The Fall of the House of the Usher

The Fall of the House of the Usher

During the nineteenth century, literary writers were encouraged in transcendentalism. Their main focus was on capturing the spirituality in nature. For example, authors such as Henry Thoreau and Ralph Emerson were dominating the world of poetry and prose with their tales of nature. From Thoreau's' journey through the Maine Woods to Emerson's Nature, the transcendental ere, was in the main stream. Yet, not all of the nineteenth century writers shared this same viewpoint. As a matter of fact, one writer emerging, who proved to be just as prominent, had a viewpoint in direct opposition of his contemporaries. The great Edgar Allen Poe, though born during the same period and encountered the same influences, would emerge as a different writer. "Those others", Emerson, Hawthorne, Thoreau, Whittier and Holmes, "turned toward Wordsworth while Poe, took Coleridge as his loadstar in his search for a consistent theory of art" (Perkins 1236).

Poe's creativity was, perhaps, due to the lifestyle in which he lived. It was obviously different, much more harsh and filled with heartache and death. His influence on the arts was different from that of his contemporaries as well. "He influenced the course of creative wiring and criticism by emphasizing the are that appeals simultaneously to reason and to emotion and by insisting that the work of art is not a fragment of the author's life, nor an adjunct to didactic purpose, but an object created in the cause of beauty—which he defined in its largest spiritual implication" (1236).

His life was a very tragic which was displayed through many of his works. Some of his poetry for example, could be construed as horrid accounts of death. "The Rave...

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...ed them so much, yet he was helpless to either of them.

Unlike such authors as Hawthorne and Longfellow, he did not have the luxury of a permanent place he could call home. He often lacked the financial mans to live a suitable life. One might say where he lacked in monetary value; he made up for in literary brilliance. If you want to analyze the significance of God as a superior being and or his presence in Nature, then the transcendentalist would be your choice of author. However, if you want to be entertained by horror and become so obsessed with the concept of death that you question your won sanity, bay all means seek the master—Edgar Allen Poe.

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WORKS CITED

Poe, Edgar Allen. "The Fall of the House of Usher." The American Tradition in Literature. Ed. Barbara and George Perkins. Boston: McGraw-Hill College, 1999