Edgar Allen Poe is considered to be one of the leading writers of the Gothic Romantic period of literature. One of Poe’s famous short stories, The Fall of the House of Usher, creates a dark and sorrowful atmosphere, with a deep story of connection between brother and sister intertwined within. Poe conveys this atmosphere through powerful and elaborate use of diction, to tie into the overarching theme of tradition. Poe is renowned throughout history for his beautiful and elaborate use of diction and symbolism. He uses copious amounts of description to conjure up vivid scenes in the reader’s mind.
All elements considered, both authors of these stories are able to successfully create Dark Romanticism. Poe used the house to symbolize Roderick’s deteriorating mental state. The veil which felt like, “preternatural horror was interwoven with the threads of the black crape” (Hawthorne) represented the secret and dark sins possessed by humans. The Fall of the House of Usher does represent Romantic literature in the way it includes elements like imagination and intuition over reason, and torment of the mind and body. But The Minister’s Black Veil has Romantic elements as well, such as talking about the supernatural, individuality, and psychological torment.
In “The Fall of The House of Usher” Poe writes in a very ominous manner, he uses mood to create tension during the whole story. In the story the narrator
The story begins with the narrator admitting that he is a "very dreadfully nervous" type. This type is found throughout all of Poe 's fiction, particularly in the over-wrought, hyper-sensitive Roderick Usher in "The Fall of the House of Usher. " As with Usher, the narrator here believes that his nervousness has "sharpened my senses — not destroyed — not dulled them." Thus, he begins by stating that he is not mad, yet he will continue his story and will reveal not only that he is mad, but that he is terribly mad. His sensitivities allow him to hear and sense things in heaven, hell, and on earth that other people are not even aware of.
Not only can fear overtake us through haunted houses and horror movies but fear can grab us through the environment we live in. In the story, “The House of Usher,” Poe was in a scenario where his high school friend Roderick Usher was mentally ill and fear took every reasonable thought he had left inside him. ”I now tell you that I heard her first feeble movements in the hollow coffin” (Poe par. 46).
“There was a coldness, a sickening of the heart, in which I could discover nothing to lighten the weight I felt” This line perfectly sums up the overall tone of The Fall of the House of Usher. The story at its most basic level is about a man who visits his old friend in a house which is seemingly under some sort of supernatural hex. The way Poe goes into such detail describing the characters and their personal reactions to the events that take place during the story help the reader to stay close to the actions of the story. Additionally Poe describes the house so well that the reader can easily picture the dilapidated mess as if standing in front of it.
“ The Fall of the House of Usher “ by Edgar Allan Poe is a short story about a man named Roderick Usher who initiates some events such as evoking his friend The Narrator as a protagonist to the dreadful mansion. The images such as the house and gothic ambience are used to reinforce the idea of giving the mystery to the reader. Edgar Allan Poe uses gothic elements to show how they affect the atmosphere and the characters. In the beginning , the gothic atmosphere of the house is indicated with terrifying images such as “ dull, dark and soundless ” that the feeling of horror vaccinated into reader by the thoughts of the narrator.
Edgar Allan Poe in the fall of the place of Usher uses Supernatural or ridiculous sections as a nostalgic trademark. Nostalgic makers perceived unequivocally in using their inventive breaking points; so their works are not sensible and consolidate sections of the magnificent. In this Poe story, the likelihood that Madeline incidentally had a condition where she went into a stupor-like state like state and winds up being secured alive while the storyteller is passing by is extraordinarily unbelievable, yet it endeavors to help Poe's plot; so perusers would have expected parts, for instance, this (Edgar 269). Another example of this Romantic nature of brilliant parts is the pounding of the house in the tempest while Roderick Usher fizzles unpleasantly.
In addition to Edgar Allen Poe using the Gothic literature elements of death and the supernatural, he also incorporated the protagonist being both physical and emotional isolated. In “The Fall of the House of Usher”, the protagonist of the story, Roderick, has lived for years with his only relative that has not deceased. Even with living with his sister, Roderick is physically alone because the siblings do not interact very often and Roderick has not recently left the mansion to see anyone. To show that Roderick has been physically and emotionally alone Poe states, “of a mental disorder which oppressed him—and of an earnest desire to see me, as his best and indeed his only personal friend” (Poe). Due to the mental disorder and not interacting
“The Fall of the House of Usher” illustrates the Romantic Era most to me, it shows how Edgar Allen Poe's novel is symbolic for the fall of the Romantic Era in Literature. The Romantic Era has several great works of literature such as Edgar Allen Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher. Paper Masters has literature writers that will tie Poe's work in The Fall of the House of Usher to the themes of the Romantic Era. The Fall of the House of Usher recounts the story of Roderick and Madeline Usher.
I had a lot of misconceptions about the gothic genre before this class. Thus, I had difficulty understanding several texts during the beginning of the session. I felt helpless like a nine-month-old infant who is trying to learn how to walk. Trying to absorb the overall message of “The Fall of the House of Usher” took over eight hours of my day. Despite, that I was unable to wrap my head around the message of the story other than the immense stress the author puts on the setting.
Art in “The Fall of the House of Usher” is structured to create a mysterious atmosphere at the beginning of the passage to carry through the rest of the short story. The author uses the description of the setting to trigger emotions for the reader by using an eerie landscape surrounded by darkness. Specifically, the short story conjures a sense or fear for the reader as depicted when the narrator describes the setting, “There was an iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart- an unredeemed dreariness of thought which no goading of the imagination could torture into aught of the subline” (Poe 160). His description of the setting is used to create a picture in the reader minds of not only what his eyes are seeing, but also what his emotions are as he arrives at The House of Usher.
In 1839, Edgar Allan Poe wrote “The Fall of the House of Usher.” He intended to entertain while making people think about the deeper meanings behind various elements, and he succeeded. It is the story of a family’s end, as seen by an outsider. It tells about what could happen if someone remains isolated from society for a long time and of insanity caused by guilt. Edgar Allan Poe deserves the fame he has received for his skill in creating the perfect setting to match the mood, his thought-provoking symbolism, and his word choice.
Romanticism is a movement in the arts of literature that originated in the late 18th century emphasizing inspiration, subjectivity, and the primacy of the individual. An author can use Romanticism traits to evoke emotional and logical thoughts. In “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Edgar Allan Poe uses certain characteristics to give an impression of Romanticism. Poe’s characterization of Roderick Usher and imagery shows symbols of knowledge. For example, in one of Usher’s shared poems “The Haunted Palace”, a copious amount of Usher’s imagination gets incorporated into the poem: “The conditions of the sentience had been here, he imagined, fulfilled in the method of collocation of these stones--in the order of their arrangement, as well as in
In “The Fall of the House of Usher” the tone gives off an eerie and bizarre feeling. This is similar to many of Poe’s other short stories but this piece the most. The tone is gloomy compared to “The Black Cat” that Poe has also written. The author starts off the story with immense details of the setting. The readers get a dark vibe from these details.
