In the late 1830s and throughout the 1840s, many short stories and essays were seen to have similar subjects and themes. Two of the most well known authors of this time who's work exemplifies this were Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allen Poe. Their short story's, “Rappaccini's Daughter,” “The Fall of the House of Usher,” and “The Birth-mark” have similar aspects that can represent the popular thoughts and themes of the time.
One aspect that all three of these short stories share is the emphasis and use of nature. In “The Birth-mark,” Hawthorne describes how the alchemist creates potions and things out of nature and to be like nature, however, he also preludes to the idea that man should not try to alter nature. A symbol implicating this is when the doctor shows his wife, Georgiana, “a perfect and lovely flower...but Georgiana had no sooner touched the flower than the whole plant suffered a blight, its leaves turning coal-black, as if by the ageney of fire” (Hawthorne 423). It was a flower that was considered “perfect” through Aylmer's, the doctor, alchemy had created, yet it could not stay alive and grow as a natural flower would even with it's imperfections. Nature is also a major theme in another of Hawthorne's short stories, “Rappaccini's Daughter.” In this story a scientist by the name of Rappaccini has been using his own daughter as an experiment since she was born by having her grow side by side with a dangerous type of flower that as a result, his daughter, Beatrice, gains the poisonous qualities of the flower as her own. While these are uses of nature as the focal element, Edgar Allen Poe focuses on nature for a different reason, in “The Fall of the House of Usher,” the description of the nature of the setting creates the...
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...nd Poe was anti-transcendental) they had many similar subjects and themes that reflected what was popular at the time. Nature, death, and beauty as was popular then are still well loved subjects to read in the present.
Works Cited
Vukas, Dario. “Comparison of gothic elements in Edgar Allan Poe’s 'Fall of the House of Usher' with Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 'Rappaccini’s Daughter'” http://www.academia.edu/2380330/Edgar_Allan_Poe_-_comparison_of_Gothic_elements
Hawthorne,Nathaniel."The Birth-mark." The Norton Anthology:American Literature.8th ed.Vol. B. New York:W.W.Norton,2012.418-427.Print
Hawthorne,Nathaniel."Rappaccini's Daughter." The Norton Anthology:American Literature.8th ed.Vol. B. New York:W.W.Norton,2012.428-450.Print
Poe, Edgar."The Fall of the House of Usher." The Norton Anthology:American Literature.8th ed.Vol. B. New York:W.W.Norton,2012.654-667.Print
Poe, Edgar Allen. "The Fall of the House of Usher". R.V.Cassill, ed. The Norton Fiction. New York, London, 1995.
The Romantic era writers, Washington Irving and Edgar Allan Poe, had many similarities but even more differences, in both writing theme and style. This is very evident in their works, “Rip Van Winkle”, by Irving, and “The Fall of the House of Usher”, by Poe.
“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.
Poe, Edgar Allen. "The Fall of the House of Usher." The American Tradition in Literature. Ed. Barbara and George Perkins. Boston: McGraw-Hill College, 1999
Nathaniel Hawthorne's best known short stories including Young Goodman Brown, The Minister's Black Veil, and The Birthmark, should be considered some of the great works of American literature because their exploration of enduring American themes of moral struggle. The short stories demonstrate a masterful command of symbolism and allegory.
...story writers all over the world. Although he had an unusual, unique, and peculiar way of writing he still had a great influence and impact on society during his time, up to the present day. Poe’s writing has changed the way present day writers write about love, pride, beauty and death.
Through works such as "Young Goodman Brown," "The Minister's Black Veil," and "The Birthmark," Nathaniel Hawthorne incorporated Romanticism into his own style. Including ordinary men, such as Mr. Hooper, Goodman Brown, and Aylmer helped to classify Hawthorne as a semi-Romantic author. Other Romantic characteristics were found in his stories as well. Symbolism, man's connection to nature, and the supernatural are all also present in most of his tales. But, most importantly, Hawthorne was remembered for breaking the rules and adding his own touch.
Edgar Allan Poe is forever identified with his eerie poem “The Raven” with his many gothic horror stories, and as the father of the detective story (Werlock1). Poe’s stories are known in America and Europe. Most of Poe’s stories are Gothic, which he describes them as “arabesque” a term that he felt best described as flowery (Wilson52). Poe proclaimed his writing a reaction to typical literature of the day, which he called “the heresy of the Didactic” for its tendency to preach (Wilson52). Some of Poe’s stories are also comedies. “The Fall of the House of Usher” was a nevertheless typical of Poe’s short stories in that it presents narrator thrust into a psychologically intense situation in which otherworldly forces conspire to drive at least one of the characters insane (Wilson53).Edgar Allan Poe had a difficult life after dropping out of college. He became a short story writer, one of his stories being “The Fall of the House of Usher”. “The Fall of the House of Usher” uses literary elements of symbols and settings to further the theme of evil.
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”
Asselineau, Roger. "Edgar Allan Poe." American Writers Vol. III. Ed. Leonard Unger. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1974: 409-432.
Each author sets a gothic tone first and foremost by the techniques used to describe setting and characters. Irving and Hawthorne set their stories in ghostly mysterious forests. Each author uses phenomenal to truly connect the reader with the stories. Hawthorne’s use of similes to tie in what the forest was like gives a sense of letting the readers feel like they are there with young goodman Brown, “ . . . surrounded by four blazing pines, their tops aflame, their stems
Edgar Allen Poe, a famous novelist from the 18th century, is known for being a treasure trove for allusions, illusions, clues, and all sorts of literary fun. Born in 1809, this Bostonian never had it easy. Marriage to a 13 year old cousin, family problems, and deaths surrounded him. Over time, such tremendous struggle began to reflect in his writing, creating the dark and moody tone we now see today. One such piece, The Fall of the House of Usher, tells the tale of a man who goes to visit a dying friend on his last days. Roderick Usher is the name of this dying man, although he doesn’t seem dead in the beginning. However, the deathly state should be of no importance to the reader; death is the very essence of Poe’s writing. Rather, the reader’s attention should be deviated toward the unusual twin of the story,
The 19th century culture of eating opium in the United States was revealed in the story. This was the reason why Poe wrote the disgusted emotion of the narrator upon seeing the old House of Usher with a metaphor of the opium eater. The culture of the Romanticism traveled from Europe to America was discovered, and the influence of the critical property of Romantic literature was seen. The role of women in the early 19th century was highlighted in the story. In addition, the significant of amount of people had the good habit of reading reflected the literacy rate in the 19th of America. Thence, the story of Poe can be considered as an American classical
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.
Edgar Allan Poe led a strange and unusually hard life, but through his experiences he produced many outstanding and wonderful works which have with out a doubt contributed to American Literature in several different areas. His stories are treasured by an immense readership. Although, Poe was quiet popular for his gothic tales, he was also well known for being and accomplished humorist, which is seen in many of his short stories. Poe was credited for singlehandedly inventing the detective story. No other played a more crucial role in shaping and developing the aesthetic theory, in the nineteenth-century, than Edgar Allan Poe. Thus, Poe remains a permanent fixture of our literary culture.