Hawthorne, James and the "Cluster of Appurtenances": A Comparison of The House of the Seven Gables and The Spoils of Poynton

Abstract

<p>The House of the Seven Gables and The Spoils of Poynton are comparable primarily in the manner in which Hawthorne and James focus on 'relationships'. The reader usually perceives characters in their relationships to other characters. Furthermore, through the major device of the house, Hawthorne and James compare characters to their settings, indicating the important effect of each upon the other. In the works under discussion, therefore, James and Hawthorne are strongly tied together by their methods of composition.</p> <p>Chapter One deals with some of the general theories critics have employed to compare the fiction of Hawthorne and James, and these criticisms are applied to the specific comparison of The House of the Seven Gables and The Spoils of Poynton. In Chapter Two, the relevant comments of Hawthorne on The House of the Seven Gables, and James, both on Hawthorne's work and The Spoils of Poynton, are examined. The two works are directly compared and contrasted in Chapter Three.</p>