Hello and welcome to the Discourse. The Fall of the House of Usher was a gothic short story written by Edgar Allan Poe that was first published in 1839 in Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine. In 1840, it was republished in the short story collection by Edgar Allan Poe titled Tales of Grotesque and Arabesque.
The short story is a Gothic Dark Romantic short story with elements of isolation, madness, family, supernatural forces, death, and decadence.
Characters of The Fall of the House of Usher:
The story is told by an unnamed narrator. He receives a letter of urgency from his childhood friend. The narrator decides to be with his friend in the time of his need. When he reaches there, he describes the ghastly old house of his friend in great detail. He finds that his friend is suffering from nervousness and he is mentally sick. Roderick Usher is the friend of the narrator. He is the last living descendant, along with his sister, of the age-old family of Usher. The Usher family is famous for its strange temperaments, and for creating in these moods wonderful works of art, deeds of charity, and contributions to “musical science." The Ushers have never crossed their family line. Only one member of the Usher family has survived from generation to generation, thereby forming a direct line of descent without any outside branches. Thus Roderick and his sister are the direct descendent of Ancient Ushers. However, the Usher family is stricken with a peculiar temperament and mental illness that seems to run through their blood. Because of his illness, Roderick is allergic to sunlight. Roderick Usher spends his days inside his dark and cavernous mansion, avoiding sunlight or the smells of flowers. Madeleine Usher is Roderick’s sister who is suffering a mysterious illness that is cataleptic in nature. Roderick loves his sister too much and he is completely devoted to her well-being. The two are living with each other without spouses in their great family mansion. Madeline’s health is continuously deteriorating and her insanity is increasing but Roderick seems unable to bear the thought of her death.
Summary of The Fall of the House of Usher:
The story begins as the narrator describes that he is traveling on a horse in a dull part of the countryside on a grim day. He reaches an old mansion, a huge old house that appears frightening and ghostly. The narrator feels an insufferable feeling of dread but he continues to the house. The walls and windows of the house are bleak. The mansion is very old and has been used by the Usher family for the time unknown. Some parts of the mansion are fine but some others appear crumbling. Overall, the structure of the mansion appears robust and able to withstand many more decades. However, there is a single crack on the mansion going from top to bottom of the façade.
The narrator is unable to understand why he is feeling such unease. He thinks that perhaps if the parts of the scene were to be rearranged, their effect would be different, so he rides over to the “tarn” with some water nearby the house and looks at the inverted image of the house in the water, but this image is even more hideous.
He received an urgent letter from his childhood friend Roderick Usher who lives in this mansion. Roderick is suffering some illness and he sought the narrator’s company urgently. Though the two have been close friends since childhood, the narrator remembers that Roderick has a strangely reserved temperament. But the Usher family is known for their strange temperaments and they are known to be great patrons of arts and music and continue to help people through charity. The narrator tries to shake away the feeling of terror that he felt while observing the house. As he enters the house, he is greeted by a servant who takes him to the Usher’s studio.
On the way to Usher’s studio, the narrator sees various striking old images and objects on the tapestries and carvings on the walls. These images again fill him with a strange sense of gloom and terror. Finally, he reaches Usher’s studio whose windows are so high that they could not be reached. The windows are partially covered and hardly any light comes from the outside. The room is huge and dark and the narrator finds it difficult to see things but notices that the room is filled with tattered furniture and books and musical instruments.
Roderick Usher rises and warmly greets his friend. But the narrator realizes that Roderick has changed a lot. He is much paler and less energetic than he was in the past. Roderick informs that he is suffering from nervousness and fear. He has grown allergic to sunlight and cannot face it. Roderick informs that perhaps his health condition is genetic and his senses are heightened, he has become too sensitive and prone to allergies. The narrator himself has an ill feeling towards this old mansion and he notices that Roderick too is afraid of his old house.
Roderick informs that his sister Madeleine is suffering from a mysterious disease. The doctors are unable to diagnose her illness properly. Perhaps she is suffering from, catalepsy, the loss of control of one’s limbs that causes seizures and deathlike trances. Doctors have no cure for her. However, Roderick loves his sister too much. They have been living together in this age-old house for so long. Roderick says that though Madeline is very weak, she is still able to walk around a little. Right at that moment, the lady Madeleine passes through the room. The narrator sees her and her sight fills him with fear. Madeline goes to her room and the narrator sees that Roderick is weeping while worrying for her. The narrator assures Roderick that things will become better. However, Madeline suffers a seizure on the same day and is now bedridden, unable to move.
The narrator starts living in the mansion in a room alongside Usher’s studio.
The narrator continues his best to cheer him up. He listens to Roderick play the guitar and make up words for his songs, and he reads him stories, However, he fails to raise Roderick’s spirit and continues to suffer gloom. The narrator observes the paintings made by Roderick and praises him but he finds them very abstract and dreadful.
One day, Roderick sings the poem “The Haunted Palace” and then tells the narrator that he believes the house he lives in to be alive and that this sentience arises from the arrangement of the masonry and vegetation surrounding it. Further, Roderick believes that his fate is connected to the family mansion. Roderick says that the mansion itself is unhealthy and thus, he too is unhealthy.
Roderick informs the narrator that Madeline again suffered a seizure and died during the trance. Roderick decides to bury her temporarily in the tombs below the house. He doesn’t want to take her to the morgue because he fears that the doctors might dig up her body for scientific examination since her disease was so strange to them. The narrator helps Roderick in placing the body of Madeline in the tomb. He notices that Madeline had rosy cheeks and she appeared beautiful even in death. He suddenly realizes that Madeline and Roderick were twins. After that, Roderick becomes more uneasy and difficult to control. One night, a heavy storm engulfs the mansion. Roderick knocks on the doors of the room of the narrator as he is frightened and cannot sleep. Roderick takes him to a window from where they see a bright-looking gas surrounding the house. Roderick is frightened by that gas but the narrator says that it is a natural phenomenon and there is nothing uncommon.
The narrator tries to soothe Roderick down and starts reading a story to him. He reads “The Mad Trist” by Sir Launcelot Canning, a medieval romance novel. The story is about a knight named Ethelred who breaks into a hermit's dwelling in an attempt to escape an approaching storm, only to find a palace of gold guarded by a dragon. Ethelred slays the dragon with his mighty sword and the dragon falls down with a piercing shriek. As the narrator reads the forceful entry of Ethelred into the hermit’s place, he and Roderick hear a crackling sound coming from below the mansion. At first, the narrator ignores it but the strange sound continues to grow. As he reads the piercing shriek of the falling dragon, he hears a strong loud sound that he cannot ignore. He observes that Roderick is too afraid and has slumped over in his chair. Roderick says that he is hearing these sounds for a few days and he thinks that they might have buried Madeline alive. Maybe she didn’t die but was just suffering another death-like trance. He says that maybe Madeline is trying to escape. He then shouts that Madeline is standing right behind the door. Right at that moment, a strong wind forces the door open and the narrator sees that Roderick’s doubts were right. He sees Madeline standing at the door in white robes bloodied from her struggles. She awkwardly moves towards Roderick and attacks him. Roderick dies of fear. Madeline then tries to attack the narrator who runs away from the house, saving his life. As he comes out of the mansion, he sees that the whole mansion crumbles to the ground on the single crack on the facade of the mansion from top to bottom that he observed when he reached here.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of American English Literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
No comments:
Post a Comment