Read the excerpt from Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment," and then match the characters with the traits they rep
resent.
Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment
by Nathaniel Hawthorne (excerpt)
. . . The fair widow knew, of old, that Colonel Killigrew's compliments were not always measured by
sober truth; so she started up and ran to the mirror, still dreading that the ugly visage of an old woman would meet her gaze.
Meanwhile, the three gentlemen behaved in such a manner as proved that the water of the Fountain of Youth possessed some
intoxicating qualities; unless, indeed, their exhilaration of spirits were merely a lightsome dizziness caused by the sudden
removal of the weight of years. Mr. Gascoigne's mind seemed to run on political topics, but whether relating to the past, present, or
future, could not easily be determined, since the same ideas and phrases have been in vogue these fifty years. Now he rattled forth
full-throated sentences about patriotism, national glory, and the people's right; now he muttered some perilous stuff or other, in a
sly and doubtful whisper, so cautiously that even his own conscience could scarcely catch the secret; and now, again, he spoke in
measured accents, and a deeply deferential tone, as if a royal ear were listening to his well-turned periods. Colonel Killigrew all this
time had been trolling forth a jolly bottle-song, and ringing his glass in symphony
with the chorus, while his eyes wandered toward the buxom figure of the Widow Wycherly. On the other side of the table,
Mr. Medbourne was involved in a calculation of dollars and cents, with which was strangely intermingled a project for
supplying the East Indies with ice, by harnessing a team of whales to the polar icebergs.
(Tiles)
Colonel Killigrew
lust
Mr. Medbourne
pompousness
Widow Wycherly
vanity
Mr. Gascoigne
greed
