Elongation, or The Rhythms of Reading Hawthorne

Abstract: Building on the recent “temporal turn” in the study of nineteenth-century American literature, this article explores the politically resistant rhythms of reading that Hawthorne develops in The House of the Seven Gables . In particular, this article focuses on Hawthorne’s modulation of tense in the novel—his use of the rhythm of the present tense—as a source of his resistance to the drumbeat rhythms of nineteenth-century market capitalism. Following three rhythms of reading that are tied to three distinct characters—Hepzibah, Clifford, and Jaffrey—this article reveals the way that Hawthorne not only subverts the “clock time” rhythm of the market, but also recovers different, less repressive futures by inviting its readers to dwell in the possibility of the “intermediate” present.