Abstract: Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of the most remarkable novelists in the 19th America. The House of Seven Gables was published just following The Scarlet Letter and became an important and classic work in the history of American literature. In the novel, the family curse, an ancient gothic tradition, is borrowed to depict the punishment on the Pynchon family and their offspring due to the ancestral thuggery. It’s noticeable that symbolism is a method widely used in The House of Seven Gables. The garden, the house and other objects have symbolic meanings in the novel. The characters and their psychology have also been described with abundant symbolic connotation. The use of symbolism has deepened the theme of sin and redemption in the novel.

Key words: Hawthorne; The House of Seven Gables; symbolism

CONTENTS

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction1

1.1 Nathaniel Hawthorne and His Major Works

1.2 Introduction to The House of Seven Gables

1.3 Definition of Symbolism as a writing technique

2. Symbols of Objects in the Novel4

2.1 The House

2.2 The Garden

2.3 The Shadow in the house

3. Symbols of Characters in the Novel.7

3.1 Judge Pyncheon

3.2 Phoebe

3.3 Hepzibah and Clifford

4. The Effect of Symbols Used in the Novel9

5. Conclusion

Bibliography

Acknowledgments