Next, is the setting as much of it is somewhat unclear. First the time period in which the story takes place is not stated but by the text we can assume it 's around the 1800’s. For instance,”...I put in a dark lantern, all closed, closed, so that no light shone out, and then I thrust in my head.”(Poe 90). Since he used a lantern it was at least before 1899 when the first flashlight was made. Where it takes is also not stated, but the story takes place inside a house and where the story is being told from is not clear.
Edgar Allan Poe spent most of his life in a restless search for literary recognition and financial security, but he finally found what he was looking for in a small wooden farmhouse now located at Kingsbridge Road and the Grand Concourse in Bronx, New York. In April 1844, he and his wife, Virginia, moved to this small cottage and hoped that the country air would rescue her failing health. Despite Poe’s efforts to save his wife by escaping to the quiet cottage surrounded by fields and orchards, she died of Tuberculosis. Even after his death, Poe’s literary masterpieces were still widely recognized and his home became something of a literary landmark. The New York Shakespeare Society decided to raise funds to move the tiny cottage across the street to a public park.
In Edgar Allen Poe’s short story “The Fall of the House of Usher,”
The crack in the house and the dead trees imply that the house and its surroundings are not sturdy or promising. These elements indicate that a positive outcome is not expected. The thunder,strange light, and mist create a spooky feeling for the reader. In "The Fall of the house of Usher," Edgar Allan Poe creates suspense and fear in the reader. He also tries to convince the reader not to let fear overcome him.
In “Fall Of House Of Usher” the brother is revealed as mentally ill and kills the sister. “ Madman! I tell you that she now stands without the door!” ( Poe 30). However, in “ House Taken Over” the brother ends up saving the sister and they disappear.
The narrator describes the house of having “vacant eye-like windows-upon a few rank sedges-and upon a few white trunks of decayed trees-...” (Poe, line 9) and “There was an iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart-...” (Poe, line 12) the “sickening of the heart” and “vacant eye-like windows” are examples of figurative language that foreshadows the misinterpreted death of Usher’s twin sister Madaline as they placed her in the the cellar of the house for later examination by physicians to find what disease she had come down
Poe uses Room 7 in the story to enhance the feeling that death will occur, but a lot of unknowingness and fear come along with it. Poe writes, “The seventh apartment as closely shrouded in black velvet tapestries that hung all over the ceiling and down the walls, falling in heavy folds upon a carpet of the same material and hue… The panes were scarlet–a deep blood color” (Poe 84). This depicts Poe’s view and fear of death. All the rooms in the castle are decorated and inspired by the color of the rainbow, and all the decorations in that room fit according to the color.
One of the largest symbols in the book is the house that the Usher’s live in. Poe writes, “...and the deep and dank tarn at my feet closed sullenly and silently over the fragments of the ‘house of Usher’” (Poe 494). Like the family itself, the house died with rest of the Usher family. Without the rest of Ushers to live there, it died in the fear of not having life live inside of it.
Modern artists today generally use images of physical and mental illness in literature. In The Tell-Tale Heart and The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe, both short stories show the usage of illness, madness, and fear. The narrators in both stories try to convince the readers that the characters are physically and mentally ill. Edgar Allen Poe creates these vivid characters which successfully assist the building of plot and ideas. Poe demonstrates how a person’s inner turmoil and terror can lead to insanity through illustrative language.
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.
One could hypothesize for hours on the house of Usher but one thing is for certain, it is an excellent sample of the darkness and mystery surrounding so much of Poe’s
“ 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.
Throughout “The Fall of the House of Usher,” metaphor and symbolism are heavily relied upon to express the extent of the madness that resides within the Usher House. In the short story, Poe creates a symbolic parallel between the art and stories that are seen and told. It can be implied, from a painting, in the Usher house, that Lady Madeline Usher is still alive. The reader can also imply that there is a hidden tunnel or room under the entirety of the house. “The Mad Trist” indirectly tells the reader of Lady Madeline’s escape from the tomb she had been placed in.
The narrator starts to see ghosts and things moving around the house. The narrator seemed terrified about how the house looked, the narrator also seemed to slip into madness. In the house the narrator is seeing things that aren’t there. The narrator seems terrified of the sight of the house.
Throughout American literature and cinema history, the premature burial of someone has been displayed. In the American gothic short story, “The Fall of the House of Usher,” by Edgar Allan Poe, this is portrayed as well. Roderick Usher buries his twin sister, Madeline Usher, alive because he believes that she has died. In Poe’s, “The Fall of the House of Usher,” it showcases Poe’s troubled past with the death of loved ones due to disease. Thus, it contributes to the theme one can never trust anyone, even one’s own family.
