Psychoanalytical Approach to E. A. Poe’s “the Fall of the House of Usher”

“‘Her decease,’ he said, with a bitterness which I can never forget, “ would leave him the last of the ancient race of the Ushers”’(Poe). The narrator's exaggeration stretches the differences between the Usher’s and standard families. Roderick Usher’s desperation affects him in a negative way as he only has one relationship in his life for the many years that he has been isolated for. His dependence on Madeline allows any influence by her to affect him negatively without any interference. The narrator notes the “striking similitude” between the two Usher siblings, as siblings it is surmised that they resemble each other, but the author draws attention to this detail, as if proposing another more complicated factor about their relationship on account of an† alliteration (Poe). This observation advocates an even closer relationship between the two siblings. Which can provide a better explanation for why she had to come back from the vault to kill Roderick, as they were twins, which were born together and must die together. Finally, Stein postulates that Roderick Usher’s mental state “cannot be clearly understood unless it is directly related to the illness of his twin sister.” Stein conveys that Roderick’s mental illness is a consequence of his relationship with Madeline. As twins they share the same mind through a certain supernatural way allowing her unnamed problem to directly affect him. The relationship between Madeline and Roderick expresses the twin relationship intrudes Roderick’s mind and his dependence on Madeline allows for negative influence on him to be

One of Roderick's fears was death. He was from a well-known and honored family, and he and his sister were the last of the long line of Usher descendants. His sister, Madeline, had been fighting a severe and long-continued illness for quite some time, which had added to much of Roderick's gloom. " Her decease, would leave him the last of the ancient race of the Ushers." Roderick seemed not only to fear the death of his sister and ultimately of himself, but also the uncertainty of the future. "I dread the events of the future, not only in themselves, but in their results. I shudder at the thought of any, even the most trivial incident, which may operate upon this intolerable agitation of soul."

A concern of Roderick Usher is the waning health of his twin sister, Lady Madeline. Usher explains to his dear friend, the narrator, that she is the only surviving relative he has. He further explains that his sister’s health condition baffles any physician that has come to the house. After a few days of the narrator’s visit, Lady Madeline dies. Usher explains to the narrator that he wishes to preserve her body by placing her into the underground crypt of the house. I believe that Poe is trying to use symbolism in Lady Madeline’s death in relation to Roderick’s faltering mental stability. For example, Lady Madeline represents a part of Usher that he has lost; a part of him that has become so strange and frightening to him. When he and the narrator place Lady Madeline’s body into the crypt, it is a desperate act to help preserve a part of himself.

All these things put together and a few others help to connect the house to Roderick and Lady Madeline. When the narrator first sees Roderick after a long period of time, he thinks that he resembles that of a corpse. Then Roderick tells him the reason for his appearance, why he looks so bad. He said he had an illness that was a “morbid acuteness of the senses.” The word morbid, when used anywhere, has very strong meaning and it is of the negative type. He uses the word tortured when he is describing his eyesight and says that even the slightest sound is almost unbearable. Thinking about having all of these symptoms put together is a very bad picture to paint in your mind. His condition, in this case, is very comparable to that of the condition of the house.

In the story, “The Fall of The House of Usher”, there are many mysterious happenings that go on throughout the story between the characters Roderick Usher and the narrator. Throughout the story, Edgar Allan Poe uses themes such as madness and insanity to connect the house back to Roderick Usher. In the “Fall of The House of Usher”, the narrator goes through many different experiences when arriving to the house. The narrator’s experiences start out as almost unnoticeable in the beginning, turn into bigger ones right before his eyes, and end up becoming problems that cause deterioration of the mind and the house before the narrator even decides to do anything helpful for Roderick and his mental illness. In “The Fall of The

The narrator goes to a man’s house he knows little of and stays with him while he is sick. This situation strike most people as abnormal, but the narrator proceeds to go anyways. Also Roderick’s sister, Madeline, has an unknown sensory illness with the same symptoms as her brother. Later and on she is found to be dead and Roderick and the narrator bury her in a tomb inside the house. The situation is very odd, for one why would a person bury someone in a house, with a strange man he has not seen in years.

“The Fall of the House of Usher” is a short story written by famous author and poet Edgar Allan Poe in 1839. In this short story, an unnamed narrator visits a childhood friend named Usher at his house on a gloomy, dull day. Usher’s house is very mysterious. It is very old, and is decaying in areas. e narrator mentions that the Usher family, though an ancient clan, has never flourished. Only one member of the Usher family has survived from generation to generation, thereby forming a direct line of descent without any outside branches. The Usher family has become

When the narrator first lays eyes upon Roderick he is described as looking sickly with a, “ghastly pallor of the skin, and the miraculous luster of the eye, above all things startled and even awed me” (317). The narrator goes on to say he finds his old acquaintance barely recognizable and he feels a feeling, “half of pity, half of awe” (317). These same mixed emotions can be compared to how he feels looking out at the old disheveled house, just like Roderick, isn’t as well looking as it used to be, the house has seen better years. After the narrator meets and greets his old friend, Roderick Usher, it is revealed that he is suffering from a form of,

Surely, man had never before so terribly altered, in so a brief period of time, as Roderick Usher!”(Poe). Along with Roderick’s physical illness, he also suffers from mental disorders. A few he appears to posses are Obsessive-Compulsdive Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, and anxiety. His OCD is seen by the fact he can only wear certain textures and that “The most insipid food was alone acuteness of the sense”(Poe) or in other words, Roderick only eats specific bland foods. In addition, his bipolar disorder is seen through his bouts of depression and in ways he performs actions which are, “alternately vivacious and sullen”(Poe). Finally his anxiety is most prominent through the fact he is “enchained by certain superstitious impressions” (Poe). The life which Roderick lives is certainly full of constant duress. Therefore, as Edgar Allan Poe critic Charles May suggests, either, “...Roderick is mad or the narrator is mad...”(May 71). This is by no means surprising as Roderick is, “the embodiment of obsession and desire...”(May 71). Yet Roderick is not only tortured by illness of both his mind and body, but by the fact he is almost completely alone. His own twin sister is dying and he suffers from an “acuteness of the senses”(Poe). Even the narrator knows that, “some combinations of objects have the power of

Madeline both eventually die. In the story the house represents the disease that is killing the

The house family relationship is resembled in the physical appearance of the house by its outer appearance. In the beginning of the story Roderick Usher still had somewhat of a sharp mind but his body was decaying. His house in turn, was the same in a way that the internals and the structure of the house was still good but it had some wear and tear. As the story continues the house’s structure, as well as Ushers health, deteriorates furthermore

Faithful to the principles of the author, the first detailed words of description of the setting announce the decadent character of the composition- “All the main lines of action are supported by a systematic elaboration of detail” (Robinson, 79). The Fall of the House of Usher begins with the description of the place where all the facts of the story will develop: “It was a dark and soundless day near the end of the year, and clouds were hanging low in the heavens… through country with little life or beauty; and in the early evening I came within view of the House of Usher” (Poe, 22). At exterior levels, the presence of a crack crosses the whole structure of the house: “a crack making its way from the top down the wall until it became lost in the dark waters of the lake.” (Poe, 23). The dark aspect is present in the obscure interiors of the house: “Dark covering hung upon the walls. The many chairs and tables had been used for a long,

“A Coursebook…” is written for the beginning researchers of the literary critical theory. The Chapter “Literature and Psychoanalysis” contains commentary on psychoanalytical critical approach. In addition, the study questions, glossary and suggested further reading are included.

There are certain psychoanalytic concepts expressed by Sigmund Freud that can be applied to interpret literary texts. Most of the literary texts, like dreams, articulate the secret unconscious desires and concerns of the author, that a literary work is expression of the author’s own neuroses. For instance, one may analyze a particular character within a literary work from the psychoanalytic view, but it is usually assumed that all such characters are outcrops of the author’s psyche.

There are certain psychoanalytic concepts expressed by Sigmund Freud that can be applied to interpret literary texts. Most of the literary texts, like dreams, articulate the secret unconscious desires and concerns of the author, that a literary work is expression of the author’s own neuroses. For instance, one may analyze a particular character within a literary work from the psychoanalytic view, but it is usually assumed that all such characters are outcrops of the author’s psyche.