"Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe

 Listen to "Fall of the House of Usher" here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4m7PeRHDP8

Read "Fall of the House of Usher" here:

http://www.online-literature.com/poe/31/

Style and Imagery

Word Choice

Poe carefully makes every word, every phrase, every sentence in the story contribute to the overall effect, horror, accompanied by oppressing morbidity and anxious anticipation of terrifying events. Notice, for example, the tenor of the words in the opening sentence of the story. I have underlined those that help establish the mood and atmosphere.

During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country; and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher. 

Rhythm

But besides painting a gloomy picture, the words in the paragraph also beat out a funereal rhythm—at first through the alliteration of during, dull, dark, and day, and then through the rhyming suffixes of oppressively, singularly, and melancholy. 

Alliteration

Alliteration occurs frequently in the rest of the story, in such phrases as the following:

iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart 
cadaverousness of complexion 
feeble and futile struggles 
certain superstitious impressions [the s in impressions does not alliterate because it has a z sound]
sensation of stupor 
partially cataleptical character 
wild air of the last waltz 
fervid facility of his impromptus
impetuous fury of the entering gust nearly lifted us from our feet 
and the deep and dank tarn at my feet closed sullenly and silently over the fragments of the "House of Usher."

Anaphora

As in his other short stories, Poe frequently uses anaphora in "The Fall of the House of Usher." Anaphora is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is repeated at the beginning of a clause or another group of words. Anaphora imparts emphasis and balance. Here are boldfaced examples from "The Fall of the House of Usher":

I looked upon the scene before me—upon the mere house, and the simple landscape features of the domain—upon thebleak walls—upon the vacant eye-like windows—upon a few rank sedges—and upon a few white trunks of decayed trees 

While the objects around me—while the carvings of the ceilings, the sombre tapestries of the walls, the ebon blackness of the floors, and the phantasmagoric armorial trophies which rattled as I strode, were but matters to which, or to such as which, I had been accustomed from my infancy—while I hesitated not to acknowledge how familiar was all this—I still wondered to find how unfamiliar were the fancies which ordinary images were stirring up.

Many minutes, many hours, many days, have I heard it 

Main Theme

The central theme of "The Fall of the House of Usher" is terror that arises from the complexity and multiplicity of forces that shape human destiny. Dreadful, horrifying events result not from a single, uncomplicated circumstance but from a collision and intermingling of manifold, complex circumstances. In Poe’s story, the House of Usher falls to ruin for the reasons listed under "Other Themes" (below).

Other Themes

Evil

Evil has been at work in the House of Usher for generations, befouling the residents of the mansion. Roderick Usher's illness is "a constitutional and family evil . . . one for which he despaired to find a remedy," the narrator reports. Usher himself later refers to this evil in Stanza V of "The Haunted Palace," a ballad he sings to the accompaniment of his guitar music. The palace in the ballad represents the House of Usher and its master, Roderick, whose mind has been degenerating. The first two lines of Stanza V are as follows:

But evil things, in robes of sorrow,
Assailed the monarch's high estate.

Neither of these references identifies the exact nature of the evil. However, clues in the story suggest that the evil infecting the House of Usher is incest. Early in the story, the narrator implies there has been marriage between relatives:

I had learned, too, the very remarkable fact, that the stem of the Usher race, all time-honored as it was, had put forth, at no period, any enduring branch; in other words, that the entire family lay in the direct line of descent, and had always, with very trifling and very temporary variation, so lain. 

Later, the narrator describes Madeline Usher as her brother’s “tenderly beloved sister—his sole companion for long years.” He also notes that Roderick Usher's illness "displayed itself in a host of unnatural sensations." 

Isolation

Roderick and Madeline Usher seal themselves inside their mansion, cutting themselves off from friends, ideas, progress. They have become musty and mildewed, sick unto their souls for lack of contact with the outside world.

Failure to Adapt

The Usher family has become obsolete because it failed to throw off the vestiges of outmoded tradition, a failing reflected by the mansion itself, a symbol of the family. The interior continues to display coats-of-arms and other paraphernalia from the age of kings and castles. As to the outside, “Its principal feature seemed to be that of an excessive antiquity. The discoloration of ages had been great. Minute fungi overspread the whole exterior, hanging in a fine tangled web-work from the eaves."

Madness

Roger and Madeline suffer from mental illness characterized by anxiety, depression, and other symptoms. Catalepsy, a symptom of Madeline’s illness, is a condition that causes muscle rigidity and temporary loss of consciousness and feeling for several minutes, several hours, and, in some cases, more than a day. Generally, it is not an illness in itself but a symptom of an illness, such as schizophrenia, epilepsy, hysteria, alcoholism or a brain tumor. Certain drugs, too, can trigger a cataleptic episode. The victim does not respond to external stimuli, even painful stimuli such as a pinch on the skin. In the past, a victim of catalepsy was sometimes pronounced dead by a doctor unfamiliar with the condition. Apparently, Madeline is not dead when her brother and the narrator entomb her; instead, she is in a state of catalepsy. When she awakens from her trance, she breaks free of her confines, enters her brother's chamber, and falls on him. She and her brother then die together. Besides Roger and Madeline, the narrator himself may suffer from mental instability, given his reaction to the depressing scene he describes in the opening paragraphs. If he is insane, all of the events he describes could be viewed as manifestations of his sick mind—illusions, dreams, hallucinations.

Mystery

From the very beginning, the narrator realizes that he is entering a world of mystery when he crosses the tarn bridge. He observes, "What was it—I paused to think—what was it that so unnerved me in the contemplation of the House of Usher ?  It was a mystery all insoluble."

Strange Phenomena

The narrator describes the mansion as having a “pestilent and mystic” vapor enveloping it. He also says Roderick Usher “was enchained by certain superstitious impressions in regard to the dwelling which he tenanted.”
.

Symbolism

The Fungus-Ridden Mansion: Decline of the Usher family. 
The Collapsing Mansion: Fall of the Usher family.
The “Vacant eye-like” Windows of the Mansion: (1) Hollow, cadaverous eyes of Roderick Usher; (2) Madeline Usher’s cataleptic gaze; (3) the vacuity of life in the Usher mansion. 
The Tarn, a Small Lake Encircling the Mansion and Reflecting Its Image: (1) Madeline as the twin of Roderick, reflecting his image and personality; (2) the  image of reality which Roderick and the narrator perceive; though the water of the tarn reflects details exactly, the image is upside down, leaving open the possibility that Roderick and the narrator see a false reality; (3) the desire of the Ushers to isolate themselves from the outside world.
The Bridge Over the Tarn: The narrator as Roderick Usher’s only link to the outside world. 
The name Usher: An usher is a doorkeeper. In this sense, Roderick Usher opens the door to a frightening world for the narrator.
The Storm: The turbulent emotions experienced by the characters.

Foreshadowing

The narrator's reference to catalepsy—describing Madeline Usher as having “affections of a partially cataleptical character”—foreshadows her burial while she is still alive. 

Reading Response Question for "Fall of the House of Usher" DUE OCT.22

1.  What mood is set in stanzas I-IV of “The Haunted Palace”?  In stanzas V-VI?  (p. 218-219)

 2. What kinds of books did the narrator and Roderick read?  (p. 219)

3.  When Madeline dies, what does Roderick plan to do with the body?  Why?  (p. 219-220)

 4.  Describe the vault in which the narrator and Roderick place Madeline’s coffin.  (p. 220)

 5.  As they gaze on Madeline, the narrator commented on her resemblance to Roderick.  What does he tell the narrator?  (p. 220)

6.  After Madeline’s death, how did Roderick change?  (p. 220)

 7.  On the 7^th or 8^th night after Madeline’s death, why couldn’t the narrator sleep?  (p. 221)

8.  Roderick is up roaming the house and goes to the narrator’s room.  What does he ask the narrator?  (p. 221)

 9.  To pass the time and take their minds off the storm, the narrator begins to read to Roderick.  What is he reading?  

 10.  In the story that the narrator is reading, Ethelred beats open a wooden door.  What does the narrator hear in the house?  (p. 222)

 11.  In the story that the narrator is reading, the dragon shrieks when Ethelred kills him.  What does the narrator hear in the house?  (p. 222-223)

 12.  How does Roderick react to these sounds?  (p. 223)

 13.  What does Roderick say is causing the sounds in the house?  (p. 223)

 14.  How does Roderick die?  (p. 224)

 15.  The narrator flees from the house out into the storm.  A wild light appears behind him so he turns to see what caused it.  What does he witness?  (p. 224)