The Minister's Black Veil And The Fall Of The House Of Usher

What makes Romanticism so important is how strongly it has impacted American literature. Because of Romanticism, writers were able to explore supernatural and gothic themes - writing that was not very common before. Having unlimited creativity, emotions, spontaneousness, and being oneself is what made Romanticism appealing to writers. Romantics were able to throw away reason and had freedom to write any way they wanted. Some romantic writers like Hawthorne and Poe chose to explore the deeper and darker parts of the human mind through stories like The Minister’s Black Veil by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe. The Minister’s Black Veil and The Fall of the House of Usher represent American Romantic literature,

In addition to the Puritan’s intolerance of differences, those that were different or behaved unusually were also thought to be influenced by evil forces. God and ghost were just as prevalent in the story - most of the story revolving about Hooper’s commitment to the church and there was, too, the incident where the townspeople believed they had seen Hooper holding hands with a dead girl at a funeral. The Minister’s Black Veil better represents Romanticism because it is bleak and sad, but more relatable to others
The Minister’s Black Veil is about hidden secrets, however, The Fall of House Usher is about the broken mind and body. Roderick’s sister, Madeline, had a condition that would sometimes paralyse her, trapping her within her own body. Near the end of the story after the narrator and Roderick had ‘buried’ her, Madeline came back from the grave, though it can be argued whether or not Madeline had actually died or if she had been in a paralyzed state and buried while still alive. Roderick even confesses to hearing her trying to escape for days, but Roderick never checked to help her or tell his friend about the

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. Because The Minister’s Black Veil is stronger when emphasizing loneliness, exclusion from society, having hidden secrets, and choosing to be different drive home a more powerful effect on readers, which is why Hawthorne better represent Romantic literature. Of course their are those that can associate and relate to the Usher family, and inner turmoil is abundant, the story does not have as strong of an effect as The Minister’s Black