The Fall Of The House Of Usher Essay

For it is only within the context of this nightmare that one can explain why “Usher,” occupies such an important place in the 19th century development of the Gothic genre. With great attention to economy of expression and unity of effect, this pattern would be revisited by countless other Gothic stylists” (Dougherty 6). This means that Poe used the fantasy of impending doom in “The Fall of the House of Usher” to change it from being just an upper class dream, to a tale of horror which brought together some of the political situations in the nineteenth century such as those of race and class. Hawthorne and Poe successfully incorporated gothic elements in their writing which provides greater insight to the meaning and interpretation of their works.

The story continues to use a pace where you couldn’t predict what was going to happen next. What sticks out the most about the story is how Poe uses the connection between the Usher siblings. Roderick mentions how close he is to Madeline and their connection is very apparent when she passes away. Roderick’s fear including his mental illness increases and he becomes hysterical. This theme shows that the siblings could not live without each other. What continues throughout the entire story is the description of the house and it’s environment. The way the narrator continues to describe the house as being depressing and dreary. This tells the reader to visualize the conditions throughout the

The setting of this story takes place in the Usher manor a creepy place located in a “dreary tract of country.” When the narrator first sees the estate he feels “an insufferable gloom” because of the manors horrible state. With its “eye-like windows” and “decayed trees...I can compare to no earthly sensation more properly than to the afterdream of the reveler upon opium.” Poe establishes a Gothic setting through the narrator's point of view just like in “Young Goodman Brown.”

In stanza III, the “luminous windows saw spirits moving musically”, the same two windows who, in stanza VI, become “red-litten windows, seeing vast forms that move fantastically to a discordant melody”. This weakening of the state of the house exemplifies the weakening of the Usher family, as there are only two members left, both of which are ill.

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

In the short story " The fall of the House of Usher" by Edger Allan Poe, a depressing and dreary setting is revealed. The story's depressing setting helps to develop a dark and ghostly mood.

Right from the start of the story, the setting evokes intense feelings for the narrator and the reader. The narrator genuinely feels nervous when he approaches the house of Usher. Just at the first glimpse of the building, he senses an “insufferable gloom” (Usher, 322). He is puzzled that simple, natural objects have the power to affect him. He looks at the house and landscape and sees bleak walls with vacant eyelike windows, decayed trees, and “a black and lurid

Edgar Allan Poe was a typical representative of the 19th century literary movement - Dark Romanticism. This essay will look at one of his short stories – The Fall of the House of Usher – in its broad cultural and literary context, its place among other Poe’s works, the story’s stylistic features, and the main themes and characters.

The outside of the House of Usher causes the reader to feel uneasy. “Our unnamed narrator, as soon as he looks at the house, he feels a sense of dread, just kind of pervade him.” (Stringfield) Before even stepping in the house, the House of Usher managed to cause the narrator to anticipate the horrors to come from the building.

The author develops the comparison of Ushers mind and house. For examples, the narrator describes the house, when saying, “Minute fungi overspread the whole exterior, hanging in a fine tangled web-work” (Poe, 6). The author also develops the imagery of the house when stating “old wood-work which has rotted for long years” (Poe, 6) By illustrating the houses condition, the reader can understand the condition of the Usher family, and how it has been rotting and crumbling. In comparison, the reader can compare the physical appearance of the house to Ushers mind, when the narrator says, “He suffered much from a morbid acuteness of the senses” (Poe, 9) Both Usher and the house are fading, so the reader can assume that they are somehow connected

A poet so widely known for the horror laced upon the words of his writings, Edgar Allen Poe trained his pinhead to instill fear and fascination among his readers. “The Fall of the House of Usher” became on of his most well-known and prevalent works. It resides in compilations of famous short-stories and rests in the curriculum of every high school’s english department. However, beyond its accolades of simplistic quality, the mechanics of style reign prevalent within the writing. Poe uses the equational themes of gothic literature to craft his renowned story. First, Poe uses precisely concocted imagery to denote a gloomy, dark setting in which the remainder of the story will take place— the House of Usher. As the narrator begins the story, they are found riding on, “a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country; and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher.

The story begins with a nameless narrator arriving to the House of Usher on a “...dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year....”. He goes on to describe the atmosphere that surrounds the house and how it has changed since he was there last as a child. He comes back to the House of Usher for the sake of his friend’s health. The narrator believes that the house has been absorbed by an evil. Around the house the trees are decaying and the ponds are not clear but murky. A reader could assume that since the atmosphere of the house is in ruin; that the house itself would be too. But the narrator says that even though some areas of the house are decaying; the structure of the house is intact. That there is only but a small crack that goes from the

“The Fall of the House of Usher (1939)”, arguably Edgar Allan Poe’s most famous short story, is a tale centered around the mysterious House of Usher and its equally indiscernible inhabitants. These subjects are plagued with physical and mental degradation – the Usher siblings suffer from various abnormal ailments and unexplained fears, while the house itself seems to be tethering on the edge of collapse. The gothic elements in the story are distributed generously, and the plot is increasingly ridden with the supernatural as it progresses.

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.

Gothic literature often gives strong examples of the topic. "The Fall of the House of Usher," written by Edgar Allen Poe, is a short story that reflects this theme. To briefly summarize, the story focuses on the narrator and his visit to his estranged friend, Roderick Usher. The narrator gradually progresses into a darker and more psychotic situation, until the House of Usher both literally and figuratively collapses. As a start, the theme is most clearly shown through the mental changes of Usher and the narrator as the story progresses. Usher is already in a state of general despair in the beginning of the narrator's visit, although much saner than he will come to be. Following the supposed death and burial of his sister, he quickly