Fall of the House of Usher

1. Fall of the House of Usher Edgar Allen Poe

2. Characters • The House… • Blank eyes, desolate, GLOOMY, cracked, decaying, mirrored by the tarn (twin), crumbles/”dies” • Roderick Usher (twins of the house) • Socially awkward, very private, $, artists, musicians, incest, bug-eyed, looks dead, floating hair, bi-polar (druggie?), “acuteness of senses,” afraid of fear, he NEVER leaves home, (house won’t let him), “the house is alive”, buries his sister alive, dies of fear (heart attack?)

3. Characters (continued) • Madeline – sister, dying, (does she exist?), twin (twin telepathy), physically wasting away, buried alive, claws her way out, collapses on Usher • The Narrator • The house makes him uneasy, unnerved by the storm, becomes high strung like his friend as he stays in the house, runs from the house as it crumbles.

4. Terms • Doppelganger - a paranormal double of a living person often view as bad luck or evil, an omen of death… • Single Effect - goal of creating one strong emotion . Plot and character are simplified and often inconsequential to the force of the story's feeling. • Archetype – a message or symbol that remains the same despite time or place.

5. Plot • The narrator arrives at Usher (rec’d letter – he is Usher’s only friend). • He tries to distract Usher from his depression by reading, painting, playing music… • Lady Madeline will be entombed in the “basement” (which used to store gunpowder). • Usher becomes even more neurotic • The Narrator is afraid (?) as a storm brews and noises can be heard. • The Narrator reads to calm them. The noises of the night/Madeline mimic those of the novel. • Both brother and sister die together. The house crumbles in unison.

6. Anti-Transcendental • Darkness • Isolation • Atmospheric Conditions • Color • Maze-like setting • Death • Gore • Unnatural