Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, The Fall of the House of Usher, is perhaps one of his most debated of all time. There are many completely different interpretations of what Poe might have meant when writing this story. The most agreed upon of these interpretations are natural or psychological and supernatural. The beauty of this story is that both of these takes are perfectly valid in their own ways and have plenty of evidence to back each claim. What makes this short story so good is its openness for interpretation by the reader.
The Fall of the House of Usher follows an unnamed narrator as he is summoned to the mansion of his boyhood friend, Roderick Usher. From the very start, the narrator becomes filled with a sense of dread as he approaches …show more content…
This psychological interpretation of the story shows that everything can be rational explained. Roderick's fall into madness can be explained by his prolonged isolation in his family's estate along with the mental and physical deterioration of his sister, who he is shown to have an almost incestuous relationship with. Even Madeline's death and sudden ‘reincarnation’ can be logically explained by her mysterious disease. In the story, she is shown to have extreme muscle rigidity as well as an almost coma-like stasis that could be wrongly interpreted as her death. Madeline's sudden reappearance along with Roderick's deteriorated mind was to blame for his pursuing death. This take on Poe's story “explores both physical and mental illness, and the effect that such afflictions have on the people closest to those who are sick”(Shmoop). It allows the reader to take a more logical approach to Poe's story of a cursed family in a haunted mansion with people raising from the …show more content…
The Usher curse is slowly working itself out as it eventually takes the lives of the last two remaining of the ancient bloodline. Poe's depiction of the Usher house go to aid this interpretation as the dead things of the house seem to be ‘alive’ and the live things seem to be dead. The house itself is almost a living thing as it is the prison of the Ushers, eating away at the minds of those in it until there is nothing left and it crumbles away into nothing. Throughout the story, “Poe's imagery of the house and the inanimate objects inside serve to give a supernatural atmosphere”. These descriptions along with the story of the Ushers curse give the sense that there may be something beyond the natural world at work.
This story is, “considered representative of Poe's idea of “art for art's sake,” whereby the mood of the narrative, created through the skillful use of language, overpowers any social, political, or moral teaching.” He created this story to be open to interpretation by the reader, never specifically stating whether or not the happenings of the house of Usher were supernatural or all part of the character's slow descent into madness. Though the true meaning behind Poe’s story may never be agreed upon, the powerfulness of it is something that lasts with the
The Fall of the House of Usher follows an unnamed narrator as he is summoned to the mansion of his boyhood friend, Roderick Usher. From the very start, the narrator becomes filled with a sense of dread as he approaches …show more content…
This psychological interpretation of the story shows that everything can be rational explained. Roderick's fall into madness can be explained by his prolonged isolation in his family's estate along with the mental and physical deterioration of his sister, who he is shown to have an almost incestuous relationship with. Even Madeline's death and sudden ‘reincarnation’ can be logically explained by her mysterious disease. In the story, she is shown to have extreme muscle rigidity as well as an almost coma-like stasis that could be wrongly interpreted as her death. Madeline's sudden reappearance along with Roderick's deteriorated mind was to blame for his pursuing death. This take on Poe's story “explores both physical and mental illness, and the effect that such afflictions have on the people closest to those who are sick”(Shmoop). It allows the reader to take a more logical approach to Poe's story of a cursed family in a haunted mansion with people raising from the …show more content…
The Usher curse is slowly working itself out as it eventually takes the lives of the last two remaining of the ancient bloodline. Poe's depiction of the Usher house go to aid this interpretation as the dead things of the house seem to be ‘alive’ and the live things seem to be dead. The house itself is almost a living thing as it is the prison of the Ushers, eating away at the minds of those in it until there is nothing left and it crumbles away into nothing. Throughout the story, “Poe's imagery of the house and the inanimate objects inside serve to give a supernatural atmosphere”. These descriptions along with the story of the Ushers curse give the sense that there may be something beyond the natural world at work.
This story is, “considered representative of Poe's idea of “art for art's sake,” whereby the mood of the narrative, created through the skillful use of language, overpowers any social, political, or moral teaching.” He created this story to be open to interpretation by the reader, never specifically stating whether or not the happenings of the house of Usher were supernatural or all part of the character's slow descent into madness. Though the true meaning behind Poe’s story may never be agreed upon, the powerfulness of it is something that lasts with the