Many people today as well as during the 1800s, have suffered from psychological disorders including bipolar disorder. Edgar Allan Poe was one of many who were diagnosed with this disorder, and it is prevalent in many of his works. The Fall of the House of Usher by Poe clearly depicts the symptoms of bipolar disorder, and he translates his feelings on the topic as well. Through the use of Roderick Usher and his sister, Madeline, Poe depicts the transference of bipolar disorder within a family, and more specifically with twins.
Deciphering a story centered around a psychological disorder challenges interpreters to have a significant understanding of that disorder as well. Bipolar disorder is a “brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in
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Many studies of bipolar patients and their relatives have shown that bipolar disorder sometimes runs in families. The studies conducted on twins is perhaps some of the most startling information. Farlet explained “that if one identical twin has bipolar disorder, the other twin has a greater chance of developing bipolar disorder than another sibling in the family. Researchers conclude that the lifetime chance of an identical twin (of a bipolar twin) to also develop bipolar disorder is about 40% to 70%”(Farlet 27).
The Fall of the House of Usher opens with a description of the landscape that serves as foreshadowing to the deteriorating state, both mentally and physically, of Roderick Usher. The story opens and readers are first exposed to a description of the house: a dull grey, a color oftentimes utilized to set depressing mood. The physical landscape appears to be diseased and decaying as the narrator looks “upon the bleak walls—upon the vacant eye-like windows— upon a few rank sedges—and upon a few white trunks of decayed trees—with an utter depression of soul” (Poe 3). This description juxtaposes with the mental state that the narrator finds Roderick in.
The narrator goes on to comment about how the scenery provided “an iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart”(Poe 3). This is the beginning of a depressive episode in the narrator that most readers might overlook. The dreariness and decaying state of The House of Usher, a home he
When writing “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Poe used the setting outside of the mansion to illustrate the theme of the fear of death. From the outset, the Rodrick Usher’s home is portrayed in a way that gives the reader a feeling of alarm. For example, the narrator mentions the house gives him a feeling of “insufferable gloom” (Usher 1). By pointing this out, the reader begins to feel on edge as the connotation of “gloom” is unwelcoming and distressing. The home is also said to have “vacant eye like windows” (Usher 1) which make the narrator
In the story, “The Fall of The House of Usher”, there are many mysterious happenings that go on throughout the story between the characters Roderick Usher and the narrator. Throughout the story, Edgar Allan Poe uses themes such as madness and insanity to connect the house back to Roderick Usher. In the “Fall of The House of Usher”, the narrator goes through many different experiences when arriving to the house. The narrator’s experiences start out as almost unnoticeable in the beginning, turn into bigger ones right before his eyes, and end up becoming problems that cause deterioration of the mind and the house before the narrator even decides to do anything helpful for Roderick and his mental illness. In “The Fall of The
The Fall Of The House of Usher is a terrifying tale of the demise of the Usher family, whose inevitable doom is mirrored in the diseased and evil aura of the house and grounds. Poe uses elements of the gothic tale to create an atmosphere of terror. The decaying house is a metaphor for Roderick Usher’s mind, as well as his family line. The dreary landscape also reflects his personality. Poe also uses play on words to engage the reader to make predictions, or provide information. Poe has also set the story up to be intentionally ambiguous so that the reader is continually suspended between the real and the fantastic.
The narrator comes to the House to aid his dying friend, Roderick Usher. As he arrives at the House he comes upon an “aura of vacancy and decay… creating a pathologically depressive mood” (Cook). The state of the House is daunting to the narrator – he describes it with such features as “bleak walls”, “eye-like windows”, “rank sedges”, “decayed trees”, and “an utter depression of the soul”. These images foreshadow a less than pleasant future for the narrator and his dear friend Roderick. Poe continues to foreshadow the narrators turn of events with a description of the House’s “dark” and “comfortless” furniture. The House becomes a living hell for the narrator as he watches Roderick’s condition evolve and struggles to understand the mystery tying unfortunate events together. However, as the narrator gradually becomes more enveloped in Roderick and the House’s malady, he seems to develop a malady of his own. While the narrator’s illness is less prominent than that of Roderick and his sister Lady Madeline, the sicknesses are one in the same.
This source gives the readers an in-depth overview of Bipolar Disorder and the causes of having the mental health issue. There’s a great distinction between the ups and downs people experience and bipolar disorder. Due to the ups and downs teens and children experience, bipolar disorder is hard to diagnose during those early years. The National Center of Biotechnology Information’s research program is run by Senior Investigators, Tenure Track Investigators, Staff Scientists, and Postdoctoral Fellows which makes the source credible. The source contained
In “The Fall of the House of Usher” the story starts with the narrator saying that he is overcome with a feeling of gloom upon first seeing the house. He compares the windows to vacant eyes. The narrator goes on to tell how the house appears to him but then tries to explain it away as his overactive imagination.
In fact, the first five paragraphs of "The Fall of the House of Usher" are devoted to creating a gothic atmosphere. An ancient, decaying castle paints an eerie, moldy picture. The surrounding moat seems stagnant and sullen. The time period also ties into this mood. It's autumn and the weather is cool and dreary. How many horrors take place in the daytime? Not many, and this story is no different. It's dark, or at least semi-dark. Immediately Poe entraps the reader. There is a sense of being confined within the walls of the Usher house. Outside a storm is raging and inside there are mysterious rooms where windows suddenly whisk open, blowing out candles. Creaking and moaning sounds fill the air. The wind is whipping, and the landscape is barren. This is gothic writing and these are its trappings. The darkness of everything symbolizes death to come. Upon entering the gothic archway of the deteorating mansion, the narrator is led "through many dark and intricate passages" filled with "somber tapestries" and "ebon blackness". Over everything, Poe drapes his atmosphere of sorrow and irredeemable gloom. He evokes his primary effect, the anticipation that some fearful event will soon transpire.
The reader can have a sense of melancholy, fear, and depression as the narrator describes the circumstances in which he was summoned to the house. The reader can feel the melancholy, and mental state thru the owner of the house Roderick Usher, as he explains the illness that affected his sister. In times the narrator speaks as if Roderick was out of touch with reality, that he was lost in mourn, and despair. As the narrator tells us what Roderick says; “To an anomalous species of terror I found him a bounden slave. “ I shall perish”, said he, “I must perish in this deplorable folly. Thus, thus, and not otherwise, shall I be lost; I dread the events of the future, not in themselves, but in their results. I shudder at the though of any, even the most trivial, incident, which may operate upon this intolerable agitation of soul. I have, indeed, no abhorrence of danger, except in its absolute effect—in terror. In this unnerved—in this pitiable condition—I feel that the period will sooner or later arrive when I must abandon life and reason together, in some struggle with the grim phantasm, FEAR.” (POE, The Fall of the House of
After evaluating the work of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher, he utilizes with imagery to build up the feeling of terror. First of all, the passage is about an ill man, Roderick Usher, who invites his old friend of his to come meet him. In this passage both him and his sister, Madeline Usher, are the last remaining of the Usher race and is diagnosed with an unnatural illness. The narrator begins to feel terror with the supernatural things going on in the house of Usher and the illness of the Ushers. Although the narrator feels the sense of terror from the moment he entered the house, through the use of imagery, Poe is able to bring emotion to the reader. Throughout the passage, the author continues to build up the sense of terror by asserting the image and setting of both the passage and the atmosphere. For instance, he starts the passage by stating “a dull, dark, and a soundless day...clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens” (Poe 194). In relation to the previous quote, the quote illustrates the image of the atmosphere and the setting of the story. In particular, because Poe expresses the sense of terror by describing the atmosphere as dark, quiet, and gloomy, the reader can get an image of the surroundings and get the feeling of the darkness and horror. In addition, according to Poe, during the first glimpse of the house of Usher, the narrator describes it as gloomy and unpleasant. In particular, Poe states “the shades of the evening drew on… a sense of insufferable gloom” (Poe 194). Additionally, the description of the house adds on to the sense of terror that Poe established in the beginning of the story. Based on the past two quotes stated by the author, the reader can begin to picture a dark and dull day with a gloomy house adding on to the darkness. Lastly, in regards to Edgar Allan Poe, the house of Usher is
Bipolar disorder is typically a condition that affects people in their late teens and early adulthood. It is usually not thought to affect a child but it is something that, if present at a young age, can seriously affect the way a child grows up. Bipolar disorder affects every aspect of a person’s life and is not as understood as it should be. Researchers are still looking for the cause of this illness and how it can be treated but overall it is a condition that many people are undereducated on and that is something I’m hoping this paper might be able to change for some.
“The Fall of the House of Usher” follows a similar symbolic storyline. Throughout the story, the narrator uncovers significant details regarding the mysterious childhood friend of his and many of the important elements are revealed. Specifically, Poe designed the plot in such a way that the Usher siblings represent two sides of the same individual; Madeline and Roderick as the body and the mind respectively (Miller par 32). Since the twins are the first in their family, it shows the separation from original unity (genetically) and foreshadows that the twins must die in order for the restoration of peace. The House of Usher also has a significant symbolic value in the story; it represents Roderick’s psychological state of mind and is described by the narrator as having disturbing realistic qualities (Poe 893). Nevertheless, toward the end of the story, the epitome of the symbolic nature of this story is revealed and is concluded by an epic turn of events. Madeline collapses on Roderick as the narrator rushes to leave the house; the siblings death at the end symbolize the destruction of the physical world as shown by Madeline and the destruction of the spiritual world as displayed by Roderick’s immediate death
Together with reasoning for why you may feel depressed when looking upon it. Since the Usher’s have a long family line it is clear that the house is very old and old things look worn naturally. Since Roderick and Madeline are not in a healthy mental state, they wouldn't be able to keep up with the appearance of their house causing it to become gloomy and unpleasant. Anything that is gloomy and unpleasant can give you an eerie feeling because it is not something you enjoy seeing. In addition to this, the story takes place in Autumn, the season in which all the living things are beginning to die which could be another factor contributing to why the narrator may feel this
Edgar Allan Poe became an author that has grasped the importance of language in his short stories to form the perfect mood and the ability to affect his readers emotionally. In the short story, The Fall of the House of Usher, a man decides to go on a trip to reunite with a friend from his childhood, who suffers from an unknown illness. During the visit, bizarre events occur while staying in his friend’s home. This short story allows Poe to use hints of horror and gothic prose to drive the protagonists into constant mental distress and eventually driving them to madness. Poe incorporates horror and gothic prose such as the unsettling description of the setting, demise, and the fear of paranormal slowly will creep fear upon his characters
The opening of the story depicts and sets the gloomy atmosphere of the short story “During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone” (Poe 109). That is, rather than having the transcendentalist ideas that build to an optimistic ending, The Fall of the House of Usher presents a lifeless plot that comes to be gloomier as the story develops. For instance, the description of the house and its residents are presented as a sarcastic criticism of that
The Fall of the House of Usher is a story “of sickness, madness, incest, and the danger of unrestrained creativity. This is among Poe's most popular and critically-examined horror stories” (Gordon). For example if you were to close your eyes while someone was reading the story you would see the house “decaying” in your imagination (Poe). From the start of the story the narrator’s strange “insufferable gloom” is introduced. He notes the darkness of his surrounding (Gordon). The stories are very deeply described and felt.