The Importance of Houses in English Literature

Just as in Poe’s, this story places significance upon the appearance of the house and its surroundings. The Dorsets host parties for each generation of children in their neighborhood. Enhancing further the evidence of gothic style found in Taylor’s story, the parents’ curiosity is overcome by a feeling of horror concerning the types of events that unfold during those parties. The parties also act as points of isolation for the children and the Dorsets. Except for the people who attend the party, no one knew the explanation or the necessity for the annual event. The presence of curiosity and secrecy help to support the gothic basis for this story.

Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” and Julio Cortazar’s “House Taken Over” shows the traits of two genres, gothic literature and magical realism. Even though both of these literary works were made in different time periods they show how the effects of fear and loneliness can affect someone. The setting of House Taken Over and House of Usher is similar as they both take place in a house and their interior is bleak, but the two settings are different as one house is surrounded by a decaying forest and the other house is in a neighborhood.

An analytical essay discussing the importance of setting in The Fall of the House of Usher, by Edgar Allan Poe and Where is Here, by Joyce Carol Oates.

Although many gothic novels are written in a complex manner, the novel “We Have Always Lived in the Castle,” is very different. This gothic novel is written in a simplistic fashion which is understandable on the surface. However, if one digs deeper than the surface of this novel, “We Have Always lived in the Castle,” proves to be full of details and themes. There are many important themes in this story and some which are not as important. In the novel, “We Have Always Lived in the Castle,” there are many extremely important themes such as, domesticity, rich vs. poor, and sibling relationships. Also, in the novel, “We Have Always lived in the Castle,” there is one theme which is not essential to the novel, which is the supernatural and potential witch elements in this story. All of these themes help to portray the message of Shirley Jackson’s novel, “We have Always Lived in the Castle.”

Edgar Allen Poe’s short story, “The Fall of the House of Usher”, sets a tone that is dark, gloomy, and threatening. His inclusion of highly descriptive words and various forms of figurative language enhance the story’s evil nature, giving the house and its inhabitants eerie and “supernatural” qualities. Poe’s effective use of personification, symbolism, foreshadowing, and doubling create a morbid tale leading to, and ultimately causing, the fall of (the house of) Usher.

Jane Austen focused more on dialogue than symbols within her book so the symbols are scarce, but one symbol is the houses in the novel. Austen pays special attention to the location and the overall grandeur of the houses to fit the social standings and personality types. The Bennet’s home in Longbourn is somewhat on the smaller size and a modest for raising the five Bennet sisters. They are in the middle in society they’re well off but not extremely so like Lady Catherine De Bourgh. The Bennet’s home is contrasted with Netherfield Park, Pemberley and Rosings. These houses represent how well off they are and represent the characters themselves. Pemberley is grand, but tasteful and Elizabeth can in vision herself living there. Rosings is over

In A Home Is Not a House, Reyner Banham starts by arguing that the main function of the typic American house is to cover its mechanical structure. In fact, he states that the use of mechanical services in architectural practice varies constantly because mechanical services are considered to be new in the profession, as well as, a cultural threat to the architect’s position in the world. To show his argument, Banham states that American houses are basically large single spaces divided by partitions inside that give a relative importance to the use of internal mechanical services, causing a threat to the need of architectural design. Similarly, American cultural characteristics, like cleanliness and hygiene, also foster the use and need of mechanical

In modern society, people tend to enjoy terrifying and horrific films and novels because of the anticipation and thrill of the character’s fear, in which they are not aware of. One of these common and popular genres is known as Gothic Horror. Although this entertainment is common in our society today, in past time periods, it was written during a mass transition. The age’s in which there are religious, cultural, and technological advances and changes, is a particular time when novels in this genre come to light. People are typically not comfortable with change, which is why these transitional times can cause anxiety, in which causes novels in this genre to be written. The short story, The Judges House, written by Bram Stoker is properly categorized

“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.

Alongside Isabella, Catherine begins to learn the ways of the world, though never losing her simplicity or honesty. She discovers that countless people are defined by their wealth and status. Many of the characters that Catherine interacts with are preoccupied with material possessions, such as General Tilney, father of Henry and Eleanor. The General wants nothing more than for his children to marry into wealthy families and continually asks Catherine to compare his own home and gardens to those of Mr. Allen, “With a triumphant smile of self-satisfaction, the General wished he could do the same, for her never entered his (gardens), without being vexed in some way or other, by its falling short of his plan” (167). Austen points out how General Tilney must compare himself to someone inferior to him in order to boast to Catherine about his own majestic gardens. During her stay in Bath, Catherine discovers the intricacies and ennui’s of high society and marriage. She learns that it is not proper for a woman to be seen riding in an open carriage with a man who she is not engaged to and that often, women marry for money, rarely for love. Money often determines social and economic class. Class in 1798 England is central to the overriding marriage concerns which govern society. In order for Catherine to maintain her reputation and in time, attract a man to be her husband, she must learn to read the character

In gothic literature, the architecture that inhabits a story can go a long way not only in establishing the mood, but also in establishing the story’s characters. In “The Fall of the House of Usher,” by Edgar Allan Poe, published in 1839, readers are introduced to a dreary house that is falling apart, while in another story by Poe published in this same year, “William Wilson,” readers are introduced to a school that, although not in disrepair, is labyrinthian and similarly dreary. Moreover, Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, published in 1847, showcases a house, the size of which would normally reflect the wealth and high class of it’s owner, and yet the grounds are overgrown, indicating a lack of attention to maintenance while the house itself only features sparse furnishing. In all of these stories, the buildings that inhabit their pages are more than merely settings. Instead they are fragments of specific characters, representations of some form of wellness, while almost being characters in their own right. In “The Fall of the House of Usher” the house represents the physical wellness of both Roderick and Madeline Usher; whereas in “William Wilson” the school reflects the mental wellness of the lead character; and in Wuthering Heights, the titled building represents the emotional wellness of its owner.

People imprint themselves on their surroundings; they inject fleeting moments into the veins of their environments, boiling the blood that swims hot through every crevice, echoing and lingering indefinitely. According to Wisker houses are the principal locations where the presence of its residents leave lasting imprints on the structure (2011, 4). Novels To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf and Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen both use domestic environments as important sites to emphasise and reflect their characters by deploying the literary techniques of language and style from their respective

Jane Austen was a Georgian era author who was best known for her novels that commented on social issues and class, and Northanger Abbey is no exception. Austen’s social commentary is apparent in this novel’s plot, as the reader follows a seventeen-year-old protagonist, Catherine Morland, as she matures and forms intimate relationships with fellow characters in an England town called Bath. Marriage between characters in the novel is heavily based on wealth, and because of England’s unstable economy at the time, marrying into wealth meant maintaining a high social class and economic stability for the characters. The importance of economic prosperity and social rank heavily influenced marriage in 19th century England, and this idea bourgeoisie classism and marrying for wealth is contradicted by Austen in her novel, Northanger Abbey.

In “A Doll House” by Henrik Ibsen was created during 1800s time period. This play helps shine a light on the gender roles of the 1800s while also creating a twist that was uncommon for this period. During this time period, women were left home to oversee the domestic duties, while men went to commuted to work (Hughes). Men were seen as physically superior but morally inferior to women; which is also portrayed within this book (Hughes). This play marks the beginning of Henrik Ibsen’s realist period, which he explored the ordinary lives of small-town people (Kirszner and Mandell 881). This “modern tragedy” helped make Ibsen famous internationally because of the real-life story it captured (Kirszner and Mandell 882). Henrik Ibsen uses an array of literary devices to help keep the reader captivated from beginning to end. Three of the most prominent literary devices used by Henrik Ibsen are symbolism, foreshadowing, and an array of themes. These literary devices help transform a basic play into a complex story of lies and deception.

He himself had declared it to be a ‘romantic’ genre along with gothic interests and it being a carrier of Puritan History of England. For the obvious reasons this novel deals with issues concerning the times of mid-1850 wherein Hawthorne has juxtaposed “poverty and riches”, “aristocracy and democracy”, “youth with age”, “greed with unselfishness”, “complex with simple”, “appearance with reality”, “pride with humbleness”, “the isolated with un-isolated” (Dillingham, 59) all these parallels are supported by detailed characterizations of almost all main characters in the text. Hawthorne has provisioned and facilitated his characters with an independent backbone with which they support his themes and carry them on their own shoulders. The text in its romantic narrative fashion has been well-crafted to involve various themes which Nathaniel Hawthorne wished to include in this 1851 published Gothic work. It will not be incorrect to put forth the view that Hawthorne’s The House of Seven Gables is a representative of the era and society of that time. He has accurately projected the concerned subjects of that time and how they used to affect the humans of that period. The juxtapositions too are echoes of the society and mirror the basics of whatever contrived into being the fundamentals of that society. Therefore, the themes of this text are majorly colored by the real world of that period and the