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Horror as a theme in the fall of the house of usher by Edgar Allan Poe
Horror as a theme in the fall of the house of usher by Edgar Allan Poe
Horror as a theme in the fall of the house of usher by Edgar Allan Poe
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Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher and Peter Taylor’s Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time
Various authors develop their stories using gothic themes and characterizations of this type to lay the foundation for their desired reader response. Although Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” and Peter Taylor’s “Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time” are two completely different narratives, both of these stories share a commonality of gothic text representations. The stories take slightly different paths, with Poe’s signifying traditional gothic literature and Taylor approaching his story in a more contemporary manner.
Gothic texts are typically characterized by a horrifying and haunting mood, in a world of isolation and despair. Most stories also include some type of supernatural events and/or superstitious aspects. Specifically, vampires, villains, heroes and heroines, and mysterious architecture are standard in a gothic text. Depending upon the author, a gothic text can also take on violent and grotesque attributes. As an overall outlook, “gothic literature is an outlet for the ancient fears of humanity in an age of reason” (Sacred-Texts). Following closely to this type of literature, Edgar Allan Poe uses a gloomy setting, isolation, and supernatural occurrences throughout “The Fall of the House of Usher”.
From the onset of the story, it is apparent that Poe is employing a gothic theme upon his work. The narrator’s portrayal of the home of his longtime friend, Roderick Usher was as follows, “I looked upon the scene before me – upon the bleak walls – upon the vacant eye-like windows – upon a few rank sedges – and upon a few white trunks of decayed trees” (Poe, 75). T...
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... Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher”, they both can be classified collectively under gothic literature. In other words, although these stories exhibit two completely different plots, it has been found that they have matching frameworks.
Works Cited
Bronzino, Agnolo. Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time. 27 Mar. 2003 arthp/bio/b/bronzino/biograph.html>. Oates, Joyce Carol. “Realism of Distance, Realism of Immediacy [Review of The
Collected Stories]. Critical Essays on Peter Taylor. Ed. Hubert H. McAlexander. New York: G. K. Hall & Company, 1993.
Sacred-Texts: Gothic. 3 Apr 2003 .
Taylor, Peter. “Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time”. The Literature of the American South: A
Norton Anthology. Ed. William L. Andrews. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1998.
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Marlow Engl. 12 Sect. 24
The majority of those who read The Odyssey consider the protagonist of the story, Odysseus, a hero. On many occasions, however, Odysseus makes decisions beneficial to himself alone. For example, when Odysseus and his men find themselves on Polyphemus's island, Odysseus's actions are self-centered and at the expense of his men. This can be said for most of Odysseus's actions in the story, as his main objective is to reach his home. Having his men by his side when he returns seems a trivial thing to him. Odysseus could be considered a hero, but many of his actions say otherwise. Due to the many unfaithful and self-centered decisions he makes in the story, Odysseus is not a hero.
People are heroes in different ways for different reasons. American soldiers are heroes because they fight boldly for their country. Corrie Ten Boom is also a hero because she took risks and saved hundreds of Jews. Abraham Lincoln is another example of a hero because he fought for what he thought was right and helped free all slaves. Similarly, Odysseus, the main character in Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, possesses all of these characteristics and many more, making him a true epic hero.
Edgar Allan Poe primarily authored stories dealing with Gothic literature; the stories were often quite dreary. Poe possessed a very sorrowful view of the world and he expressed this throughout his literary works. His goal was to leave an impression with every detail that he included in his stories. Although Poe’s stories seem very wretched and lackluster they all convey a certain idea. A trademark of Poe’s is his use of very long complex sentences. For instance, in his work The Fall of the House of Usher, Poe tried to ensure that every detail was as relevant as possible by integrating a wide variety of emotion. In the third paragraph, of page two hundred ninety-seven, Poe wrote, “Feeble gleams of encrimsoned light made their way through the trellised panes, and served to render sufficiently distinct the more prominent objects around…” This sentence illustrates the descriptiveness and complexity that Edgar Allan Poe’s works consisted of. The tormented cognizance of Poe led him to use a very gloomy diction throughout his writing. Edgar Allan Poe’s use of symbols and the way he conveyed his writing expr...
Throughout the years, Gothic literature has developed to be a mirror representation of what the beliefs and thoughts of the time were. The Gothic has a tendency to express beliefs towards the socioeconomic, political and religious situations and grievances of the time. Many texts express this, some including Edgar Allen Poe’s The House of Usher and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, to then allow for the general public – at least those who were literate – to, subconsciously, understand the environment around them without being too direct. This gave the writers of the time a new channel, through this ge...
Edgar Allan Poe is forever identified with his eerie poem “The Raven” with his many gothic horror stories, and as the father of the detective story (Werlock1). Poe’s stories are known in America and Europe. Most of Poe’s stories are Gothic, which he describes them as “arabesque” a term that he felt best described as flowery (Wilson52). Poe proclaimed his writing a reaction to typical literature of the day, which he called “the heresy of the Didactic” for its tendency to preach (Wilson52). Some of Poe’s stories are also comedies. “The Fall of the House of Usher” was a nevertheless typical of Poe’s short stories in that it presents narrator thrust into a psychologically intense situation in which otherworldly forces conspire to drive at least one of the characters insane (Wilson53).Edgar Allan Poe had a difficult life after dropping out of college. He became a short story writer, one of his stories being “The Fall of the House of Usher”. “The Fall of the House of Usher” uses literary elements of symbols and settings to further the theme of evil.
Edgar Allan Poe has been debated to be the author of the most dark and horrific pieces of literature. He was favored by many for his complex pieces of literature that have ultimately impacted the world of literature today. However, Poe’s pieces of work did receive harsh criticism before and after his death. Because Poe was generally known for his thought-provoking short stories, his short stories often received mixed reviews. One of Poe’s most arguable short stories is “The Fall of the House of Usher”. This short story was “regarded as an early and supreme example of the Gothic horror story” (Plot Summary: "The Fall of the House of Usher"). Poe himself described this piece as “arabesque” due to its ornate prose (Plot Summary: "The Fall of the House of Usher"). However, many critics disagreed with each other on their views of “The Fall of the House of Usher”.
George F. Kennan, an American political scientist and historian, once said, “Heroism is endurance for one moment more” (BrainyQuote). That means that perseverance even in the darkest hour is what qualifies someone as a true hero. With that in mind, it is difficult to refute the fact that Odysseus is a hero by both modern standards and a hero in Greek mythology. This Greek war leader, who spent 20 years away from home taking on challenge after challenge, surely pressed on through every moment in which his heroism was tested. Everything he did was for his men, the soldiers that at times questioned his leadership, only to find out that he was correct all along. While he had moments in which his pride overshadowed him, that was simply his confidence showing through, one of the very virtues that kept him alive. If he had not been a confident leader, perhaps his crew would have had trouble following his brilliant schemes. Odysseus was a clever man who always knew how to get out of a sticky situation. Throughout The Odyssey, Odysseus repeatedly proves his worth as a hero by evading trouble with his cleverness, persevering through the trials he faces, and overall acting as a loyal shepherd to his flock of men.
The main character of the Odyssey, Odysseus the King of Ithaca is given a complex personality to an extent where it is hard to identify whether he is a true hero or not. True heroism is only achieved when a person achieves certain qualities that portray heroism. Odysseus is not a hero based on the standards of merciful, selfless, and gentle because of his actions of sacrificing his men, killing the suitors and being ruthless throughout the Odyssey. Along with many others qualities these three are helpful and necessary in a hero. A hero must be willing to do service for others and put the needs of others safety and protection before his own. Odysseus does not even come close to matching these qualities because he is a person, who only serves of himself, and he sacrifices his allies to achieve his goals and often he takes action ruthlessly.
In “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Poe establishes a new type of literature, he emphasizes sides of Empiricism as well as the idea of Transcendence.
The first stanza of the poem visually describes a tranquil ordinary beach scene, but through the sounds of language the reader learns the speaker sees the beach in more chaos than the visuals suggest. Passive verbs that dominate the first five lines of the poem such as ?is? (line 1) and ?lies? (line 2), as well as describing the sea as ?calm? (line 1) and the moon as ?fair? (line 2) contribute to the tranquil visual image of the beach. However, onomatopoeia, rhythm and rhyme do not agree with the tranquil beach scene. For example, onomatopoeia serves to aurally represent the violent action of the waves on the pebbles. The pebbles are already in a chaotic state with their ?grating roar? (line 9). Then the waves come and, ?draw back, and fling? (line 10) the pebbles to create more chaos. ?Fling? ends the line on a chaotic note. This process is aurally represented by, ?begin, and cease, and then again begin? (line 12). The line presents the reader with a beat that further emphasizes the chaotic pattern of the waves and pebbles. T...
Edgar Allan Poe is notorious for his use of imagery. As he begins his account of his reunion with Roderick Usher in “The Fall of the House of Ushe...
Word by word, gothic literature is bound to be an immaculate read. Examining this genre for what it is could be essential to understanding it. “Gothic” is relating to the extinct East Germanic language, people of which known as the Goths. “Literature” is defined as a written work, usually with lasting “artistic merit.” Together, gothic literature combines the use of horror, death, and sometimes romance. Edgar Allan Poe, often honored with being called the king of horror and gothic poetry, published “The Fall of House Usher” in September of 1839. This story, along with many other works produced by Poe, is a classic in gothic literature. In paragraph nine in this story, one of our main characters by the name of Roderick Usher,
Thomas Hobbes once described the life of man as “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. The condition of man ... is a condition of war of everyone against everyone”. William Golding novel, Lord of the flies, is about a group of British boys stranded on an island. Through this book, one witnesses the cruel and nefarious actions of the older kids towards the younger kids. In addition, the reader sees how far some of the characters are willing to go in their quest for power. Through symbols of fire, the Lord of the flies, and images of darkness, the reader sees the world through the eyes of pre teen boys.
Literally, "Dover Beach" flows through four irregularly rhymed sections that increase in emotional impact and describe a lover's need for faithfulness in an otherwise dark and unfaithful world. In this traditional sense, the narrator of "Dover Beach" is either a man or woman standing at a window wearily reflecting on the world while staring at the beauty of the night coast. In the first section (Arnold's poem is very prose-like in its lack of a distinct structure or rhyme scheme, sputtering through the first nine lines in an abacdbdce rhyme scheme), the lover declares that "The sea is calm tonight." The poem continues with simple imagery of the atmosphere, describing the full tide, the moon, the beaches of Dover, the night air, the waves, all of which we presume are viewable from the narrator's window. The scene is cemented: a moon-bathed beach, the waves drawing back, only to crash back in a "grating roar of pebbles." "The eternal note of sadness" is set as the lover begins to question the beauty he sees and the love he longs to keep.
In this case, it may not be worth while to try dating them, because it would make things fairly difficult. You would possible be forced to choose between a relationship with them, and your beloved dog.