Review of “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allen Poe: Halloween Countdown

For October 12

Plot:

The unnamed narrator arrives at the home of a childhood friend, Roderick Usher, after receiving a letter requesting that he come and cheer the friend up. Usher is not well and appears anxious and depressed.

The narrator’s first glance of the house is dispiriting. It is old and covered with moss yet appears stable despite its air of decay. He halts his horse by a still “tarn” (lake) and contemplates the reflection of the house. When he looks up, he notices what appears to be a crack in the masonry of the house, running from the roof to the lake.

Nah. Just his morbid imagination.

On his way in, he passes the family physician, who “wore a mingled expression of low cunning and perplexity.”

Roderick greets him warmly and explains that his affliction involves overstimulation of the senses: he can stand only the dimmest light, the blandest food, and particular garments. The only music he can bear to listen to is from stringed instruments.

Adding to this is the sorrow over the illness of his sister, Madeline, who is not long for this world. Among her ailments, she suffers from catalepsy. (An actual medical condition ) but sometimes used in 19th-century literature as an affliction that mimics death.

Over the next few days, Roderick and the narrator read and paint together. Roderick plays dirges on his guitar. They do not speak of Madeline, nor does she appear again.

The day comes when Roderick tells the narrator Madeline has died. Together, they lay her body in the family vault underneath the house for two weeks before final internment to keep her safe from “certain obtrusive and eager inquiries on the part of her medical men.”

And then Roderick loses his mind.

Thoughts:

This piece is a heavy and atmospheric gothic work, lending the reader the idea that house and occupant are one. (Makes you want to go clean out the attic, doesn’t it?) As much as he would like to help, the narrator can do little to stop the oncoming tragedies despite realizing they’re some self-fulfilling prophesies. He refers to Roderick as a “hypochondriac” more than once.

Some commentators say that Poe implies an incestuous relationship between Roderick and Madeline. They were twins and close, but to say they had sex adds only unnecessary salaciousness to the story, IMseldomHO.

Roderick believes himself and his sister, the last remnants of the family, are doomed. He does nothing to resist that doom. It’s as if he’s saying, “Yeah, might as well play guitar, paint, and write depressing poetry until I die.”

This story has been adapted for film going back to silent movies.

This is not one of my favorite Poe stories; it is so heavy, and the beginning tells you the end. On the other hand, when I read it as a kid many years ago, I found it a page-turner, wondering what would happen to poor Madeline and Roderick. Would the narrator escape?

Bio: Edgar Allen Poe (1809-1849) was the son of two actors. After his father deserted the family and his mother died of tuberculosis, two-year-old Edgar was taken in by the wealthy Allan family. He briefly studied at the University of Virginia and West Point. His most well-known works include “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Black Cat,” and “The Murders in the Rue Morgue.” The last is sometimes cited as the first detective story. The work that made him a household name in his day was the poem “The Raven.”

The circumstances of his death are still unclear. He was found in a tavern, appearing drunk, wearing someone else’s clothes, and died some days later in Washington University Hospital. According to the Poe Museum, twenty-six different theories regarding the cause of his demise have been published.


The story can be read here:

The story can be listened to here: (55:41)


Title: “The Fall of the House of Usher”
Author: Edgar Allen Poe (1809-1849)
First published: Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine, September 1839