# Maule's Well explained — The House of the Seven Gables > Chapter companion for The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne. ## What happens Phoebe meets Holgrave in the garden, where he shows her a daguerreotype that reveals the hidden sternness of a modern face resembling the old Pyncheon portrait. He warns her not to drink from Maule's well, calling it 'water bewitched.' Later, Phoebe senses an unseen presence in the parlor with Hepzibah and hears a mysterious murmur. ## Themes in this chapter ### Appearance vs. Reality Holgrave's daguerreotype exposes a stern, hard character beneath a benevolent public face, contrasting surface appearance with hidden truth. ### Inherited Sin and Guilt The resemblance between the daguerreotype and the ancestral portrait suggests a continuity of moral corruption across generations. ### The Past vs. the Present The modern daguerreotype mirrors the old portrait, blurring the line between past and present Pyncheon traits. ## Character check-ins ### Phoebe Pyncheon Engages with Holgrave in the garden, tends flowers, and later senses an unseen presence in the parlor. ### Holgrave Shows Phoebe a daguerreotype revealing a hidden sternness, proposes they share garden work, and warns her about Maule's well. ### Hepzibah Pyncheon Sits in the dim parlor, speaks with a rich, emotional tone, and dismisses Phoebe to bed with a loving embrace. ### Judge Jaffrey Pyncheon Implied as the subject of Holgrave's daguerreotype, which reveals a sly, hard, imperious character beneath a pleasant exterior. ### Colonel Pyncheon Referenced as the Puritan ancestor whose portrait hangs in the parlor and resembles the daguerreotype. ## Key lines > The secret is, that I have learned how to talk with hens and chickens. Phoebe claims she can communicate with the fowl. _Phoebe explains her ease with the aristocratic hens._ > I make pictures out of sunshine; and, not to be too much dazzled with my own trade, I have prevailed with Miss Hepzibah to let me lodge in one of these dusky gables. Holgrave says he creates daguerreotypes and lives in a dark gable to rest his eyes. _Holgrave describes his profession and living arrangement._ > The sun, as you see, tells quite another story, and will not be coaxed out of it, after half a dozen patient attempts on my part. Here we have the man, sly, subtle, hard, imperious, and, withal, cold as ice. The sunlight reveals a hidden, harsh character in the daguerreotype subject. _Holgrave explains how the sun exposes the true nature of the man._ > Be careful not to drink at Maule’s well! Neither drink nor bathe your face in it! Holgrave warns Phoebe to avoid the well. _Holgrave cautions Phoebe about the enchanted well._ > What an instrument is the human voice! How wonderfully responsive to every emotion of the human soul! The narrator marvels at how the voice conveys deep emotion. _Reflection on Hepzibah's emotionally charged tone._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_house_of_the_seven_gables_se/chapters/vi-maule-s-well - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_house_of_the_seven_gables_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_house_of_the_seven_gables_se/chapters