A Sense of Tension in The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe "The Fall of the House of Usher," by Edger Allan Poe is horror in genre and is written in a gothic style. There are many passages in which Poe creates tension and he often gives it a gothic feel. Firstly, as the narrator arrives at the scene of the story, Poe builds up the tension and creates a sinister, chilly atmosphere. '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, 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 reader will be tense and would desperately want to carry on reading, therefore tension was created effectively. Secondly, Poe created tension when talking about Roderick Usher's depression and his ill health, 'Spoke of acute bodily illness-of a mental disorder which oppressed him,' The reader would be desperate to carry on reading at this point as he or she would be anxious to find out about the health of Roderick Usher as well as his state of mind. The reader will be worried for Roderick Usher. Therefore, tension was created successfully. Thirdly there is a gothic feel to the story as the Usher family has almost died out, apart from Roderick Usher and his sister Madeline. 'that the entire family lay in the direct line of descent,' This shows the story has a gothic feel as it is regarding death and Poe has illustrated tension because the reader would be worried as the same fate (death) co... ... middle of paper ... ...r a corpse.' At the end the House of Usher collapses. Poe did this because he wanted to show that the House of Usher was symbolising humanity. He was saying that humanity is dieing just like the House of Usher. Exactly like the House collapsed, the same will one day happen to humanity. When the house collapsed, Poe was creating a sense of tension. My conclusion is that Edger Allan Poe created a sense of tension on many occasions. This was extremely effective as it will keep the reader interested and wanting to carry on reading. It will also make the reader more anxious and worried. Therefore they would find it a better read. Poe also gave the story a particularly gothic feel, this was effective because it created a considerable sense of suspense as well as a different type of atmosphere compared to other books.
The castles and mansions that provide the settings for traditional Gothic tales are full of grandeur, darkness, and decay. These settings are one of the most recognizable elements of traditional Gothic fiction. Setting is equally as important in modern Gothic literature as well. While the settings in the two stories, “Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe and “Where Is Here?” by Joyce Carol Oates, are incredibly different, they are also very similar.
In Poe literature readers will see an abundance of suspense, symbolism, and gothic elements used mostly to create gloomy atmospheres. In "Fall of the House of Usher" Poe uses suspense, symbolism, and gothic elements to create a chilling tone of fear, loneliness, and oppression.
Poe, Edgar A, and David D. Galloway. The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Writings:
The mind is a complicated thing. Not many stories are able to portray this in such an interesting manner as in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher". The haunting story of a man and his sister, living in the old family mansion. But as all should know, much symbolism can be found in most of Poe's works. "The Fall of the House of Usher" is no exception.
Poe, Edgar A. "The Fall of the House of Usher." The Heath Anthology of American Literature. 6th
In “The Fall of the House of Usher”, Poe’s use of dark, descriptive words allow him to establish an eerie mood. Poe’s unique style of writing along with his foreshadowing vocabulary is significant in creating a suspenseful gothic story. At the beginning of the short story, Poe describes the House of Usher to be “dull”, “oppressive”, and “dreary” (1265). His choice of words strongly emphasizes a mood of darkness and suspense as he builds on the horrific aspects of this daunting tale. At first glimpse, the house itself is surrounded by the feeling of “insufferable gloom”, (1265) “[t]here was an iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart, an unredeemed dreariness of thought [...]” (1265). The atmosphere that Poe describes in the statement above establishes a spine-chilling mood. Poe uses words such as “insufferable gloom”
Edgar Allan Poe is undoubtedly one of American Literature's legendary and prolific writers, and it is normal to say that his works touched on many aspects of the human psyche and personality. While he was no psychologist, he wrote about things that could evoke the reasons behind every person's character, whether flawed or not. Some would say his works are of the horror genre, succeeding in frightening his audience into trying to finish reading the book in one sitting, but making them think beyond the story and analyze it through imagery. The "Fall of the House of Usher" is one such tale that uses such frightening imagery that one can only sigh in relief that it is just a work of fiction. However, based on the biography of Poe, events that surrounded his life while he was working on his tales were enough to show the emotions he undoubtedly was experiencing during that time.
Edgar Allan Poe was a gothic writer living in the early 1800’s. Poe had a very hard and tough life and in his stories you could see what a troubled man he was. He set the path for writers today. Literature would not be the same without Poe’s influence. Most of his stories are gory and relate to death as in The Fall of the House of Usher and The Raven. They are some of Poe’s best works. Poe uses gothic elements within “The Fall of the House of Usher,” and “The Raven” to portray the dark side of human nature.
Romanticism was a movement in art and literature in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in revolt against the Neoclassicism of the previous centuries. The romanticism movement in literature consists of a few of the following characteristics: intuition over fact, imagination over fact, and the stretch and alteration of the truth. The death of a protagonist may be prolonged and/or exaggerated, but the main point was to signify the struggle of the individual trying to break free, which was shown in “The Fall of the House Usher” (Prentice Hall Literature 322).
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.
Poe, Edgar Allan. “The Fall of the House of Usher.” The American Tradition in Literature. Ed. George Perkins and Barbara Perkins. ___________________: McGraw Hill., 2008. Pg-pg. Print.
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.
In the story “The Fall of the House of Usher”, Poe presents the history of the end of an illustrious family. As with many of Poe’s stories, setting and mood contribute greatly to the overall tale. Poe’s descriptions of the house itself as well as the inhabitants thereof invoke in the reader a feeling of gloom and terror. This can best be seen first by considering Poe’s description of the house and then comparing it to his description of its inhabitants, Roderick and Madeline Usher.
The Depiction of Fear in The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe
If there is one thing that is widely agreed upon in regards to Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” it is surely the fact that the short story is one of the greatest ever written. The very words that Poe selects and the manner in which he pieced them was nothing short of phenomenal. This however, is pretty much all that people are able to agree upon. Indeed, to almost everyone who reads it sees the story as great, but for different reasons. In a way the tale can be compared to a psychiatrist’s inkblots. While everyone may be looking at the same picture, they all see different things. What mainly gives “The Fall of the House of Usher” this quality is the double meanings and symbols Poe seems to use throughout.