1
The Fall of the House of Usher

• by Edgar Allan Poe

2
After reading 1 on p. 123, summarize what the
narrator already knows about Roderick Usher and
his family estate.

• The family is very old
• The family is very reserved, artistic and
  charitable.
• The family isnt very big only a direct line of
  descent (inheritance)
• The mansion and the family are identified as one
  in the name House of Usher

3
How does the description of the room contribute
to the mystery of the story?

• The large, high ceilinged room seems dark,
  suggesting claustrophobia
• The light is encrimsoned or reddened,
  suggesting blood or death
• The narrator describes the atmosphere as stern
  and gloomy

4
In your own words, sum up Ushers view of his
situation.

• He suffers from overly sensitive senses
• He is afraid of being taken over by fear
• He thinks that fear will kill him

5
What is so startling about the narrators first
glimpse of Madeline Usher?

• She looks just like Roderick.
• Hes overcome with stupor and he notices that
  Roderick goes pale and cries.

6
What does Ushers painting suggest to you?

• The flood of light in the closed, apparently
  underground room suggests Rodericks desire to
  overcome the oppressive atmosphere of the
  mansion.
• It might also suggest his desire to banish
  something sinister about either the house, or
  Madeline, or both.

7
How might the poem parallel Roderick Ushers
situation?

• The poem begins with a prince who is happy and a
  palace that is bright, musical, and beautiful.
  However, evil corrupts the happy palace and
  leaves it full of sinister beings.
• The red-litten windows echo the encrimsoned
  light in the Usher mansion and suggest that the
  Usher family was once happy but now is oppressed
  by sinister forces.

8
What is strange about Madelines face as she lies
in the coffin?

• She and Roderick look unnervingly alike
• She has some color in her face
• She has a slight smile on her face

9
What do you infer about the changes in Ushers
behavior?

• His voice trembles and he wanders constantly,
  suggesting agitation
• He seems like he has a secret he wants to tell,
  and he looks sometimes like hes listening
  closely to something
• This suggests that he is very afraid and knows
  something he should tell the narrator

10
Which of the narrators experiences in the Usher
mansion might have led to what he endeavored to
believe?

• He is increasingly fearful and tries to believe
  that its just because of the dark, gloomy
  atmosphere of the house.
• However, the burial of Madeline probably unnerved
  him, too.

11
What is the storm like and what is gathering
around the house in the storm?

• The storm seems like a whirlwind (vortex!) with
  wind going in all directions
• Theres also a mist or fog gathering around the
  house that actually glows unnaturally.

12
Describe the mood of the story after the narrator
thinks he hears the very cracking and ripping
sound from his reading.

• This creates a frightening and suspenseful mood,
  as well as mysterious as the reader tries to
  figure out where the noises are coming from.

13
What effect do the passages from the Mad Trist
have on the events of the story?

• They add to the suspense as the sounds the
  narrator hears are not only predicted by the
  story, but slowed in pace by the intervening
  passages from the story.

14
What do you predict will happen after the
narrator reads about the shield falling to the
floor?

• He will hear a crashing sound.

15
On the basis of what Usher is saying on this
page, what do you expect to happen next?

• He says, I tell you that she now stands without
  the door
• This suggests that Madeline is about to enter,
  having broken out of her coffin.

16
What happens to Roderick and Madeline Usher?

• She comes in, covered in blood from her struggle
  to escape her coffin, and falls on him.
• He falls with her and dies of fear.

17
What happens to the Usher house?

• The crack noticed by the narrator at the
  beginning of the story rips wide open and the
  house collapses into the tarn (pond).

18
Narrator Narrator Narrator
Method of Characterization Example or Quote (with page number) What it shows about character
Characters thoughts p. 122 what was it that so unnerved me Rational/logical
Characters words p. 122 feels he must go to RU Kind, sympathetic
19
Narrator Narrator Narrator
Method of Characterization Example or Quote (with page number) What it shows about character
Other characters thoughts p. 122 Roderick asks him to visit Trustworthy
Characters actions p. 130 doesnt question Madelines burial passive
Characters own words p. 122 Describes Roderick observant
20
Roderick Usher Roderick Usher Roderick Usher
Method of Characterization Example or Quote (with page number) What it shows about character
Other characters words/own actions p. 122 passionate devotion to musical science his painting plays music poetry artistic
Characters own words p. 125 nervous affection morbid acuteness of the senses fatal demon of fear p. 123 web-work fungi p. 124 weblike hair Sensitive, controlled by vampire house
21
Roderick Usher (cont) Roderick Usher (cont) Roderick Usher (cont)
Method of Characterization Example or Quote (with page number) What it shows about character
Characters own words p. 126 tenderly beloved sister bitterness about her illness Loving, values family
Other characters words p. 122 his reserve had been excessive reserved
22
Roderick Usher (cont) Roderick Usher (cont) Roderick Usher (cont)
Method of Characterization Example or Quote (with page number) What it shows about character
Characters own actions p. 134 I heard her first feeble movements yet I dared not speak Passive, possibly cruel

23
Madeline Usher Madeline Usher Madeline Usher
Method of Characterization Example or Quote (with page number) What it shows about character
Other characters words p. 126 Hitherto she had steadily borne up Tenacious
Other characters words p. 135 Is she not hurrying to upbraid me for my haste? Vengeful
Other characters actions/words p. 134 we have put her living into the tomb Possibly vampiric
24
Madeline Usher Madeline Usher Madeline Usher
Method of Characterization Example or Quote (with page number) What it shows about character
Characters own action p. 126 sole companion for long years Loyal
Narrators comments P. 126 disease. Had long baffled physicians mysterious
25
The House of Usher The House of Usher The House of Usher
Method of Characterization Example or Quote (with page number) What it shows about character
Other characters thoughts/narrators comment p. 122 utter depression of soul when looking at house vacant eye like windows Oppressive/ lifelike
other characters thoughts/narrators comment p. 129 order of stones, fungi (similar to Rs hair p. 124), reflection in tarn, vapor around house sentient
26
The House of Usher The House of Usher The House of Usher
Method of Characterization Example or Quote (with page number) What it shows about character
Other characters thoughts p. 123 fungi in webwork p. 124 Rs web-like hair loss of life force Madeline rises from dead (sort of) Vampiric
Other characters thoughts p. 123 barely perceptible fissure p. 135 collapses Unstable/ run-down
27
Romantic Story Analysis Chart
28
Fantasy and Imagination

• Madeline being buried alive and breaking out of
  coffin and crypt
• Story of Ethelred
• Haunted Palace poem
• Mansions oppressive personality and possible
  vampirism

29
Love of Nature

• N/A

30
Intense Emotion

• Rodericks fear and guilt
• Narrators fear and dread
• Madelines desire for retribution
• Possible vampiric tendencies of the house and/or
  Madeline

31
Sympathetic interest in the past, medieval

• Mansion seems medieval, including old furniture,
  crypt
• Old, noble family
• Ethelred

32
Exotic Places

• Huge mansion
• Underground crypt with copper clad floor and iron
  doors
• Strange reflection of house in tarn (pond)

33
Legends and Myths

• Ethelred
• Vampires
• Stories of being buried alive
• Rodericks superstitious beliefs about house

34
Death

• Madeline
• Roderick
• House of Usher

35
Morbid melancholy insanity

• Rodericks guilt and fear drive him insane
• Could interpret Roderick and Madeline as two
  parts of a personality Roderick is repressing
  all his physical desires, leaving himself out of
  balance and dangerously unstable.
• Mansion might also be sapping the energy from
  Roderick and Madeline like a vampire.

36
The Supernatural

• Madeline seems to rise from the dead
• House has oppressive and possibly vampiric
  personality (sentient)
• House falls apart when Ushers die as if only
  their life force keeps it together

37
Failed Love

• N/A

38
Mysticism

• Roderick possibly understands what is happening
  to Madeline when Roderick doesnt her being
  victimized by the house and possibly turned into
  a vampire.
• This might explain her burial in crypt with
  copper floor and iron doors.

39
Rural Life and the Common Man

• Mansion seems to be in a rural area
• NOT common people