摘要
The House of the Seven Gables （1981）, Hawthorne＇s second romance, is his another masterpiece after The Scarlet Letter （1956）. The achievement of its themes and narrative skills has been greatly complimented by readers, especially its descriptions and analyses of the characters＇ psychological activities and their personalities. The notorious Salem Witch Trials of Hawthorne＇s family has a great effect on Hawthorne＇s formation of his views about the good and evil, the sin and penalty, and the psychological descriptive style in his works. In The House of the Seven Gables, Hawthorne takes this family history as the original writing background. Through exploring modem people＇s spiritual essence, using history as narrative original, Hawthorne＇s theme illustrates the past＇s influence on the present. By exploring the changes of the characters＇ psychologies and values, especially those of Holgrave, the narrator proposes a conception of general love to eradicate the actual contradictions. Hawthorne actually provides an alternative way--a nonpolitical solution to the national problems, which demonstrates not only his artistic pursuit but also his culturally political view in his writing. This paper consists of five parts.
