Both Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” and Julio Cortazar’s “House Taken Over” have identical settings, because they both set inside an old family house and have a mystery and dark element to them. However, in “The Fall of the House of Usher,” the setting is more bleak and gloomy, and the Usher’s house had a huge crack down the front of it, meaning that it was not in any good condition. By contrast, in “House Taken Over,” the setting is more quiet and calm, and the house is more neat and tidy despite all the dust. These stories show elements of the discouraging or grim setting to them and have a transformation in settings and mood. Similarly, they have the same elements, but are not exactly alike at all. Gothic literature is a genre that was created in England during the late 1700s and has …show more content…
a lot to do with medieval castles, cathedrals, and old architecture, and over time it was seen that the medieval buildings had something discouraging and depressing about them(33). Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” is a good example of Gothic literature, because it shows a discouraging mood and setting. It is said in the story, that when the narrator arrives near the front yard of the residence, he says,”with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervades my spirit”(Poe 13). It gives the reader a scene to imagine where the narrator sees a large shady house. Also another example in the story was when the narrator and Usher enter a room, and “Feeble gleams of encrimsoned light made their way through the trellised panes… Dark draperies hung upon the walls”(Poe 16). This gives out the unwelcoming kind of feels to the narrator and the reader. So Poe’s story is an example of gothic literature because it had the mood and setting to where the reader can imagine what it is like and feel the uncomfortable atmosphere. Magical Realism, a genre closely related to Latin American twentieth-century authors, is usually a combination of the two elements of reality and fantasy(45).
Julio Cortazar’s “House Taken Over” is an example of Magical Realism, because it gives out plenty of fictional assumptions with the realistic details of the house and characters. For example, it states in the story that “she[Irene] spent the rest of the day on the sofa in her bedroom, knitting”(Cortazar 38). This says that Irene does normal people stuff, like knitting. Another example is “...when I[the brother] heard something in the library or the dining room. The sound came through muted and indistinct, a chair being knocked over onto the carpet or the muffled buzzing of a conversation”(Cortazar 39). From this, the reader can only guess what the sound is and in the story, it does not exactly tell what the sounds were. Cortazar’s story is an example of what magical realism is because it has the reality element, where the brother describes the house and what he and Irene do everyday, and the unreal element, where there is something mysterious to the reader about what really is happening to their
house. Gothic literature and Magical Realism are similar because they both have a peculiar and compelling aspects to the stories. In “The Fall of the House of Usher,” the compelling part of it was at the end where Lady Madeline appeared “there…[with] blood upon her white robes… she remained trembling… then, with a low moaning cry, fell heavily inward upon the person of her brother…”(Poe 30). It was interesting to see her pop into the story, when she was said to be dead already. Also in “House Taken Over,” the part when they decided to run away, “we didn’t wait to look at one another… it was 11 p.m… I took Irene around the waist … and that was how we went into the street”(Cortazar 41-42), was also interesting and hard to take in, because they had to leave their house because of something, that the reader does not know of, that is most likely dangerous invading their house. These are why gothic literature and magical realism are both intriguing and similar genres for their peculiar and compelling aspects. “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “House Taken Over” are similar yet different. That is because they set in two different types of houses with two different kinds of people and separate stories. Poe showed more bleak and discouraging settings in the story with the house and how he described the rooms inside the house. Cortazar sets more of a normal yet mysteric setting to the story with his characters and what happened to the house. Nevertheless, these are both outstanding stories in their own unique way.
When comparing the stories “The Fall of the House of Usher” written by Edgar Allen Poe and “The House Taken Over” by Julio Cortazar. The setting in both are in a creepy, big house with a gothic style to it, which makes it more creepy. Both of the authors were a dark and demented type. Both in their stories have a big, empty house with a few people in them, with either kids that are living alone or with grandparents. Also both stories have a sense of having something under their sleeve to hit us with.
Gothic Literature was a natural progression from romanticism, which had existed in the 18th Century. Initially, such a ‘unique’ style of literature was met with a somewhat mixed response; although it was greeted with enthusiasm from members of the public, literary critics were much more dubious and sceptical.
Julio Cortazar's “House Taken Over” is a good example of Magical Realism because it contains those two elements in it. An example in the story for the first element, reality, is the line “We rose at seven in the morning and got the cleaning done, and about eleven I left Irene to finish off whatever rooms and went to the kitchen. We lunched at noon precisely; then there was nothing left to do but a few dirty plate” (38). Another example that is for the second element, fantasy, is “...I heard the noise in the kitchen, then the bath, the passage off at that angle dulled the sound” (41). These two are examples of the Magical Realism because they show the two elements of the literary genre, reality and fantasy.
When writing a story that is meant to scare the reader, authors use a variety of different literary elements to intensify fear. This is apparent in the stories “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “beware: do not read this poem,” and “House Taken Over”. It is shown through transformation in the character, setting, and sometimes even the story or poem itself, adding to the scariness that the reader feels when reading it. While there are some examples of transformation not being scary or not playing a role in stories meant to scare us, transformation plays a crucial role in making the reader of these stories scared.
Poe’s stories “The Cask of Amontillado”, “The Black Cat”, “The Fall of the House of Usher”, and “The Masque of the Red Death” all share a common setting. “The Fall of the House of Usher” has a setting of creepy and dark setting. The setting helps with this story because the rest of the Usher family dis off and the house falls.
Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” and Julio Cortazar’s “House Taken Over” the settings are similar because they can both be described as dark in some passages, and ultimately alluring. However in Poe’s “The Fall of the House,” the setting is revolving around the climax, so it is all very dramatic and highly detailed, almost ominous. In contrast, Cortazar’s setting is slightly more laid back, things take place in time and it is all very dreamlike.
The works of Edgar Allan Poe consist of many aspects of gothic literature, The Fall of the House of Usher especially. The tragic, horrible nature of the characters, bizarre situations, and events in the story perfectly shape it into a masterpiece of gothic literature. Everything in this short story, from the description of the house, to when the house falls in the end, it all creates a dark, gothic theme and environment. “-and the deep and dank tarn at my feet closed sullenly and silently over the fragments of the ‘House of Usher’”(Poe
In the story “The Fall of the House of Usher”, Poe presents the history of the end of an illustrious family. As with many of Poe’s stories, setting and mood contribute greatly to the overall tale. Poe’s descriptions of the house itself as well as the inhabitants thereof invoke in the reader a feeling of gloom and terror. This can best be seen first by considering Poe’s description of the house and then comparing it to his description of its inhabitants, Roderick and Madeline Usher.
Edgar Allen Poe’s short story, “The Fall of the House of Usher”, sets a tone that is dark, gloomy, and threatening. His inclusion of highly descriptive words and various forms of figurative language enhance the story’s evil nature, giving the house and its inhabitants eerie and “supernatural” qualities. Poe’s effective use of personification, symbolism, foreshadowing, and doubling create a morbid tale leading to, and ultimately causing, the fall of (the house of) Usher.
The human condition, a concept prevalent in several pieces of literature, encompasses the emotional, moral, questioning, and observant nature of humans. This concept is often used by authors to emphasize the characteristics that set humans apart from other living creature. Edgar Allan Poe’s dark fantasy piece “The Fall of the House of Usher” perfectly depicts the human condition as it conveys how fear and over-thinking can control one’s actions and life.
Older Gothic literature was in castles and deserted buildings. Modern Gothic novels were written in more populated areas. Another text that can be classed as ‘Gothic’ is the novel ‘Frankenstein’. The reason for it being a ‘Gothic’ novel is the way it has a mutant character. Frankenstein is a mutant and is made by a crazy scientist ‘I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of.
Two writers will never have the same set of writing skills. Julio Cortazar translated many of Edgar Allan Poe's books, so he understands his writing better than others. When reading the two books, “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe and “House Taken Over,” there are many similarities, but there are still some differences. Cortazar writes in more general terms, while Poe often lets the readers know exactly what is happening in the story. Poe will use the setting to add a certain element to the book, but Cortazar doesn't use darkness or weather to set the mood.
Both Poe and Oates have a gothic way of writing. It is obvious, after analyzing, that Oates is inspired by Poe’s writing but still has her own style. She has a similar mood in her story was Poe. They seem to almost make inanimate objects have emotions. In the stories “Where is Here” and “The Fall of the House of Usher” the settings groomy and the mood intensifies as the conflict comes to light.
All humans are designated to their own philosophy of whether or not they want to resemble a negative aspect of human nature or positive aspect. The world isn’t perfect filled with love and happiness as well as it's not all filled with greed, violence, and hatred. Many examples of negative and positive aspects of human nature are shown from author Edgar Allan Poe, which include a poem and stories such as The Pit and the Pendulum, The Fall of the House of Usher & The Raven. Additionally, these are also examples of dark romanticism which was Poe’s interpretation of topics such as death, lost of a loved one and the evils of human nature. As well as, transcendentalism which was influenced by romanticism and taught people to appeal to your own
There is one known very influential writing style called Gothic Literature. It is not only considered to involve the horror or gothic element but is combined with romance, superstition, women in distress, omens, portents, vision and supernatural events to name a few (Beesly). The history and beginning of this era is not well known. From a few writers came this writing style that has impacted the world. A famous artists known for this type of writing is a man named Edgar Allan Poe. He wrote many short stories and poems that include horror, gothic, and romance just mentioned.