As a discovery of native sources of picturesque fiction, this second
romance was not less remarkable than the one which preceded it. The
theme furnished by the imaginary Pyncheon family ranges from the tragic
in the Judge, through the picturesquely pathetic in Clifford, to a
grotesque cast of pathos and humor in Hepzibah. Thence we are led to
another vein of simple, fun-breeding characterization in Uncle Venner
and Ned Higgins. The exquisite perception which draws old Uncle Venner
in such wholesome colors, tones him up to just one degree of sunniness
above the dubious light in which Hepzibah stands, so that he may soften
the contrast of broad humor presented by little Ned Higgins, the "First
Customer." I cannot but regret that Hawthorne did not give freer scope
to his delicious faculty for the humorous, exemplified in the "Seven
Gables." If he had let his genius career as forcibly in this direction
as it does in another, when burdened with the black weight of the dead
Judge Pyncheon, he might have secured as wide an acceptance for the book
as Dickens, with so much more melodrama and so much less art, could gain
for less perfect works. Hawthorne's concentration upon the tragic
element, and comparative neglect of the other, was in one sense an
advantage; but if in the case under discussion he had given more bulk
and saliency to the humorous quality, he might also have been more
likely to avoid a fault which creeps in, immediately after that
marvellous chapter chanted like an unholy requiem over the lifeless
Judge.
Pages:
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273