Similarities Between The Raven And The Fall Of The House Of Usher

Edgar Allan Poe is most well known for his mysterious and macabre short stories and poems. Some of his cryptic works include “The Raven” and “The Tell-Tale Heart.” In “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Edgar Allan Poe uses emphasis on the senses, Romanticism’s superiority over Rationalism, an interest in the supernatural, and a distrust of civilization to show Romanticism.
Poe shows Romanticism’s superiority over Rationalism. He shows an emphasis on feelings. When the Narrator, (from here on known as Harold), arrives at Roderick Usher’s house, he notices how eerie and enigmatic it looks, yet he enters the foreboding, dark, mansion anyway: “the narrator seems to be dreaming more than dealing with the reality before him” (Mowery 60). Typically

someone would realize that they cannot trust their emotions and / or senses and then they would follow their intellect.

Harold, on the other hand, follows his heart and simply ignores his conscience that warns him not to proceed inside this haunting house. This superiority is also reflected in imagination and individual emotion being of greater importance than reason or logic. Later, when Usher asks Harold to help bury the body of his sister, Madeline, Harold does not question him at all. The ability to reason and question the circumstances surrounding a death seems to escape harold’s conscience. No longer does he have an ability to think logically and act appropriately; it has faded away. Richard Wilbur states that “‘Usher’ is ‘a triumphant report by the narrator that it is possible for the poetic soul to shake off this temporal, rational, physical world and escape, if only for a moment, to a realm of unfettered vision’” (Bieganowski, 208-209). These characters get lost in their own world and they long to leave the stress of everything else behind. They accept what is right in front of them because they do not want to struggle any more; to deal with the internal turmoil that rages within. The characters also try to escape from reality. They find this escape by reading. When they both wake up one

night hearing disturbing sounds Harold says “Here is one of your favorite romances. I will read, and you shall listen;--and so we will pass away this terrible night together” (Poe, 12). The frightening thoughts and uneasy feelings racing in their minds make them both want to escape from reality. To successfully escape from all of life’s disturbances they reach for a book and read.
In “The Fall of the House of Usher” Poe conveys an emphasis on the senses to further develop his use of Romanticism. To place such emphasis on the senses he uses emotional language. When the Narrator arrives at the house he recounts how he looked at the house “and the simple landscape features of the domain--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 1). The long description of Usher’s house and other events continue throughout the story. Poe gives details on who Roderick Usher really is and this again reveals the Romanticism incorporated throughout his story. Usher’s peculiar home is located in the middle of nowhere. It is a mysterious home which perfectly shows Romanticism. Renata Wasserman states that “This extreme isolation is the result of a long process, that Roderick feels the imminence of a crisis, and that in order to avert it he calls the narrator, a representative of the non-Usher world, into the closed system he has established” (34). Roderick Usher is a lonely person and his home portrays that convincingly. This old, bizarre, house with a tarn and a fissure in the roof adds to the mysteriousness and impending gloom that lie in wait throughout the story. When Harold first enters the house he finds Usher, who had been lying on the sofa. Harold’s description of Roderick Usher’s mien shows aesthetic literature. He describes him as having “a cadaverousness of complexion; an eye large, liquid, and luminous beyond comparison; lips somewhat thin and very pallid, but of a surpassingly beautiful curve . . .” (Poe 4). This aesthetic literature further develops emphasis on the senses. Poe paints a vivid picture of despondency and despair to show emotion.
Poe shows an interest in the supernatural to show Romanticism.

During the last night Harold stays at the eerie house, everything seems more ghoulish than usual. Lady Madeline coming back to life is completely inexplicable which yet again shows Romanticism. This is clearly seen when “it was the work of the rushing gust--but then without those doors there did stand the lofty and enshrouded figure of the lady Madeline of Usher” (Poe 14). This appearance of a woman is truly unfathomable. She appears to be dead, locked in a dark, cold, closed off tomb. This is also shown with the constant sounds the characters hear throughout the days Harold is visiting. This revival of an allegedly dead woman is inexplicable, thus pulling out supernatural elements that substantiate the only reason Madeline appears alive. Madeline comes out of her grave and no one knows how it is possible. One critic suggests that the Usher family might be vampiric: “His present illness has developed since he has lived in the House, ‘whence, for many years, he had never ventured forth.’ Thus, some influence in the House is suggested. It may be vampiric” (Bailey 123). This theory would explain why both Roderick and Madeline Usher both look so ghastly and also why they stray away from civilization. Not only would the vampiric theory prove that, but it would explain how Madeline comes back to life after being buried. Last, the suspense, specifically when Harold reads a story to Usher to calm his nerves. While

reading “Mad Trist” they notice that the fictional sounds also happen in real life: “from some very remote portion of the mansion, there came, indistinctly, to my ears, what might have been, in its exact similarity of character, the echo of the very cracking and ripping sound which Sir Launcelot had so particularly described” (Poe 13). Also, the title of the book they read contains the word Mad, just like Madeline’s name. A common definition of this word is insane or mentally ill which perfectly fits with the Usher’s lives. The word mad further correlates to the preternatural events.
Another way Edgar Allan Poe shows Romanticism is through the character’s distrust of civilization. They want to escape from civilization. The Usher’s house is in the middle of nowhere and has a tarn around it, blocking it off from the outer world. This strange demeanor reflected in the Usher home establishes a feeling of distrust that the Usher have in their hearts: to never trust anyone. Poe “would place stories in a remote country . . . He would also use a remote time to make it believable, not only because readers were accustomed to a sort of medieval age but also because the supposedly fantastic event could not be ascertained or denied” (Guerrero 77). He uses this escape to help make the unimaginable events that occur make sense and seem more plausible. If the Usher’s house was placed in a city the story would not be as mysterious and ominous as it is currently, an uncanny home away from everyone. Next, this distrust of civilization is shown in Roderick Usher’s distrust of the city and love for nature. He “...refuses all relations. Though in this manner he avoids the dangers of an encounter between self and Other, he is in the sole process erasing the line that, by marking the difference between the natural world and the society of men, defines him as human” (Mautner 34). Usher wants no contact with other people. Staying in the middle of nowhere, he is fine. It is also possible that Usher calls Harold, a friend that he has not spoken to in years, because he has no other friends or even acquaintances. Finally, Poe shows the countryside as a place of independence. It is also shown as a place of moral certainty and health which is much the opposite with the Ushers. They are on their own and wish to stay like that. They are also sick, mentally and physically; “The disease of the lady Madeline had long baffled the skill of her physicians” (Poe 6). No one quite understood Madeline’s illness and it is also possible that her doctor was not only there for her. He could have been tending to Roderick Usher also. The Ushers stay clear of people and are much independent even though that might not be good for their health.