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Uncle Venner
Alice is a daughter of Gervayse Pyncheon and a descendant of the Colonel. She spends part of her girlhood in Europe and loves to play the harpsichord. Matthew Maule (the carpenter) hypnotizes Alice when Gervayse is seeking the old Pyncheon deed, and Alice remains disgraced and under Matthew’s power for the rest of her life. Alice’s ghost is said to haunt the House of the Seven Gables, playing the harpsichord. After the family curse is broken, she is said to escape to heaven.
Alice Pyncheon Quotes in The House of the Seven Gables
The The House of the Seven Gables quotes below are all either spoken by Alice Pyncheon or refer to Alice Pyncheon. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 13
Quotes
But, alas for the beautiful, the gentle, yet too haughty Alice! A power that she little dreamed of had laid its grasp upon her maiden soul. A will, most unlike her own, constrained her do its grotesque and fantastic bidding. Her father, as it proved, had martyred his poor child to an inordinate desire for measuring his land by miles instead of acres. And, therefore, while Alice Pyncheon lived, she was Maule's slave, in a bondage more humiliating, a thousandfold, than that which binds its chain around the body. Seated by his humble fireside, Maule had but to wave his hand; and, wherever the proud lady chanced to be—whether in her chamber, or entertaining her father’s stately guests, or worshipping at church—whatever her place of occupation, her spirit passed from beneath her own control, and bowed itself to Maule.
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Alice Pyncheon Quotes in The House of the Seven Gables
The The House of the Seven Gables quotes below are all either spoken by Alice Pyncheon or refer to Alice Pyncheon. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 13
Quotes
But, alas for the beautiful, the gentle, yet too haughty Alice! A power that she little dreamed of had laid its grasp upon her maiden soul. A will, most unlike her own, constrained her do its grotesque and fantastic bidding. Her father, as it proved, had martyred his poor child to an inordinate desire for measuring his land by miles instead of acres. And, therefore, while Alice Pyncheon lived, she was Maule's slave, in a bondage more humiliating, a thousandfold, than that which binds its chain around the body. Seated by his humble fireside, Maule had but to wave his hand; and, wherever the proud lady chanced to be—whether in her chamber, or entertaining her father’s stately guests, or worshipping at church—whatever her place of occupation, her spirit passed from beneath her own control, and bowed itself to Maule.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
