The Fall of The House of Usher

Summary by Aditi Prasad

• The narrator approaches The House of Usher, an incredibly desolate, aged building, with a crack in the façade from roof to ground, which gives him an awful feeling. 
• He rides on to the house anyway, because he has been called upon by a very sick old friend, Roderick Usher, who comes from a family of eccentrics, famous for works of art and music. 
• The family is also interesting for its pure Usher family line.
• Inside the house, the narrator finds Usher himself awfully changed, both physically and in his mood, which alternates rapidly between liveliness and sullenness. Usher explains his condition as inherited, and also believes that it is connected to the house. 
• His sister, Madeleine, is also very ill and as she walks through the room, the narrator gets a ghostly feeling.
• The narrator and Usher pass their days painting and reading from Gothic books. (Their imagination is highly active)
• That very day, Usher tells the narrator that his sister has died and they bring her coffin to a heavily reinforced vault below the house. The narrator sees that Madeleine was actually Roderick’s twin and that her disease has left an unsettling blush on her face.
• After his sister’s death, Usher becomes more and more manic, and one night, during an electrical storm, Usher visits the narrator’s room him in a distracted state. 
• To comfort Usher, the narrator reads from a story, but the actions described within the story are accompanied by noises from within the house. The narrator at first tries to ignore the coincidence but the noise gets more and more real and Usher has now faced his chair towards the door of the room. 
• He starts muttering about the noises and tells the narrator that they have buried Madeleine alive and she is now standing outside. 
• On cue, Madeleine breaks through the door and falls onto Usher. He dies on the spot and the narrator flees. 
• As the narrator looks back to the dreadful house, the crack down the façade splits and the house collapses.

CHARACTER	Language analysis	Quotation
Narrator	He was becoming a “scrutinizing observer” and becoming overtly panicked, “phantasmagoric,” “superstitious” and his “strange fancy” kept growing in a span of a couple days highlight the suffering of Rodrick and his sister who were intramped in this supernatural house for years now. Shadowy fancies connote mystery, indistictivenessdenial of happenings, convoluted sentences to articulate feelings of the unnaturalness (story’s start)Portrays unreliability as a character. “Influenced”- as if no choice but to be affected	“Consciousness of my rapid superstition”“Strange fancy”“A vivid flow of sensations”“Shadowy fancies” “What must have been a dream”“Worked up imagination”After Madeline’s death he felt “influenced” by Rodericks “wild, fantastic, yet impressive superstitions”
Roderick Usher	They were famous but not excessively so There was a practise of incest in the family “Direct descent” – this shows Roderick a product of this sinRoderick Usher was so unhappy being associated so strongly with the House of Usher that it had begun to start affecting him physcially, mentally, spiritually.Anxious over his health“Maintained” – highlights long, paranormal activity in this house. He was secretive, “excessively” so – suggesting secretsTraditionally handsome – incest carried no variation Connotes heavy burden and retraint, almost personifying the disorder to be a tangible thing- like the houseAlways uncomfortable and troubled- burdenedVery unpredictable his whole diseaseDevastating impact of his maladyPallor- connotes the heavy sheet used to cover the body in funerals this he’s being assigned to deathNarrator’s feelings toward his condition Contrast to the house Ghostly and thin indicates his dying stateCarries the opium addict metaphor from the beginning Strange symptom- overly sensitive, cannot enjoy anythingSupernatural connotedMadness indicatedVery persuasive and agitatedDesperate for some “alleviation of his malady”Connotes deep love and longing – pathetic fallacy Faking his tiredness cause he is empathetic and grateful for his friend //  contrast happy to sorrow atmosphere.Hasn’t left the house. Venture highlights that any journey is remarkable, yet none have taken place.Spirit- affects him to his soul //Connotes possession, unnaturalness, supernaturalIs in another world evoking terror	“Charitable family- munificent but unobtrusive”Has a family of “direct descent”“Undeviating transmision of name, genetics, fortune” etc “Hypochondriac” “Maintained certain superstitious impressions in regard to the dwelling he tenanted” – his home“Reserve was excessive and habitual”“Arabesque expression”“Mental disorder oppressed him” “Excessive nervous agitation”One moment “excited” the next “sullen”“Terribly altered countenance”“Ghastly pallor of the skin” “Morbid condition”“Pitiable condition”“An eye large, liquid and luminous beyond comparison”“Wild gossamer texture” that “floated”“Lost drunkard or the irreclaimable eater of opium” “Acute sense”“Unnatural sensations”“Acute bodily illness”“Wildly importunate nature”“Apparent heart went with his request”Shed “passionate tears” upon the news of sisters death.“Overdone cordiality” but had “perfect sincerity”“Never ventured forth” “Long sufferance””obtained over his spirit”//“Sickly smile quivered”“Unconscious of my presence”
Madeline Usher	Baffled connotes great confusion- her complex condition Connotes helplessness of even educated doctors are.Progressively emaciating awayConnotes periods of deep unconsciousness- dead likeHer episode of sleep was expected thus hasty on her brothers part to have buried herHave a spiritual connection – eerie and creepy as they are twins and have psychological connectionsThey were twins ,  striking connotes a stark similarity of the twoOxymoron – tragic she died so youngIt’s taunting that she still has a youthful glow despite being dead. Suspicious connotes that something wasn’t right Euphemism of the anger and reaction she would haveDeath covered her entirely – visual imageStark chromatic image – portray struggleAuditory image – connotes anguish, pain, betrayal	The disease “long baffled her physicians”They wore an expression of “perplexity”“She was gradually wasting away”“Transient calaptical” symptoms“Haste to bury” Siblings shared a “scarcely intelligible nature”“striking similitude between brother and sister”“Died at the maturity of her youth” “Mockery of a faint blush upon the bosom and the face”“Suspiciously lingering smile on the lip”She will “upbraid my for my haste” -Usher“Enshrouded” figure of hers“Blood on white robes”“Low moaning cry” fell onto Usher

THEME	Language analysis	Quotation
Madness	Connotes severity and entirety of the diseases affectMetaphor he was oppressed  Oxymoron, contrast – gives of unnatural feeling Oppressive madness/insanity	“Acute bodily illness”“An anomalous species of terror had him a bounden slave”“Mad hilarity”“Restrained hysteria”
Family	Very old, practised incestMerge highlights the intermingled existence of the house and the inhabitants of the house.	“Ancient family”“Merge the original title of the estate” to the family”“Both the family and the family mansion” were included in the “appellation of the house of Usher”
Isolation	He was constricted Connnotes that any journey could be significant as venture indicates no real purpose but exploring – yet Roderick doesnt do this either	“Oppressed him”“Never ventured out”
Fear	Is afraid of life itself- foreshadows The suspicion that his sister was still alive consume and troubled him. “Dare” not highlights his reluctance to take the risk, that he was right. – repetitionCorpse has a harsh sound due to the ‘r’ soundVictim highlights how he never wanted this end and he was suffering. Anticipates heightens the climatic end of his death as it was almost foreshadows.	He “must abandon life and reason together, in some struggle with the grim phantasm, FEAR”Held “some oppressive secret”“I dared not” “Floor a corpse” “Victim to the terror he had anticipation”
Identity	Completely dissociates and brand himself as different and not normal.unhappy being associated so strongly with the House of Usher that it had become the morale of his existence	“Cheerfulness of my society” “Peasantry used the appellation to include the family and their mansion”
Incest	Visual imagery of the race Connotes how the race is weak and soon is going to die offVisual imagery of the weakening raceVariation connotes the lack of outside families mingling with the familyContinues the horizontal and straight family treeDeficiency focuses the variation being the cause of the illnessContinues to focus this practise of incest being the source of his malady	“Stem of the Usher race”No “enduring branch” “Direct line of descent”“Temporary variation” “So lain”“It was this deficiency” “Family evil”

SUPERNATURAL	Language Analysis	Evidence
DARKNESS	Assonance of ‘d’Foreshadows winter/deathWinter is coming	“Dull dark soundless day”“Autumn”“Shades of the evening drew on”
NARRATOR’S REACTION TO SURROUNDINGS	Tactile, harsh images No explanation for the terror evoked in himLost any courage or confidence upon seeing the houseHints supernatural of the house	“Iciness, a sinking sickening of the heart”“Forced to conclude”“Unnerved” “Atmosphere peculiar to itself”
OPPRESSIVE IMAGES	Suffocated by evilHighlights how surrounding affects the narrator so strongly – as indicated by “oppressed”	“Clouds hung oppressively low”“Vivid sensations of the force oppressed me”
INVERTED IMAGES	There was a complete reconstruction of houseMystic and swaying, like a ghost; grey is gloomyVisual rectangular image – ghastly, terrorisingMetaphor, eye to the soul – empty and dead	““Remodelled inverted images”“Gray sedge”“Ghastly tree-stems”“Vacant and eye-like windows”
PERSONIFICATION OF THE  DECAYING HOUSE	Gives life to all non-living things; supernaturalTransferred epithet – weakness of structureMetaphor highlights desolationTransferred epithet – gloom highlights his desolationHow wholly covered the house is	“Sentience of all vegetable things”“Bleak walls”“Vacant eye-like” windows“Mansion of gloom” “fungi”
VAMPIRIC NATURE OF TWINS	Creepy, corpse likeInsipid – tasteless , endurable – shows restrictiveness of his illness on his body“Certain texture” – tactile image Pleasant olfactory imageOppressed by light – just like vampiresAuditory image evoke horror – peculiar strange, unnatural	“Lying at full length”“The most insipid food was alone endurable” Could wear “garments of certain texture” “Odours of all flower were oppressive”“Eyes tortured by even a faint light”“Peculiar sounds” “didn’t inspire horror”
MYSTERY – The Unexplainable	Implied metaphor – like sludgeHints supernatural	“Mystery all insoluble”“Beyond our depth

SETTING	Language Analysis	Evidence
Landscape	Assonance ‘d’ creates mystery and evokes dread of what’s to come“Insufferable” describes it to be intolerable and “pervaded” highlights how intrusively the dread spread in himself.“Soul” heightens the fright in readers, extreme, affects him straight to his soul.Connote dread and reluctance like a drug addict coming off his high.Suffocated by the evilLong syntax highlights loneliness and desolationAppalling and a horrific imageOlfactory imageChromatic image – contrast to the surrounding light and darkIronic – imbued with so many emotions//visual imagery – signifies new chapter – red portrays death and ha sinister connotations	“dull , dark, and soundless day” “Insufferable gloom pervaded my soul” “Utter depression of the soul” “Bitter lapse into everyday life” “Clouds hung oppressively low”“Singularly dreary tract of land”“Images of the desolate or terrible”“Rank sedges”“White trunks of decaying trees”“Simple landscape features of the domain”//“Full, setting, and blood-red moon which now shone vividly”
House	Transferred epithet, foreshadowingHyperbolic but not evokes mystery and supernaturalTransferred epithetRepeated again later – emptiness of the habitants Despondency and depression of the inhabitants – Roderick Neglect and physical encompassing of the habitants stateVery unusual and remarkable decayingHairlines crack in the house – visual image – foreshadows the end of the story when the house breaks downHighlights the timeline the story was written – mysteryVisual imagery – sinister, creepyTransferred epithet Connotes sadness and dullnessChromatic visual imageryGhostly, translucent – visual imageryAdverbs –  cause of the surroundings //Encompassed and enshrouded by death – visual image Transferred epithet – wallsVisual image – adverbAdverb used	“Melancholy House of Usher”Evoked “insufferable gloom”“Bleak walls”“Vacant eye-like” windows“Mansion of gloom”“Excessive antiquity”“Extraordinary dilapidation”“Barely perceptible fissure in a zigzag formation”“Gothic archway”“Carvings on ceilings”“Sombre tapestries”“Ebon blackness of the floors”“Phantasmagoric trophies”“Irrepressible tremor gradually pervaded my frame”//“Agitated vapor” “enshrouded the house”“Might walls rushing asunder”“Fissure rapidly widened”“Sullenly and silently over the fragments of the House of Usher”
Tarn	Brink connotes the moment before the narrator will cross the bridge and fall into danger.Vivid imagery – oxymoronStillness evokes terrorParadox that the reflection is more terrorising than actual thing – unnatural worlddull gray chromatic imageryIt is lifeless, underscores death and given the eyes has a satanic effect being created.Connote diseasedSupernatural and evil surrounds the entire place blood-like	“Precipitous brink” “Black and lurid tarn”“Unruffled lustre”“Remodelled inverted images” “Gray sedge”“Ghastly tree-stems”“Vacant and eye-like windows”“Pestilent”“Mystic vapour, dull, sluggish, faintly discernible” “leaden -hued”
Usher’s room	Connotes restrictivenessClaustrophobic, prison like – transferred epithetImprisoned and oppressiveAsyndeton heightens the uncomfortable furnishing Narrator also affected – misery in the air	“Windows inaccessible from within”“Feeble gleams” of light“Trellised panes”“General furniture was profuse, comfortless, antique, and tattered”“Atmosphere of sorrow” “prevaded all”
SONG	AdjectiveAdverbAsyndetonAdverbAdjective + oxymoron ; harsh but a ‘melody’	“The Haunted Palace”“Easily remembered”“Its meaning, i fancied, i perceived”“Vast forms that move fantastically”“Discordant melody”
Vault	Foreshadowing of the coming vault, already mentioned in the start of the story //Hyperbolic Definitive determinerAdjective //Transient synonymAdjective , darknessAdverb oppressiveAdjective“No means“ paradoxical Adjective Preposition AdjectiveAdjective	“Some neglected vault, with no disturbance from the breadth of the external air”//Painting- “Exceeding depth below the surface of the earth”“No source of light”Had a “ghastly and inappropriate splendor”//“Temporary entombment”“Torches, half smothered”“Oppressive atmosphere”“Small, damp”“Without means of admission for light”“At great depth”“Beneath his sleeping apartment”“Worst purpose of donjun-keeping”“Massive iron door”

Q) How does Edgar Allan Poe institute gothic elements into “The Fall of The House of Usher”?

A) Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of The House of Usher” is a story about the peculiar occurrences inside the House of Roderick Usher. In this story, Edgar Allan Poe presents several themes like that of madness and the supernatural and makes pervaded use of imageries to incorporate gothic elements into the plot, making this one of literature’s finest gothic stories.  

In “The Fall of The House of Usher”, the atmosphere and setting is used extensively to convey Gothicism to the readers. Poe initiates a gothic atmosphere with descriptions of the house. The narrator says that the Usher mansion had “an atmosphere which had no affinity with the air of heaven.” The “white trunks of decayed trees,” the “black and lurid tarn,” and the “vacant, eyelike windows” contribute to the collective atmosphere of despair and anguish. His description is replete with adjectives like gray, peculiar, mystic, dull, strange, pestilent and sluggish and even drops mentions about the furniture –black oaken floor, the dark drapery and the general furniture which are “profuse, comfortless, antique andtattered”— to intensify the aura of gloom. Poe’s scrupulous choice of words institutes gothic essence into the story, for dark themes and images are prevalent in gothic literature.

Edgar Allan Poe also ensures that he establishes strange and mysterious characters to augment Gothicism in the story. Rodrick Usher is shown to have “peculiar sensibility” due to which he faces extreme mental disturbance. On the other hand, Madeline has a physical disease that Involves cataleptic trances that mimic death. Both the diseases were uncommon to doctors, making the readers discern them as strange and indistinguishable from madness. The characters not only mentally but also physically exude a sense of Gothicism. The narrator describes Rodrick’s face to be pale as he mentions his “pallid” lips, “fine molded chin” and cadaverous complexion. Psychological deterioration of characters is a common component of gothic literature, and the readers witness it in this story for as their illnesses aggravate, their state of madness exacerbates aswell. 

Gothic essence in the story is amplified when the narrator reads to Roderick and the sounds described in the book are mimicked by the mansion as they are read aloud by the narrator. First, he hears an echo of the cracking and ripping sound that Sir Launcelot describes, and then to corroborate this he hears a shriek similar to that of the dragon in the book followed by the a distant, clangorous sound that corresponded to the clash of the silver shield in the story. This scene introduces the readers to elements of the house that are even more queer than its appearance, thus heightening Gothicity.

The climax of the story is pivotal in exhibiting Gothicism in the story. Of all the uncanny happenings in the house, the most inexplicable is the obliteration of the house following the death of the Usher siblings. The reappearance of Madeline, who was presumed to be dead and somehow managed to break out of her coffin only to confront Rodrick in a fatal encounter is extremely eerie. To heighten this effect, their demise is followed by the destruction of the house and hence, it is as though the house was connected to the souls of the Usher twins, accounting for the resemblance of their sorrowful spirits in the architecture of the house. This also explains why it is called the “House of Usher” – its condition runs parallel to the physical and emotional state of Roderick Usher. Moreover, Poe has used foreshadowing as a literary device as the ambience of death is in direct association to the fate of the house and the Usher family. This multitude of mystifying instances encapsulates the quintessential features of a gothic story, where the events that transpire are usually bizarre and inexplicable.  

By rendering the house with an eerie personality and appearance while also developing strange characters and occurrences, Edgar Alan Poe institutes almost all the elements that are prevalent in Gothic fiction, making “The Fall of The House of Usher” a celebrated work in Gothic literature.

Q) Comment on the role of the narrator in “The Fall of The House of Usher”

A) Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of The House of Usher” is a gothic fiction that revolves around the peculiar occurrences inside the House of Rodrick Usher. In this story, a narrator delineates his experiences and his role becomes that of an observer who, with the use of copious images and literary devices, enhances the aura of dread and doom and conveys his point of view about the house.

In the story, the anonymous narrator’s character is significant in describing the eerie events that unfold in the house of usher. He uses an array of visual images to describe the house and to associate it with a feeling of gloom. He states that the day was “dull” and “dark” and uses the word “dreary” for the landscape to institute a sense of despair and isolation. He metaphorically compares the feeling of initially sighting the house to the sensation of “the afterdream of the reveler upon opium”, to imply that it felt like coming close to death. The narrator intensifies the eeriness with descriptions of the mist blanketing the house—“a pestilent and mystic vapor, dull, sluggish, faintly discernible..”. Through his numerous depictions, the narrator plays a significant role in bringing about gothic elements and themes of mystery and desolation that pervade in the story.

The narrator’s significance is also hinted by the fact that Roderick Usher contacted him and considered him his “only personal friend”. Although he initially did not feel close to Roderick, he goes to stay at his house for a few weeks. Without the narrator, Roderick’s feelings would have never been expressed and due to utter solitude, his psychological condition would have only worsened. However, in the narrator’s presence, Roderick enjoyed company in which his emotional state could be alleviated, as they “painted and read together” and listened to music to hearten their souls. The narrator even became able to identify the type of music that soothes Usher’s soul.

Another hint at the narrator’s significance is that he is involved in the burial of Madeline’s coffin and all the eerie events that follow. The narrator assists Rodrick in her entombment, and notices the blush on her face. It is also when the narrator is reading the Mad Trist of Sir Launcelot Canning can strange voices echoing the actions from the book be heard by Rodrick and the narrator. Madeline is revealed to be alive when she enters the room and collapses onto her brother, leading to both of their demise. The absurd fact that the narrator stays unharmed through all of this suggests that the narrator plays significantly the role of a witness of the peculiarity of the House of Usher, right before it crumples, as though disallowing anybody other than the narrator to be a witness of the strange occurrences in the house.

Although the narrator plays no active part in altering the course of the story, his narration of the events and descriptions of the house are crucial in establishing the various elements that build the story and his involvement in the story is what brings it to its final climax.

Q) Extract from “who entereth herein, a conqueror hath bin” to “Bore him to the floor a corpse and a victim to the terrors he had anticipated.” In what ways doe Edgar Allan Poe make this an intense moment in the story “The Fall Of The House Of Usher”?

A) Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall Of The House Of Usher” is a remarkable gothic story encapsulating the peculiar occurrences that transpire inside the house of Roderick Usher. The extract depicts one of the most intense moments of all in the play, where Poe adroitly deploys imagery, gothicity, foreshadowment and horror to captivate the readers and make the scene an exceptional climax that is celebrated in gothic literature.

Images are prevalent in the eminently descriptive sentences of the extract, and they not only persistently augment the essence of horror but are integral in building intensity in the scene. The rising action in the scene is engendered entirely through the usage of imagery; the detailed auditory image in “distant, but harsh, protracted and most unusual screaming or grating sound” and “hollow, metallic and clangorous, yet apparently muffled reverberation” play a crucial role in making the house mimic the frightening sounds that were described in the book the narrator read aloud. This instance successfully perturbs the readers and builds their anticipation. Furthermore, synesthetic imagery appealing to visual and kinesthetic senses is employed in “lips trembled”, “rigid opening of the eye” and “rocked from side to side” used to describe Roderick’s expression and movements are highly indicative of approaching danger, thus triggering a sense of trepidation for the readers.

Poe institutes a pervaded use of foreshadowing as a literary device. The synesthetic images describing Roderick’s subtle movements coupled with him saying “yes, i hear it, and have heard it” and “i dared not speak” indicate that he predicted the incoming danger. These auguries are accentuated when he says “she now stands without the door” and as though he spoke it into being, Madeline appears inexplicably, and “fell heavily inward upon” Roderick, causing both their demises. Not only does Roderick himself foresee this, but it was also foreshadowed by the novel where the dragon dies and the soldier escapes; the dragon being Roderick Usher whereas the soldier is the narrator, who flees the mansion after these strange occurrences. Moreover, the death of the twins in this scene directly links to the title of the story, which foreshadows the “fall” of the twins and the Usher bloodline that transpires in the scene. These instances of foreshadowing persistently keep the readers anticipating the climax of the play, hence critically augment intensity in the scene.

Emotions and symbolism is also deployed to heighten the potency of the scene. Madeline being confined in the coffin alive is symbolic of her disease that inhibited her from a normal life. She struggled to escape the coffin only to collapse in unison with Roderick, implying that her motive was not to stay alive but to ensure that she dies with Roderick, liberating them both from their illnesses that made them feel entrapped. This instance delineates the spiritual bond between the Usher twins; their physical state is perpetually parallel akin to each other’s for they both had acute illnesses and they both died simultaneously. Their death and the symbolism that represents their relationship institutes emotional intensity in the scene.

The multitude of peculiar incidents that occur in this scene all exude an acute sense of gothicism. Gothic literature is pervaded with events that transcend from the norms of sanity and this scene is a quintessence of madness. The supernatural elements of the house are rendered when the House of Usher mimics the unearthly sounds from the novel. Furthermore, Madeline being coffined alive and the idea of her “feeble movements in the hollow coffin” echoing throughout the house emanates profound eeriness that amplifies excitement in the scene, and thus Edgar Alan Poe makes this the most intense moment in the story.