Both Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” and Julio Cortazar’s “House Taken Over” have identical settings, because they both set inside an old family house and have a mystery and dark element to them. However, in “The Fall of the House of Usher,” the setting is more bleak and gloomy, and the Usher’s house had a huge crack down the front of it, meaning that it was not in any good condition. By contrast, in “House Taken Over,” the setting is more quiet and calm, and the house is more neat and tidy despite all the dust. These stories show elements of the discouraging or grim setting to them and have a transformation in settings and mood. Similarly, they have the same elements, but are not exactly alike at all. Gothic literature is a genre that was created in England during the late 1700s and has …show more content…
Julio Cortazar’s “House Taken Over” is an example of Magical Realism, because it gives out plenty of fictional assumptions with the realistic details of the house and characters. For example, it states in the story that “she[Irene] spent the rest of the day on the sofa in her bedroom, knitting”(Cortazar 38). This says that Irene does normal people stuff, like knitting. Another example is “...when I[the brother] heard something in the library or the dining room. The sound came through muted and indistinct, a chair being knocked over onto the carpet or the muffled buzzing of a conversation”(Cortazar 39). From this, the reader can only guess what the sound is and in the story, it does not exactly tell what the sounds were. Cortazar’s story is an example of what magical realism is because it has the reality element, where the brother describes the house and what he and Irene do everyday, and the unreal element, where there is something mysterious to the reader about what really is happening to their
Gothic Literature was a natural progression from romanticism, which had existed in the 18th Century. Initially, such a ‘unique’ style of literature was met with a somewhat mixed response; although it was greeted with enthusiasm from members of the public, literary critics were much more dubious and sceptical.
There are many similarities that we could obviously realize between the two stories “The Fall of the House of Usher” of Edgar Allan Poe and “House Taken Over” of Julio Cortazar. One of them is the settings of two stories, those were similar because they both took place in a creepy house. However, there also are many differences between two stories. For example, in Poe’s story, the setting was a dull and dark night, and the gloomy and dusty house of Usher was in the middle of nowhere. By contrast, Cortazar's setting was a warmer house, which was being carefully cleaned by the brother and sister every day.
The works of Edgar Allan Poe consist of many aspects of gothic literature, The Fall of the House of Usher especially. The tragic, horrible nature of the characters, bizarre situations, and events in the story perfectly shape it into a masterpiece of gothic literature. Everything in this short story, from the description of the house, to when the house falls in the end, it all creates a dark, gothic theme and environment. “-and the deep and dank tarn at my feet closed sullenly and silently over the fragments of the ‘House of Usher’”(Poe
Poe’s stories “The Cask of Amontillado”, “The Black Cat”, “The Fall of the House of Usher”, and “The Masque of the Red Death” all share a common setting. “The Fall of the House of Usher” has a setting of creepy and dark setting. The setting helps with this story because the rest of the Usher family dis off and the house falls.
“The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe was published in 1839. In it, the short story’s narrator visits a childhood friend, Roderick Usher. The narrator travels to the Usher house, where the story takes place. As in other Poe stories, the settings reflect a character. Throughout the short story, there are many instances when the Usher house and Thought, the castle in Roderick’s poem, reflect Roderick Usher and his family. In “The Fall of the House of Usher,” the setting of the Usher house along with the setting in Roderick’s poem reflect Roderick Usher in appearances, relations with family, and physical existence.
Gothic Fiction is a popular genre of literature that’s aim is to combine horror, fiction and romanticism. It originated in 18th century England and was said to have been founded through Horace Walpole’s novel “The Castle of Otranto” (Hughes). He claimed it to be a “found” medieval manuscript which added to its popular, although he later admitted it was a lie (Hughes). This mode of literature appears to have sprung out from Gothic architecture...
In “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe, the death of Madeline and Roderick Usher represents the ending of something, and in this specific case, the ending of a generation. Throughout the story, it is made very clear that Madeline and Roderick are the last living people of the Usher generation. Roderick Usher explicitly states on page four, “‘Her decease,’ he said, with a bitterness which I can never forget, ‘would leave him (him the hopeless and the frail) the last of the ancient race of the Ushers.’” Therefore, when they both die at the end, it is clear that it is the end of a generation. The ending of their generation creates a depressing and serious feeling through this story due to the fact that the Usher’s will be no more.
Two writers will never have the same set of writing skills. Julio Cortazar translated many of Edgar Allan Poe's books, so he understands his writing better than others. When reading the two books, “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe and “House Taken Over,” there are many similarities, but there are still some differences. Cortazar writes in more general terms, while Poe often lets the readers know exactly what is happening in the story. Poe will use the setting to add a certain element to the book, but Cortazar doesn't use darkness or weather to set the mood.
Both Poe and Oates have a gothic way of writing. It is obvious, after analyzing, that Oates is inspired by Poe’s writing but still has her own style. She has a similar mood in her story was Poe. They seem to almost make inanimate objects have emotions. In the stories “Where is Here” and “The Fall of the House of Usher” the settings groomy and the mood intensifies as the conflict comes to light.
The human condition, a concept prevalent in several pieces of literature, encompasses the emotional, moral, questioning, and observant nature of humans. This concept is often used by authors to emphasize the characteristics that set humans apart from other living creature. Edgar Allan Poe’s dark fantasy piece “The Fall of the House of Usher” perfectly depicts the human condition as it conveys how fear and over-thinking can control one’s actions and life.
All humans are designated to their own philosophy of whether or not they want to resemble a negative aspect of human nature or positive aspect. The world isn’t perfect filled with love and happiness as well as it's not all filled with greed, violence, and hatred. Many examples of negative and positive aspects of human nature are shown from author Edgar Allan Poe, which include a poem and stories such as The Pit and the Pendulum, The Fall of the House of Usher & The Raven. Additionally, these are also examples of dark romanticism which was Poe’s interpretation of topics such as death, lost of a loved one and the evils of human nature. As well as, transcendentalism which was influenced by romanticism and taught people to appeal to your own
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.
Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” and Julio Cortazar’s “House Taken Over” the settings are similar because they can both be described as dark in some passages, and ultimately alluring. However in Poe’s “The Fall of the House,” the setting is revolving around the climax, so it is all very dramatic and highly detailed, almost ominous. In contrast, Cortazar’s setting is slightly more laid back, things take place in time and it is all very dreamlike.
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.
There is one known very influential writing style called Gothic Literature. It is not only considered to involve the horror or gothic element but is combined with romance, superstition, women in distress, omens, portents, vision and supernatural events to name a few (Beesly). The history and beginning of this era is not well known. From a few writers came this writing style that has impacted the world. A famous artists known for this type of writing is a man named Edgar Allan Poe. He wrote many short stories and poems that include horror, gothic, and romance just mentioned.