![]() In other words, the house has contributed to their illnesses, suggesting that the house has a powerful and influential role in their lives. Their mental states mirror the physical state of the house, and as the house deteriorates, the more impact it has on their mental states. These two are the main characters in the story and the only two surviving members of the Usher family. Another display of decay, probably one of the most obvious examples of all, is the decaying of both Roderick Usher and his sister Madeline. The old house and Poe’s gloomy imagery imply uncertainty as to whether the building has occupants or not: “… rotted for years… with no disturbance from the breath of the external air” (Poe, 1839, p. Details of the house show many years of deterioration: “minute fungi overspread the whole exterior, hanging in a fine tangled web-work from the eaves” (Poe, 1839, p. He describes the scene by saying, “the whole mansion and domain there hung an atmosphere peculiar… which had reeked up from the decayed trees, and the grey walls, and the silent tarn” (Poe, 1839, p. Strangely enough, despite noticing this, the narrator continues making his way towards the house.ĭecay is another aspect of Gothic literature that plays a role in the narrator’s fear of the place. However, symbolically, it represents a very different story: the end of the Usher family line. #Gothic literature images crackThe crack seems to indicate that the house is very old and ruined and that it could collapse at any time. Then, the narrator makes the strangest and most unsettling observation of all, “a barely perceptible fissure, which extending from the roof of the building in front, made its way down the wall in a zigzag direction, until it became lost in the sullen waters of the tarn” (Poe, 1839, p. The general furniture was profuse, comfortless, antique, and tattered” (Poe, 1839, p. Once having entered the house, the narrator describes every object in the room using gloomy imagery such as, “dark draperies hung upon the walls. 4) the terrain decaying the entire scene fills the narrator with dread, acknowledged by his comment “… the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit” (Poe, 1839, p. #Gothic literature images windowsAs the narrator approaches the house, he depicts the windows as "vacant eyes" (Poe, 1839, p. 4), suggesting that the house plays a significant role in the story and may foreshadow future events. He refers to the house as “the melancholy House of Usher” (Poe, 1839, p. Themes of fear and evil drawn from Gothic architecture are other examples that Poe uses in Gothic literature. The description of the environment is important since it helps to build a vivid image of the place and develops the mood of the narrative. 3), and “the ghastly tree stems" (Poe, 1839, p. ![]() ![]() 3), “dreary tract of country" (Poe, 1839, p. ![]() From the beginning of the story, Poe describes the dreary setting and eerie surroundings to intensify the narrator’s terror and engage the reader using phrases such as, “during the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day" (Poe, 1839, p. ![]()
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