Fedora Bradas Professor Natasa Karanfilovic American Literature of 19th Century 30 April 010 The Fall of the House

of Usher: !nity of "ffect "d#ar Allan Poe$ an American %riter &elon#in# to the 'omantic (ovement$ %as one of the most influential fi#ures of that time) Born in Boston$ (assachusetts$ he early &ecame an orphan and led a very hard life) *trivin# for reco#nition and love$ he produced many #reat stories a&out his ima#ined characters &ut also a&out his o%n life) Althou#h stories a&out his o%n life served him as some +ind of a cover for his unflatterin# reality and thro% a shade over some details %hich mi#ht &e interestin# to us and allo% us to understand him even &etter$ they ,ust sho% ho% #ifted and interestin# person he %as) And even thou#h this can &e disputed$ his %ritten %or+s sho% us his real #enius and one remar+a&le individual) As Bran+ica Pacic stated in her &oo+$ -he %as at the same time a success and a failure$ a romantic dreamer and a hard realist. he had an e/tremely vivid and po%erful ima#ination as %ell as an acute analytic mind. he lon#ed for the ideal in art and the hi#hly aesthetic and yet he had a stron# pra#matic sense of %hat the readin# pu&lic %anted to pay for. he %as one of America0s most competent yet most unrelia&le editors1) 2ith most of the %riters$ their personal life influences their art$ or at least$ some parts of it find their %ay into the %or+s) Poe %as no e/ception to this rule) 3he thin#s that pro&a&ly most influenced him %ere the deaths of %omen from his life and the atmosphere they left &ehind) Poe first faced death %hen he %as only three years old) 4is mother$ "li5a Poe$ died) 3his %as one event that traumati5ed him and it is &elieved that he had never fully recovered from that) Later on$ his foster mother$ Frances Allan$ died and his %ife 6ir#inia$ too) 3his had a &i# effect on$ %hat are no% considered to &e$ his ma,or %or+s) "ven thou#h %e can tal+ a&out him as a 'omantic$ and even thou#h he %or+ed as an editor %hich #ave him opportunity to find out %hat +ind of story people %ould li+e to read a&out

Bradas 2

and than %rite them$ Poe %as &y no means a conformist) *ame as many other literary #eniuses$ he also had his o%n philosophical theories a&out %orld and literature) 7ne of these theories is that #od some lon# time a#o %as a non8physical entity %hich split into universe and is no% a part of everythin#) And since it is part of each one of us$ humans have a tas+ that throu#h thin+in# restore #od0s primal unity) But$ similar to 2ords%orth0s idea$ children can feel that &ut as humans #ro% and learn a&out moral$ duty$ codes$ they slo%ly lose the perception of that) *till$ #od continues to e/ist in matter and spirit and this duality of physical and spiritual is present in most of his %or+s) 9n The Fall of the House of Usher it is presented throu#h t%ins 'oderic+ and (adeline$ the physical reali5ation of the house and its untoucha&le reflection in the tarn$ throu#h the story of *ir Launcelot Cannin# and the real events that happen in correspondence %ith the ones from the story) 2hen %e tal+ a&out his literary philosophy$ it is pro&a&ly &est e/plained &y Poe himself in his essay The Philosophy of Composition. Althou#h many critics claim that it is hi#hly :uestiona&le %hether Poe himself really follo%ed his o%n rules or not$ they #ive us a ne% perspective from %hich %e can study a literary %or+ of art$ especially if it is Poe0s) 9n this essay$ he #ives us a %ay in %hich he thin+s that literary %or+ should &e %ritten and opposes to all those$ especially poets$ %ho claimed that they ,ust sit and %rite %hat is on their mind %ithout any previous thin+in# a&out the %or+) Accordin# to Poe0s theory$ no %or+ should &e %ritten$ not even one sentence$ %ithout thin+in# a&out it carefully) 9n his essay$ he first tal+s a&out the len#th of a %or+) 9n his o%n opinion$ if a %riter %ants to produce any effect on their reader$ their piece of art must not &e too lon# in fact$ it should &e read in one sittin#) 3his is so due to the fact that if a person ma+es a &rea+ durin# the readin# the desired effect in the end %ill &e %ea+ened or there %ill not &e any effect at all) 9n correspondence %ith this$ for e/ample$ his most famous and most praised poem The Raven has hundred and ei#ht lines$ since he estimated that a perfect poem %ould have a&out one hundred lines) 3he ne/t thin# a&out %hich %riter should thin+ is that of effect they %ant to achieve) 3hat effect is the main #oal of %ritin#$ it is prior to everythin# and so every other element of %or+ should contri&ute to it) 3here should &e a unity of tone$ settin#$ characters$ plot and theme)

Bradas 3

2hen %e tal+ a&out %hat +ind of feelin# Poe %ants to leave$ it is usually that of sadness and melancholy &ut also the &eauty should &e present) The Raven and The Fall of the House of Usher are pro&a&ly the &est e/amples of this) The Fall of the House of Usher is also a typical e/ample of his stories %hich usually have some +ind of alle#ory of a dream e/perience$ fi#ht of a mind or soul of a hero for distur&ed peace$ elements of horror story$ hi#h passion and duality %hich in most cases$ if not in all$ lead to death) 3his is due to the fact that death is the most melancholy thin# in the %orld$ and accordin# to Poe$ death of a &eautiful %oman$ especially if a man is emotionally connected to her$ only emphasi5es it$ and here can &e seen ho% deaths from his o%n life affected him) For this reason$ The Fall of the House of Usher also ends %ith death of a %oman %ho0s &eauty has only &een su##ested) Althou#h death is the ma,or theme in this story$ it is not the only one) ;isinte#ration &et%een &ody and mind and deterioration of personality are present and divided onto t%o heroes from the story) 4ere$ (adeline !sher represents physical deterioration and even thou#h %e see her only t%ice$ the first #limpse of her is more than enou#h to reali5e ho% dilapidated she is) 3his is only emphasi5ed %hen %e learn somethin# more a&out her disease %hich does not have any o&vious cause) As opposed to that physical decline$ %e have the master of that house$ 'oderic+ !sher$ %ho suffers from some also une/plained psycholo#ical disease %hich sho%s itself throu#h acuteness of senses) 'oderic+0s senses are so delicate that he cannot stand even the faintest rays of li#ht$ he can eat only -the most insipid food1$ -%ear only #arments of certain te/ture1 and listen only to the sounds of strin#ed instruments) 7f course$ 'oderic+0s madness$ pro&a&ly caused &y his inner seclusion and fantasy$ is another theme in this story) 3he fo# that covers the causes of their states and the %hole house is ,ust a part of a mystery$ o&li#atory element in all stories of horror and also the thin# that dra%s a reader more closely into the story &y ma+in# it more interestin#) 2hat is also mysterious is the evil felt in the house and all around it$ the evil for %hich 'oderic+ claims that runs throu#h his family and that is a&out to destroy them as the last mem&ers of that family) Fear is another theme in The Fall of the House of Usher and it comes as a conse:uence of all that has &een said) But even thou#h everythin# loo+s so dar+$ there is one theme in the story %hich should #ive the story some li#ht$ &ut it actually only hi#hli#hts the dar+ destruction that is felt form the very &e#innin#) 3hat is the friendship of the master of that #loomy mansion and the narrator) "ven thou#h the narrator states that he and

Bradas 4

'oderic+ had &een close associates from their &oyhood$ he also confesses that he had never &een in his friend0s home &efore and that he did not even +no% that 'oderic+ had a t%in sister) 3his only demonstrates the isolation of the mem&ers of the !sher family as another important element of this +ind of stories) 3his leads us to the settin#) 9n all stories of horror and terror the settin# is very important) 9t is usually some lonely isolated place %here lonely people lead their lives isolated from others and are una&le to interact %ith them) 3his is most li+ely &ecause the place so cut off from the rest of the %orld loo+s li+e a place that attracts &ad thin#s and %hat is even scarier is the fact that &ein# so far a%ay from people$ there is no possi&ility of someone comin# to save you or even help you) *ettin# can have dou&le function. it can act as a descriptive element in the story &ut more importantly$ it can also have a sym&olic function as actively influencin# the characters$ their thou#hts$ feelin#s$ acts and in addition to this$ it can also &e one of the reasons for their unenvia&le state) 3hus$ the settin# of this story is a dar+ house %ith sic+enin#$ dyin# ve#etation around it$ mysterious past that is in accordance %ith the mysterious past of the family inha&itin# it$ %ith the reflection of its o%n soul in the tarn$ #loom and evil that are spread all around it and in it$ isolated from the eye of other people and %ith a fissure that in a %ay sho%s its destiny and the destiny of those connected %ith it) 3his house #ives a%ay -a sense of insuffera&le #loom1 and the feelin# it evo+es is -unrevealed &y any of that half8pleasura&le$ &ecause poetic$ sentiment$ %ith %hich the mind usually receives even the sternest natural ima#es of the desolate or terri&le1 and represents the ideal settin# for Poe0s story that #ives special effect to the %hole of the story) For Poe$ the unity of plot is very important) 9t can &e analy5ed as unity of time and unity of action) 3ime in this story is not +no%n to the rider) After the readin#$ the impression that the events tal+ed a&out had happened in may&e recent past can &e #otten than+s to the fact that a reader can #et the impression that the narrator of the story is still alive) But since the story is %ritten as some +ind of a diary$ it can date from any time addin# the desira&le mystery) 3he unity of time is in direct relationship %ith the unity of settin#) 3hese t%o to#ether move a%ay the reader from the reality and ta+e them to some another realm %here they %ill &e more suscepti&le to acceptin# of %hat is %ritten and anticipatin# in the story)

Bradas 5

3he plot of the story should also add to the e/pected effect) 3he order in %hich the %riter should relieve the details and events has to &e specially planned in advance) 3he reader should &e carefully led into the story and prepared for the events that are a&out to happen) 9n The Fall of the House of Usher$ %e can find overshado%in#) 3he sole description of the place and the house %ith its fissure and individual stones can #ive us a hint of %hat %ill happen) 'oderic+ alone predicts his destiny %ith %ords< -9 shall perish) 9 must perish in this deplora&le folly) 3hus$ thus$ and not other%ise$ shall 9 &e lost) 9 dread of the events of the future$ not in themselves$ &ut in their results) 9 shudder at the thou#ht of any$ even the most trivial$ incident$ %hich may operate upon this intolera&le a#itation of soul) 9 have$ indeed$ no a&horrence of dan#er$ e/cept in its a&solute effect 8 in terror) 9n this unnerved 8 in this pitia&le condition 8 9 feel that the period %ill sooner or later arrive %hen 9 must a&andon life and reason to#ether$ in some stru##le %ith the #rim phantasm$ F"A')1 4e predicts his o%n future$ the most horri&le future) 9t loo+s as if for a moment he come &ac+ from his melancholy$ #ained &ac+ reason and reali5ed %hat %as #oin# on$ reali5ed that the time has come for the house and its inner evil to ta+e over and destroy the last mem&ers of the family that has &een inha&itin# it for years and pay them &ac+ for all that they did in the past &ut %hich is un+no%n to the rider) 2hat they did can only &e assumed from the description of the house of its cham&ers and its hall%ays and especially &y the description of the vault in %hich (adeline %as temporarily &uried) All this is emphasi5ed &y the &ac+#round of the story and particularly &y the story of Launcelot that the narrator reads to his friend and the terrifyin# storm in the end) 9n order to achieve the %holeness and the unity of a %or+$ the characters have to correspond to the story and the overall mood) *ince the aimed final effect in The Fall of the House of Usher is melancholy caused &y a death of a &eloved one$ the characters have to #ive a%ay the same impression) 3he hero of this story and also the master of the mansion is 'oderic+ !sher) 4is face %as -a cadaverousness of comple/ion1 4e has -an eye lar#e$ li:uid$ and luminous &eyond comparison. lips some%hat thin and very pallid$ &ut of a surpassin#ly &eautiful curve. a nose of a delicate 4e&re% model$ &ut %ith a &readth of nostril unusual in similar formations. a finely moulded chin$ spea+in#$ in its %ant of prominence$ of a %ant of moral ener#y. hair of a more than %e&8li+e softness and tenuity. these features$ %ith an inordinate e/pansion a&ove the re#ions of the temple$ made up alto#ether a countenance not easily to &e

Bradas 6

for#otten)1 But$ &eside his physical loo+ and a fact that the narrator has al%ays &een his only friend$ %e +no% nothin# a&out him) 3here is no history$ no previous life$ nothin# that can revel us somethin# more a&out this mysterious character) "verythin# %e +no% a&out him is connected to his present state of mind) "ven the narrator says -9t %as %ith difficulty that 9 could &rin# myself to admit the identity of the %an &ein# &efore me %ith the companion of my early &oyhood)1 4is past &ein# is completely separated from his present &ein# and it seems as if there is some crac+ that separates the t%o) 4e is losin# the perception of reality and also his mind) 4is disease is slo%ly +illin# him and its un+no%n ori#in may&e even more) 2ith his acute senses it seems as if on some level he can feel and understand everythin# &ut on a surface level he is completely una%are of anythin# and lost into his o%n %orld that has little to do %ith the real one) As opposition to 'oderic+0s mental decline and in correspondence %ith Poe0s theory of duality$ (adeline is represented as a physical part of this duality) 3hey are lin+ed to#ether and cannot live or die one %ithout the other) 9n the story (adeline is presented more as an idea than as a real &ein#) *he is more tal+ed a&out than personally present and active) 3hrou#h the %hole story she #lides li+e a spirit$ first %hen the narrator first sees her -2hile he spo+e$ the lady (adeline =for so %as she called> passed slo%ly throu#h a remote portion of the apartment$ and$ %ithout havin# noticed my presence$ disappeared)1$ and than in the end %hen she has risen from her #rave and %ears a &loody %hite dress) 9n this #loomy story$ a reader #ets a feelin# that she does not even e/ist &ut is ,ust an idea in her &rother0s head$ especially in that last scene in %hich is very hard to distin#uish &et%een illusions and real pictures$ ima#ination and reality) But still$ since the narrator also sees her and not only her &rother$ %e have to ta+e her as a real &ein#$ &ut one that is so physically deteriorated that loo+s li+e a #host) 4er hinted unima#ina&le &eauty and the &eauty of unima#ina&ly interestin# and intelli#ent mind of 'oderic+ !sher are thin#s that are lost in this story and that are mourned for) But accordin# to Poe0s theory$ death is the only %ay to reach the unity of #od and perceive the real picture a&out him) A character %ho represents the lin+ &et%een these t%o characters and a reader is the narrator) 2e do not +no% anythin# a&out him$ not even his name and his life is completely irrelevant to the story) 4e e/ists only in the relation to 'oderic+ and is there to tell us the story and contrast 'oderic+ of the past %ith the one of the present) 4e also serves as opposition to the 'oderic+ &ut also to (adeline) 4e possesses the common sense and the physical presence %hich

Bradas 7

they lac+) 4e is the most prominent fi#ure in the story and the only one %ho survives the final collapsin# of the house since he is ,ust a visitor there and does not have any real connection %ith the house and its dar+ past) 3he narrator had &een called to come to the house in order to relieve 'oderic+0s fear and melancholy feelin#s &ut as the story #oes on$ %e see that he is una&le to this$ not &ecause of the lac+ of effort or anythin# that has to do %ith him$ &ut due to the fact that he is ,ust an outsider and has nothin# to do %ith the house alone or its past and inha&itants$ ,ust li+e the doctors %ho come to help (adeline and 'oderic+ &ut are una&le to do that) (ay&e the most important character in the story is the house itself) 3he description of its surroundin# #ives a%ay the impression of a deserted place$ &ut the sole house$ descri&ed as a human &ein# %ith its -vacant eye8li+e %indo%s1 and the atmosphere around it ma+es you feel as if it %ere alive and trappin# those %ho lived %ithin its %alls until it destroyed them forever) 3he house %hich ,ealously hides its past is actively destroyin# the t%ins and is in a %ay more alive than (adeline) 3he house is duality in t%o %ays) Firstly$ %ith its real physical e/istence and its spiritual untoucha&le reflection in the tarn) And secondly$ it is metaphorical representation of 'oderic+ and (adeline) 3he fun#i that cover its %alls$ &ut even more the fissure that can &e seen from the roof to the #round$ sho% deterioration of the house &ut also of the family since the t%o are lin+ed to#ether and cannot e/ist separated =,ust li+e 'oderic+ and (adeline>) 3his is presented %hen %e learn a&out individual stones of the house that are parts of its construction and can &e seen and interpreted as individual mem&ers of the !sher family) But$ the fissure also represents the crac+ &et%een personalities$ the crac+ that is part of those %ho live in that house) 3his mansion of #loom is %hat +eeps 'oderic+ and (adeline from personal #ro%in# and livin# a normal healthy life and it feels as if it does not %ant to let them leave that sorro%ful place) And since the mansion is so ti#htly lin+ed to those predetermined to live in it$ their destinies have to &e the same$ and %hen the time for the house to collapse comes$ it has to dra% those %ith %hom it has relationship do%n %ith it)

Bradas 8

Bradas 9

Bradas 10

Bradas 11

Bradas 12

Bradas 13

Bradas 14

Bradas 15

Bradas 16

Bradas 17

Bradas 18

Bradas 19

Bradas 20