundations but springs up new without being rooted in what has happened. He believes that every generation should build new homes.

Holgrave loves Phoebe. After she accepts his proposal and they discover the wealth that Clifford, Hepzibah, and Phoebe inherit, he suggests that they should build a house of stone for their family, a sudden departure from his previous ideals ,which he blames on love.

Ned Higgins

Ned Higgins is a young scamp with a mammoth appetite who patronizes Hepzibah’s shop and who provides us with a humorous diversion from the otherwise dark tone of the story. He is the one who warns Phoebe when she returns that something is not right at the House of Seven Gables.

Uncle Venner

An old man who lives off the charity of those who live on Pyncheon street. He is considered simple yet his plain homilies and stories betray a uncommon depth of wisdom. Clifford enjoys his company and when the three Pyncheons and Holgrave move to Judge Pyncheon’s estate, they bring the venerable gentleman with them.

More About The House of Seven Gables

Book Review of The House of Seven Gables

Summary of the Prelude and First Chapters

Phoebe's Affect on Clifford - Chapters 5-11

Holgrave and Phoebe's Relationship - Chapters 12-14

Conclusion of the Novel - Chapters 15-21

Minor Characters in The House of Seven Gables