Comparing The Castle Of Otranto And The Fall Of The House Of Usher

In Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” and Julio Cortazar’ “House Taken Over” the short stories represent the genre of Gothic Literature. Gothic Literature is a genre that combines fiction, horror, death, and romance. Some of these traits are seen in both of these stories through characters and settings. However, there are other traits that set them apart.

Various authors develop their stories using gothic themes and characterizations of this type to lay the foundation for their desired reader response. Although Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” and Peter Taylor’s “Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time” are two completely different narratives, both of these stories share a commonality of gothic text representations. The stories take slightly different paths, with Poe’s signifying traditional gothic literature and Taylor approaching his story in a more contemporary manner.

Gothic literature is a style of writing that includes a bleak, dark setting, tortured characters, strange plot, striking description and a gloomy mood. Elements such as these are found in all gothic literature tales. “Fall of the House of Usher”, by Edgar Allan Poe, is a good example of this writing style. This is due to the countless dramatic and strange descriptions. Poe is the designated father of gothic literature. An example of a dramatic description of this story is when the narrator is explaining the demise of the Usher’s legacy and their mansion. “There was a long tumultuous shouting sound like the voice of a thousand waters-”. (Page 30, Paragraph 48) This dramatic explanation gave more of an impactful description, rather than saying the house simply fell and was no longer there.

“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

The story is about the sickness, incest, danger of unrestrained creativity and madness of the decaying house of his childhood friend, Roderick who lived with his sister Madeline Usher. The tale told from an unnamed narrators perspective, tells of the desperate desire by Usher to see his old friend in a letter that depicted a certain “mental disorder”. The author obeys summon and visited his

Another idiosyncrasy to ponder here is Roderick’s association with the speaker. He doesn’t distinguish this guy that well like I picture myself with my close friends. The narrator said, “As boys, we had been even intimate associates, yet I really knew little of my friend. His reserve had been always excessive and habitual.” They seem more like associates than childhood friends since they haven’t seen or spoken to one other in years! Usher observably recounts are strong about his identical sister as enthusiastically and somatic state. The speaker said, “That for several days ensuring her name was unmentioned by either Usher or myself, and during this period I was busied in earnest endeavors to alleviate the melancholy of my friend. While Usher himself positions that “understandings of a just clear nature had continuously ensued between them” When she dies, his behavior transformed to one of edginess character I have ever read about. Madeline seems to be one entity to Usher but also his was interconnected to the manor as well. The crack splits the family. Roderick and Madeline die, terminating the clan. The speaker says there is a “wild inconsistency between still perfect adaptations and the collapsing state of the different stones.” This is symbolic to me. The stones symbolize the different member of the Usher family, and the whole mansion represents the family. The temperaments created in each story are totally unalike. “The Fall of the House of Usher” comes off as an unusually low-spirited impression with every detail adding to the disheartening vision. The story, impressions of fear raises, partly because Poe is infamous for it his melancholic dismay tales, however frequently for the actual prediction. The introductory portrayals the day as “During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year. “ I feel a sense of anxiety when the

In 1839, Edgar Allan Poe wrote “The Fall of the House of Usher”, a tale of sickness, madness, incest and the danger of unrestrained creativity. This story is one of Poe’s most popular and critically-observed horror stories ever written. In the story, the house of the Ushers was very olden and decaying as it was filled with ragged furniture and embroideries. It was set in a gloomy atmosphere which represented Roderick and Madeline Usher, who were believed to be sickly twin occupants of the house. The house appears to be filled with classical gothic elements and numerous paintings with the color red. Also, the narrator observes a crack in the mansion that could possibly represent a disruption in the unity of the family. Despite the gothic works of the house, the story does have a psychological element and ambivalent symbolism that has caught many readers attention.

In Edgar Allen Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher the author uses gothic style writing to express the tone, setting, and events in the story. In House Taken Over by Julio Cortázar, magical realism is being utilized within the tone, descriptions, and events in the story. Gothic style of writing can be characterized by the element of fear. Emotions when reading gothic style literature can trigger emotions of fear, anxiety and suspense.

For the unnamed narrator in Usher, he notes that the reason of his visit to the soon-to-be infamous House of Usher is to visit with childhood friend Roderick Usher and help him feel better, as noted in the text, “The writer spoke of acute bodily illness — of a mental disorder which oppressed him — and of an earnest desire to see me, as his best, and indeed his only personal friend, with a view of attempting, by the cheerfulness of my society, some alleviation of his malady. It was the manner in which all this, and much more, was said — it was the apparent heart that went with his request — which allowed me no room for hesitation; and I accordingly obeyed forthwith what I still considered a very singular summons.” With the narrator describing the nature of his visit and then delving into the house itself, it is good to note that Poe has carefully crafted his tale to heighten the mood and atmosphere of the story, much like the creepy tapestries and furnishings inside of the

The central analogy is the physical castle that not only stands for the Usher family but exhales the destiny of the Ushers as its very breath. In the first few paragraphs, Poe establishes the identity of the castle with the Usher family, the gloomy structure makes even the rational narrator depressed and gloomy, and the effect that it has made on Roderick and Madeline is to make them paralyzed and sick with fear.

Those who have read Edgar Allen Poe know that his Gothic style of writing is apparent in all of his works. The subject matter emphasized in his stories range from the bizarre and grotesque to the mysterious and supernatural. It is also apparent that the time that Poe wrote and published his stories, the Romantic era, was very influential in his writing. Poe’s stories seems to be a combination of both gothic and romantic, leading many to categorize his writing as Gothic Romanticism. Edgar Allen Poe’s works, “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “Ligeia”, are two stories that employ the Gothic Romanticism style to create a mood of terror.

The "fabric gave little token of instability"-- or the mansion itself did not tell of the turmoil it concealed. The story takes place in autumn, a season associated with death. When the story's tension is about to reach its crescendo, a storm comes up, a "rising tempest." This is a symbol for the "tempest" brewing in Roderick Usher's mind. Poe's use of foreshadowing is just enough to clue the reader into what will happen, but not enough to give it away.Character traits are displayed through how the setting affects, influences, and reveals the characters.

The gothic novel, albeit not considered high literature, counts among the most distinctive literary genres. The literary form was at its prime in late 18th century, although its days of glory have past elements of the Gothic can be found even in contemporary literature. Over the centuries, several sub-genres of the gothic novel have developed, including Southern Ontario Gothic. This branch of the Gothic is characterized by criticism of social attitudes towards race, politics, gender and religion specific for that region, in combination with elements of the supernatural, magic realism and satire. "Gothic" has come to mean quite a number of things by this day and age. It could mean a particular style of art, be it in the form of novels, paintings, or architecture; it could mean "medieval" or "uncouth." It could even refer to a certain type of music and its fans. What it originally meant, of course, is "of, relating to or resembling the Goths, their civilization, or their language”. The aim of this paper is to explore and illustrate the different kinds of gothic elements in the novel The Castle of Otranto. The Gothic novel took shape mostly in England from 1790 to 1830 and falls within the category of Romantic literature. It acts, however, as a reaction

The setting in Otranto is almost a character in the novel. The castle, with its ghosts, bleeding statues, the images of giant hands, and feet, and the helmet that crush the walls, spurs on much of the novels action. The castle is also a witness of conflict. To whom does it rightfully belong is a question that is a main motif of the story. Let us concentrate on two main ‘characters’ of the story, whose fates are tied. Gloomy, mysterious atmosphere of the castle is a reflection of Manfred’s character. On the other hand, evil character of Manfred can

Gothic literature is an enchanting and frightening blend of horror and romance. From Horace Walpole's Castle of Otranto to Shelley's Frankenstein, and Edgar Allen poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart. The Gothic novel has been around for centuries, and, despite a few major changes, has maintained some of the basic elements of classic Gothic romance since its very origins. The height of Gothic literature, which was closely aligned with Romanticism, is usually considered to have been the years 1764-1840, but its influence extends to the present day. Gothic literature was focused on elements of death, decay and both physical and psychological terror. These elements were often portrayed by setting, characterization, form, and recurring motifs. The Gothic style also suggests a belief in the supernatural and thus many gothic texts contain an air of mystery and intrigue. Another key aspect in any gothic text is 'evil'. During the emergence of the Gothic literary movement, it is perhaps not surprising that the period was characterised by widespread terror, namely from the French Revolution. Subsequently, the genre became very popular among writers as it enabled them to express their sympathy and concern over such political movements. The presence of the quintessential elements of gothic horror consequently helped to make the genre so alluring to both readers and authors.