What Are The Similarities Between The Yellow Wallpaper And The Fall Of The House Of Usher

The dark and mysterious is a genre that attracts the attention of many readers and writers. Not only is this the case in today’s society, but it was also the case throughout the 1800’s. Authors Edgar Allen Poe and Charlotte Perkins Gilman are great examples of writers of this type of genre, but more specifically gothic literature. Poe was known in this genre for writing the short story “The Fall of the House of Usher” and Gilman was known for writing “The Yellow Wallpaper” which was also a short story. Despite the fact these stories are written by two different authors, they share many similarities. Although “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” differ regarding the types of illnesses experienced by the main characters,

John did not believe that the narrator’s condition was severe, he believed she was just acting like any other woman would. He showed no feeling of sorrow towards the narrator. Whereas the narrator in “The Fall of the House of Usher” felt bad for his friend. The moment the narrator saw Roderick he “gazed upon him with a feeling of half pity, half awe” (Poe 4). The narrator remembered Roderick differently, and in a better state than he is now. The narrator also knows that it was the illness Roderick had that caused him to look this way. Also, the narrator was asked by Roderick to visit him, which makes the narrator an outsider. Whereas in the other story when the narrator asked John for others to visit or go see anyone, John refused because they were outsiders. John believed that people would have a negative effect on the narrator and worsen her illness. Another difference in the stories is Roderick was able to talk about his condition and how he felt without being criticized verbally for how he thought. Contrary to the narrator in the other story who was criticized by John for questioning his treatment and diagnosis. He also did this because he knew if she kept questioning him, she would eventually figure out that his treatment was wrong and inhumane.

The houses were used to convey the protagonist’s mental state and deterioration. In “The Yellow Wallpaper” the author uses the wallpaper in the room to help symbolize the narrator’s mental state. The ripped and torn up wallpaper helps describe the deteriorating mental state the narrator is in. Similarly, in “The Fall of the House of Usher,” the house had a large crack in it and was deteriorating. Roderick’s mental state “is symbolically represented by the fissure in the wall, and denotes a fissure of his mind” (Langhoff 120). The crack represents how Roderick’s mind has cracked which is why he is now crazy and lives in fear. His broken mind is what is causing him to be so ill. Not only do the authors talk about the structure of the houses, but the authors also utilize light and dark throughout both stories. Both authors use darkness to describe the severeness of the protagonist’s conditions. In one story the narrator says how the wallpaper turns into bars in the moonlight. This furthers our understanding of how the author feels trapped and the isolation is only making her go more mentally crazy. This also indicates how the dark represents fear. This is similar to “The Fall of the House of Usher” where the house and outside was dark and gloomy which portrayed a sense of fear and sadness. The difference between the stories uses of light and dark was in the settings. In “The Yellow