The Fall of the House of Usher: Gothic Literature

Edgar Allan Poe was born in January 19, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts. His father and mother are both professional actors. Unfortunately, by the time Poe was two. His parents passed away. Poe was raised in a foster home of John Allan, a prosperous exporter from Richmond, Virginia. In 1815, Allen's family moved to Scotland and England to live for five years. In 1820, the family moved back to Richmond. Poe wrote his first poetry when he was sixteen. Poe went to the University of Virginia. In there he had owed debts by stared gambling and drink. Allan's family refused to pay Poe's debts, so he had to leave the University in 1827. He attended to the army after that, also Poe publish his first poetry collection named Tame lane and Other Poems with the cover states was By a Bostonian in the same year. Two years later, 1829, Poe published his second collection with slightly more attention. Few months later, Poe discharged the army and entered the West Point military academy. Because the Allan's family did not provide the Poe with sufficient funds to maintain himself at school, nor the school not give any consent necessary to resign. Poe gained dismissal by not doing his duties. He moved to New York and published his book Poems in 1831. In 1834, Poe's foster father, Allan's death provided Poe a legacy. Poe moved backed to Richmond and became an editor of Southern Literacy Messenger. For this position, Poe made himself famous as a superlative author of fictions, poetry, also a literacy critic. In 1836, Poe married his cousin, Virginia, who was only thirteen at the time. After Virginia's death in 1847, Poe engaged to Mrs. Shelton two years after. Poe died on October 7, 1849 with his semi consciousness mind in the last days of his life in Baltimore.

Edgar Allan Poe was living in the Romanticism period, so did his literature have a big influence. One of his well-known short story is ""The Fall of The House of Usher"". This story is also a Gothic story; it is a fiction that have elements of horror setting, supernatural, madness feelings of terror and fears.

During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens. From the beginning of the story. ""The Fall of The House of Usher"" has a scary setting that created an imagine of ghostly place. Autumn known for a sadness season, when the days get dark early. This is the season when all the leaves fall all over, it is the implicit for deathly people. Unlike the spring, when all things grow, fresh air and bright days. The castle is the common setting for Gothic story, ""The Fall of The House of Usher"" placed is the castle with eye-like windows, this image created a soul of the castle itself, add on it the few white trunks decayed tree-with the depression of soul around the castle. Poe used words such as bleak wall, decayed tree, grey sedge, gray stone, stern air, tangle web-work, to describe a sorrow picture through his story. He made the characters in the story seen weak with illness and suffers. This explained for how the House of Usher is lifeless, no lights can get in the house, the oppressive of odors of all flowers. Poe's setting challenges his audience to imagine the deadly fiction in his story.

Poe state that Usher's voice is varied rapidly from a tremulous indecision, he gave example as an animal spirits seemed utterly in abeyance. His voice is abrupt, weighty, unhurried, and hollow-sounding enunciation. Poe compared Usher voice with addicts. That leaden, self- balanced and perfectly modulated guttural utterance, which may be observed in the lost drunkard, or the irreclaimable eater of opium, during the periods of his most intense excitement. The madness sorrow of Usher fully describes in his fear and his heavy suffers. The comparison of Poe for Usher is a great example, when the Usher's mind is hollow and terror. It is hard to have clear decisions, nor his action. Usher fear of the abandon sooner or later with get his life. Similarity with the addicts, when the drug gets in their body, thee are not such things they can feel, their mind flow, they afraid the ""good feeling"" they have will go away. There is just a madness in several madness characteristics cover in the whole Usher's house.

Toward the end of the story, Poe let more fears appear in the story. The fear from the setting; the fear of the narrator; especially, the fear of Usher when he is hearing his sister, Madeline is coming closer and closer to take his soul with her. Usher said, We have put her living in the tomb! "" Usher terrified, we can tell Usher regret and afraid with his actions. He heard Madeline feeble movements in the hollow coffin under the tomb. The characteristic of Gothic stands when usher repeat several times that he had heard Madeline's movements many days ago, he hear the breaking of the hermit's door, and the death-cry of the dragon, and the clangor of the shield! Usher mind is not consistence no more, he stared to ask the narrator insensitivity questions, ""Oh whither shall I fly? Will she not be here anon? Is she not hurrying to upbraid me for my haste? Have I not heard her footstep on the stair? Do I not distinguish that heavy and horrible beating of her heart? Madman!. Usher said, Madman! I tell you that she now stands without the door?"" Poe challenges the reader's imagination a gain to picture the ghostly Madeline. This is the element of Romanticism literature, the supernatural appearances with horror factors bring the violent and fear for the imagination.

When the narrator fled the Usher's cattle. The house of usher describes with ghostly setting again. For instants, the narrator sees a full, setting, and blood-red moon, shine vividly. He sees discernible fissures on the wall; the break down zigzag direction from the roof to the base. In the storm, the house of Usher collapsed alsike there was a long tumultuous shouting sound like the voice of a thousand water.

And, round about his home, the glory

That blushed and bloomed

Is but a dim-remembered story?

Of the old time entombed ""

The Usher's house's fall is such a connection with The Haunted Palace that Usher and the narrator talked not too long before Usher's death. According to the song lyric, the Usher's house is just the imaginary image. It is gone now; the old day is pass. They are bright days ahead. Things are temporary, so does fear and wealth.

I learned a lesson by the imagine of the collapse of the Usher's house in the end of the story that fear, and the paranoia can lead to terrified madness.

After reading this story, I know more about Gothic literature. All the elements to create honor in books and movies now a day are somewhat related to old day literary. I can tell the conclusion that horror setting is a huge impact on Gothic's work, because the horror setting can get reader attention, as well as the fully horror setting will open the imaginary of reader. Gothic literary are fictions that have elements of horror setting, supernatural, madness feelings of terror and fears. Gothic literary begins with the sorrow feeling, the darkness side, the lifeless surrounding factors. Over all, the Romanticism literature are fictions, and fictions are always challenges imagination.

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