Examples Of Gothic Literature In The Fall Of The House Of Usher

A Dissection of Poe’s Gothic Work
Heart-racing, bone-chilling, palm sweating and hair raising. These are all experiences that Edgar Allen Poe takes his reader through with his use of gothic literature in his short story “The Fall of the House of Usher”. “Gothic literature originating in Europe and was a popular form of writing in the United States during the 19 century”(Allen R111). This sub-genre of literature is characterized by the use of paranormal experiences, dark settings, eerie events and other creepy depictions. Poe was one of the first writers in the 19th century to compose gothic literature. Poe’s use of gothic literature stemmed partly from his life experiences and personal tragedies that he endured. Poe’s use of dark overtones

It all begins with a letter sent to the narrator from Roderick Usher, an old distant friend; “he had been one of my boon companions in boyhood; but many years had elapsed since our last meeting” (Poe 406). This manuscript sets the tone of this eerie story. The narrator stated that the letter “gave evidence of nervous agitation,” and Rodericks “acute bodily illness---of a mental disorder which oppressed him---and of an earnest desire to see me”(Poe 406). Because of the urgency of the letter the narrator felt compelled to visit Roderick right away and the weird events continued. As he arrived, he noticed throughout the “whole mansion and domain there hung an atmosphere peculiar to themselves and their immediate vicinity”(Poe 407). He went on to notice “Its principal feature seemed to be that of excessive antiquity”(Poe 407). The house was discolored, covered in fungi and had a crack that zig-zagged down the wall. The inside was found to be the same with “long windows-dark draperies, vaulted ceilings, antique furniture and books and musical instruments scattered about” (Poe 408). Perhaps one of the creepiest characteristics was the mansions direct correlation with Usher 's’ mental state. He describes it as “an influence which some peculiarities in the mere form and substance of his family mansion had, by dint of long sufferance, he said, obtained over his spirit” and “brought upon the morale of his

One night Roderick approached the narrator and said that “the lady Madeline was no more, he stated his intention of preserving her corpse for a fortnight”(Poe 415). Both men preceded by burying her, “ the body having been encoffined we two alone bore it to its rest. The vault in which we placed it was small damp and entirely without means of admissions for light; lying, at great depth”(Poe 415). During this time, the narrator noticed that Madeline’s appearance seemed different. He went on by stating that “the disease which had thus entombed the lady in maturity of her youth, had left, as usual in all maladies of strictly cataleptical character, the mockery of a faint blush upon the bosom and the face and that suspiciously lingering smile upon the lip,” (Poe 417). Which leaves the reader wondering if Madeline was really dead, or were the two other characters in the story committing an unthinkable act of violence by killing her. Despite the burial, the readers have not seen the last of Madeline. Two weeks after they buried her she made a dramatic reappearance “but then without those doors there did stand the lofty and enshrouded figure of the lady Madeline of Usher. There was blood upon her white robes, and the evidence of some bitter struggle upon every portion of her emaciated