Previous
The Young Woman
The old crone is an ancient and wicked sorceress who meets with the young woman in the titular hollow between the three hills. The young woman has betrayed her family, and the old crone—at the young woman’s request—grants her three visions, each one detailing how this betrayal has torn her family apart. The old crone is a purely evil an unholy force, depicted using prayers “that were not meant to be acceptable in Heaven” and taking several opportunities to taunt the young woman over her grief. Due to the old crone’s blatantly malevolent nature and the fact that she refers to the young woman’s ordeal and ultimate death as “a sweet hour’s sport,” the truthfulness of the old crone’s “visions” is questionable at best.
The Old Crone Quotes in The Hollow of the Three Hills
The The Hollow of the Three Hills quotes below are all either spoken by The Old Crone or refer to The Old Crone . 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:
).
The Hollow of the Three Hills Quotes
One was a lady, graceful in form and fair of feature, though pale and troubled, and smitten with an untimely blight in what should have been the fullest bloom of her years; the other was an ancient and meanly dressed woman, of ill-favored aspect, and so withered, shrunken and decrepit, that even the space since she began to decay must have exceeded the ordinary term of human existence.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Here the narrative establishes a strong contrast between its two primary characters, both in physical appearance and, consequently, moral alignment, setting the stage for the story’s central theme of evil’s inevitable triumph over good. In the 19th century, the pseudoscientific practice of physiognomy—the art of determining an individual’s personality through their external appearance—had grown in popularity and was commonly used in literary works of the era to signify a character’s moral leanings. In this instance, 19th-century readers would have automatically interpreted the young woman, emphasized for her fairness and beauty, as a source of goodness, and the decrepit old crone, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae ea
As the old withered woman spoke, a smile glimmered on her countenance, like lamplight on the wall of a sepulchre. The lady trembled, and cast her eyes upward to the verge of the basin, as if meditating to return with her purpose unaccomplished. But it was not so ordained.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Despite her supposedly voluntary presence in the hollow, the young woman is plainly distressed by her surroundings and fearful of the old crone, whose chilling smile, compared here to a sepulcher—a small stone room in which a dead person is buried—clearly broadcasts her grim intentions. However, while the young woman expresses a desire to leave the hollow on several occasions, the narration states that it is “not so ordained.” This implies that the young woman is not exclusively acting of her own volition, but that she is instead following some form of external order. The term “ordained,” in particular, carries Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti
‘Kneel down,’ she said, ‘and lay your forehead on my knees.’ She hesitated a moment, but the anxiety, that had long been kindling, burned fiercely up within her. As she knelt down, the border of her garment was dipped into the pool; she laid her forehead on the old woman’s knees, and the latter drew a cloak about the lady’s face, so that she was in darkness. Then she heard the muttered words of a prayer, in the midst of which she started, and would have arisen.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
The young woman, now having agreed to give her life in exchange for the old crone’s knowledge of what’s become of the woman’s family, kneels at the crone’s feet. The crone then proceeds to draw a cloak over the young woman’s face and begins to recite a prayer. Here, Hawthorne once more presents the reader with twisted religious imagery in order to critique transcendentalist ideals, as well as to highlight the irrational nature of the young woman’s guilt. The crone using her cloak in order to cover the young woman’s face is particularly noteworthy, as it implies that her visions Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesc
Get the entire The Hollow of the Three Hills LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
The Old Crone Character Timeline in The Hollow of the Three Hills
The timeline below shows where the character The Old Crone appears in The Hollow of the Three Hills. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
The Hollow of the Three Hills
...been the fullest bloom of her years.” The second is an ancient and “meanly dressed” old crone , who has far outlived any ordinary human.
(full context)
The old crone asks that the young woman speak quickly, as their meeting may only last an hour....
(full context)
The crone mockingly tells the young woman that she does not have the information she seeks, but...
(full context)
...and hide, but she composes herself when she hears hushed yet familiar voices mingling with the crone ’s incantation. As the young woman listens, these voices—along with the sounds of a ticking...
(full context)
The old crone smiles and notes that the old couple appear to be having a difficult time. The...
(full context)
Once more, new voices begin to intermingle with the crone ’s words. This time, however, it is a discordant mess of shrieks, screams, love songs,...
(full context)
The old crone asks the young woman if she knew there could be so much merriment in a...
(full context)
As the crone recites her spell, a death bell begins to toll, “bearing tidings of mortality and woe...
(full context)
For the final time, the voices fade in the wind, and the old crone attempts to rouse the young woman. However, the young woman does not lift her head....
(full context)
