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Critical Analysis on the Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe
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A young man ran away from a heap of ruins. He had witnessed the death of his best friend and his home but he ran away as it happened. At the moment, all was silent and not even a squeak could be heard. But if a house collapsed in the middle of a forest, and no one was around to hear it, did it make a sound? With such wonders, death, and darkness also come the work of Edgar Allan Poe. Edgar Allan Poe is known as a literature legend. He wrote many complicated horror and detective fiction stories, which also represents the artsy twentieth century (“Poe” 1316). Many of his works are poems and short stories. As for his life, it started out pretty gloomily. Both of Poe’s parents had died and he was then sent to an orphanage shortly after. He was never on good terms with his foster dad, and his foster mother died of Tuberculosis (a disease that later kills his wife). After his wife died, he fell in love again but he died before his second wedding (“‘The Fall’” 52). The many deaths that he faced contributes to his many themes of gloom. “The Fall of the House of Usher” for example was told through an unnamed narrator who visited his friend Roderick after his twin (Madeline) had died, leaving him to be the last of the Usher race. As days passed, they decided to bury his sister but later realized that she was actually buried alive, and Roderick began to go insane up until the moment when the cadaverous Madeline showed up at the narrator’s bedroom door. At that moment, she collapsed onto her brother and they (along with the house) both fell dead. With the story itself, Poe uses a number of literary devices and characters to express and support his theme. In “The Fall of the House of Usher,” author Edgar Allan Poe shows that madness and insani...
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...ouse of Usher.’” American Literature Jan. 1964: 445-66. Rpt. in Short Stories for Students. Ed. Kathleen Wilson. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 1997. 62-65. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 10 Oct. 2013.
“’The Fall of the House of Usher.’” Short Stories for Students. Ed. Kathleen Wilson. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 1997. 51-58. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 10 Oct. 2013.
Mowery, Carl. “’The Fall of the House of Usher.’” Short Stories for Students. Ed. Kathleen Wilson. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 1997. 58-62. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 8 Oct. 2013.
Poe, Edgar Allan. “The Fall of the House of Usher.” East of the Web. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Oct. 2013. .
“Poe, Edgar Allan.” Gale Contextual Encyclopedia of American Literature. Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale, 2009. 1362-20. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 24 Sept. 2013.
In “Fall of the House of Usher”, the setting takes place at the house of Usher, whose friend, the main character, comes to visit because Usher is dying. He travels through the house, visiting the family members and sees the house is in a serious state of disrepair. A theory on the story
“The Fall of the House of Usher” and “House Taken Over,” are two short stories that
Poe, Edgar A, and David D. Galloway. The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Writings:
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”
Thomson, Gary Richard, and Poe Edgar. The selected writings of Edgar Allan Poe. New York: Norton & Company, 2004
When he arrived at the home the servant who took his hoarse and directed him to the room that Mr. Usher was in greeted him. Inside the house was also very ornate, but it to had also been left alone for to long. The entire house had a gloomy atmosphere that would put a chill down most people’s spines. When he entered the room his friend was staying in he was warmly welcomed. He could not believe the changes that his dear childhood friend had endured.
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.
Imagery in "The Fall of the House of Usher" The description of the landscape in any story is important as it creates a vivid imagery of the scene and helps to develop the mood. Edgar Allan Poe is a master at using imagery to improve the effects of his stories. He tends to use the landscapes to symbolize some important aspect of the story. Also, he makes use of the landscape to produce a supernatural effect and to induce horror. In particular, Poe makes great use of these tools in "The Fall of the House of Usher." This story depends on the portrayal of the house itself to create a certain atmosphere and to relate to the Usher family. In "The Fall of the House of Usher," Edgar Allan Poe uses the landscape to develop an atmosphere of horror and to create corollary to the Usher family. Poe uses the life-like characteristics of the house as a device for giving the house a supernatural presence. The house is described as having somewhat supernatural characteristics. The windows appear to be "vacant" and "eye-like" (1462). The strange nature of the house is further explained as around the mansion, "…there hung an atmosphere peculiar to themselves and their immediate vicinity." (1462). This demonstrates that the house and its surroundings have an unusual and bizarre existence. Upon entering the house, the narrator views some objects, such as the tapestries on the walls and the trophies, fill him with a sense of superstition. He describes the trophies as "phantasmagoric" (1462). He further explains that the house and the contents were the cause of his feelings.
“The Fall of the House of Usher” is a story does not use the typical, first person point of view where the protagonist tells a personal account of a crime that he or she has committed. Instead, the narrator is a character of whom we know very little, who acts like an observer. The friend of Roderick invites the reader into the madness of the mind of fantasy and reality.
Throughout Edgar Allan Poe’s life, death was a frequent visitor to those he loved around him. When Poe was only 3 years old, his loving mother died of Tuberculosis. Because Poe’s father left when he was an infant, he was now an orphan and went to live with the Allan’s. His stepmother was very affectionate towards Edgar and was a very prominent figure in his life. However, years later she also died from Tuberculosis, leaving Poe lonely and forlorn. Also, later on, when Poe was 26, he married his cousin 13-year-old Virginia, whom he adored. But, his happiness did not last long, and Virginia also died of Tuberculosis, otherwise known as the Red Death, a few years later. After Virginia’s death, Poe turned to alcohol and became isolated and reckless. Due to Edgar Allan Poe’s loss of those he cared for throughout his life, Poe’s obsession with death is evident in his works of “The Tell-Tale Heart”, “The Black Cat”, and “The Fall of the House of Usher”, in which in all three death is used to produce guilt.
6. Poe, Edgar Allan. The Fall of the House of Usher and other writings. London: Penguin Books, 2003.
The Depiction of Fear in The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe
No matter what your interpretation of “The Fall of the House of Usher” may be, it is almost impossible to deny it as one of the greatest short stories ever written. It stands as one of the many great testaments to the literary genius of Edgar Allan Poe and helps affirm his high ranking of American history.
A Critical Analysis of The Fall of the House of Usher There are three significant characters in this story: the narrator, whose name is never given, Roderick and Madeline Usher. The narrator is a boyhood friend of Roderick Usher. He has not seen Roderick since they were children; however, because of an urgent letter that the narrator has received from Roderick which was requesting his assistance in alleviating his malady, the narrator makes the long journey to the House of Usher. Roderick and Madeline Usher are the sole, remaining members of the long, time-honored Usher race. This might suggest incestuous relationships throughout the Usher family tree.