Literary Analysis Essay On The Fall Of The House Of Usher

Poe wrote in the literary movement of Dark Romanticism. The Romantic Movement was intellectual and artistic, but Poe’s work took that and added a gothic twist to it. This was a start to the recognition of disarray and darkness. ”The Fall of the House of Usher” evident characteristics of the Dark Romantics was it was a haunting

One other major theme in the story is fear. Using the effect that fear has on the narrator and on Roderick, Poe proves that fear can be extremely powerful. While the narrator is walking through The House of Usher, he says, “While the carvings of the ceilings, the sombre tapestries of the walls, the ebon blackness of the

Firstly, Edgar Allan Poe uses many different subtle details to give the story it’s Gothic tone. This may be when he is describing the setting of the story: “There was an insufferable gloom.”() This helps describe the feeling one would get from being there, it’s a feeling that many people are familiar with. “The windows were long, narrow, and pointed, and at so cast a distance from the black oaken floor as to be altogether inaccessible from within.”(16) Poe now tries to show the size of the house through a description of the house’s windows, showing how oddly tall and long they are, and how they are so high up that the floor seem ‘inaccessible from within.’ Poe’s description of Usher’s everyday life also brings a comfortable eeriness to the writing. In “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Poe decides to put a

In the Fall of the House of Usher, by Edgar Allan Poe, the writer creates a setting by describing the gloomy, isolated, and unpleasant atmosphere that the narrator encounters himself in. Poe writes: "During the whole of a dull, dark and soundless day in the autumn of the year" (pg. 675) and "the simple landscape features of the domain, upon the bleak walls... the vacant eye-like windows... a few rank sedges, and upon a few white trunks of decayed trees" (pg. 675). These two quotes are examples of mood the reader is induced into. Poe also uses words as "deficiency", "Gothic", "decayed", "strange" "mystic" and "mansion of gloom" to create a consistent mood throughout the story. Without further inspection to the story, it is easy to say 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.

After reading Edgar Allan Poe, “The Raven” during the course of study for the class and learning how Gothic literature was part of a central movement in the Romanticism era, I decided to read “The Fall of the House of Usher”. Even knowing that Poe is a gothic writer when the story started I was surprised, that beside the description of the feelings of sorrow and dead the House of Usher imposed on the visiting companion, as he describe them “I looked upon the scene before me — upon the mere house, and the simple landscape features of the domain — upon the bleak walls — upon the vacant eye-like windows — upon a few rank sedges — and upon a few white trunks of decayed trees —

Edgar Allan Poe’s unnamed narrator of The Fall of the House of Usher introduces the reader to the House of Usher by describing its captivating melancholy. The narrator says, “with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of

To properly convey these complex themes, Poe employed the use of the Gothic Tradition. That is to say, he used elements such as the supernatural, and traditional gothic settings to create a mood in his story to help the reader become immersed in the story. The Fall Of The House Of Usher is told in the first person, with a nameless narrator who is never properly described. This helps the reader to feel part of the story, as it is as if they are listening to themselves describing the story. Poe has also set the story in a very claustrophobic way, including

Gothic Literature is a genre that includes dark settings from the past in their stories, these settings are often desolate with tormented characters and macabre plots. In Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” is an excellent example of Gothic Literature because the author utilizes many elements that are essential to the genre. For example, in Poe’s story, he describes a decrepit mansion with great detail. ”Its principal feature seemed to be that of an excessive antiquity. The discoloration of ages had been great.” (Poe 15). This line uses descriptions that are vital to the genre of Gothic Literature. Therefore, “The Fall of the House of Usher” is Gothic Literature because of its dark and aged setting.

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.

Edgar Allan Poe is a well known author and poet whose style is characterized with the usage of a wide range of literary elements that convey a dark mood. Due to Poe’s experiences of poverty and tragedies throughout his life, he became depressed, which affected his writing greatly. Along with his experiences, Poe incorporated many literary elements to enhance the mood of his stories like The Cask of Amontillado and The Fall of The House of Usher.

Without careful analysis of tone, everything in literature would be questioned; tone sets the stage. The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe is an intense story of his that the reader can’t put down. Throughout the story it has a very strong sense of tone which build off of Poe’s use of a Gothic mood. Poe’s short story is strong in the curious tone as illustrated when analyzing the Narrator and the Usher’s family past to lead to the theme that is madness.

Edgar Allen Poe has long been acknowledged as a master of gothic horror. Poe wrote many of the classics of the genre, and created many of its conventions. Accurate though this description is, however, it actually sells Poe’s talents short. His works were often more than just gothic, as the term is understood today. Poe was a master at using psychological techniques to manipulate the minds of his readers, drawing them into the creation process, almost making them co-authors of the tales that they are reading. This unique style can easily be seen by examining one of Poe’s stranger tales, one that is sometimes hard to interpret or even to understand: “The Fall of the House of Usher”. Poe does not restrict his readers to one particular reading of this tale, as with many if his other tales. By making

Secondly, Poe uses imagery to convey the theme of isolation. He states, “...yet I really knew little of my friend. His reserve had been always excessive and habitual.” The narrator describes the reserved behavior of Roderick and how he doesn’t know much about him even though they’ve been friends since childhood. It relates to the story because this shows that since the narrator

Gothic literature is a style which is very present in Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher”. In Poe’s short story, the narrator is the one to figure out/ imply that these twins are telepathic. Usher locks up his twin sister and claims to here her cries for help louder and sooner than the narrator, suggesting their hidden powers (Poe, 29). By suggesting Usher and his sisters spiritual unity, aspects of Gothic literature are emphasized, providing evidence for the story to fall under the category of Gothic literature.