Insanity In The Fall Of The House Of Usher

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Recommended: Critical essays - psychological aspects of The Fall of the House of Usher

Insanity: used to describe someone who is “ seriously mentally ill”. “The fall of the house of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe and “ A rose for emily” by William Faulkner both use the theme of insanity in their stories. They both create a dark and mysterious setting to create an atmosphere of horror. In “ A rose for Emily”, Faulkner’s main character is Emily Grierson who shuts society out and is so lonely that she kills her lover to maintain the love of her life by her side forever. On the other hand, “The fall of the of Usher” is about twins who are lovers: Roderick and Madelline Usher. Roderick suffers from depression, fear, and “ a morbid acuteness of the sense..” (page 9, Poe). Madelline also suffers from an unusual disease, so when she passes …show more content…

For example, Emily and Roderick both loved people who were unacceptable. Roderick’s love was impossible because he loved his own sister and Emily because she fell in love with Homer barron who was a poor northerner and it was socially unacceptable for a wealthy woman to marry a poor man, “ ..the ladies all said, ‘of course a Grierson wouldn’t think seriously of a northerner, a day labourer.”. Emily Grierson and Roderick Usher’s mansions were both dark. A quote by Poe states, “ Dark draperies hung upon the walls. “ (page 7, Poe). Also, both Emily and Roderick were lonely and struggled to let their lovers go after their death, so they kept their dead bodies in their houses, “temporary entombment” (page 17, Poe) as it is described by Roderick. A difference between the two short stories was that “In a rose for Emily”, Emily killed Homer, the love of her life, while in “The fall of the house of Usher”, Roderick didn’t kill Madelline. She died of natural causes, because of her “unusual diagnosis” (page 11, Poe).

To conclude, in both “A rose for Emily” and “The fall of the house of Usher”, the main characters both suffer from mental illnesses which contribute to the theme of insanity. Faulkner and Poe both create a peculiar environment that allows the reader to feel a sense of horror. In “ A rose for Emily”, Faulkner portrays insanity through Emily and her loneliness, as well as how she isolates herself . Meanwhile, Poe evokes the theme of madness through the Usher siblings and the mansion in “ The fall of the house of

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