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The Fall of the House of Usher

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Introduction

Biography

Story Plot Synopsis

Main Characters Major Themes Symbols

Historical background

Transcendentalism Industrial Revolution Romantic Movement : Romanticism in The Fall of the

House of Usher

Conclusions

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The fall of the House of Usher shows all of theelements of Romanticism Nature Individualism Exotic setting Supernatural Imagination Exploring psyche

Relevant information Author Socio historical framework

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Born:January 19, 1809 Boston,Massachusetts United States

Died: October 7, 1849 (aged 40)

Baltimore, Maryland United States

Occupation: Poet, short storywriter, editor, literary critic

Genres: Horror fiction, Crimefiction, Detective fiction

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Orphan at early age

Strange marriage

Journals and periodicals and literarycriticism

Unknown cause of his death

Vast influence in different fields

His homes are dedicated museums today

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The Narrator Unnamed Childhood friends Intention of helping Usher Was he sane from the start ?

Roderick Usher: Last living descendant Man of culture and erudition Severe mental illness

Madeline: Roderick Usher's sister Suffers a mysterious illness: Catalepsy

Possibility of an incestuous relationship

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Mortality:

Premature burial: Two interpretations Madness:

Malady: no scientific explanation

Sanity and insanity -> Narrator into madness

Fear: Fear of fear itself

Acute anxiety

Friendship: Never fully explained

Narrator seems terrified

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Burial:

Three images of "tombs" or "crypts: cavernous rooms Usher's painting House into a New grave -> Poes story-within-a-story

Incest: No spouses "the entire family lay in the direct line of descent the strange qualities of the Usher family Twins share strange illnesses

The Arts: Usher is skilled at music and painting Comparison between Roderick to Fuseli

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Reality and Art: Connection between fiction and reality

Rodericks artistic creations: prophecies Sound of the medieval story = sound from the vault

Doubling: Dichotomy: twins, but male/female; mental/physical: alive/dead

The Small Fissure Symbolic connections between family and building Disruption in the Unity of the family

The House of Usher Several levels of interpretation:

The setting

Literally falls Organic Entity

Romantic Agony: Romantic Excess Esoteric works of Arts and Literature

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BACKGROUND

SOCIO-HISTORICAL

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Transcendentalism Unity of the world and God

American writes: lonely explorers

Industrial Revolution Intellectual and artistic hostility

importance of "nature"

in contrast to 'monstrous' machines and factories

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Socio-Historical Background

Romantic MovementAll Art forms

Development of the SELF

Emphasis on feeling: emotions, passions

Sublime -> high psychological states Individuality

Nature

Questioning conventional Codes

Myths and Legends from the past

Altered states : express vividly

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Poes characters Strangeness -> essential ingredient to beauty Aristocratic Gothic settings -> reflect INTERIOR -> DISTURBED PSYCHES Tragedy

Poes Insecurity

Europeans

Americans Disgust with DEMOCRACY:

Undersides of the American dream

Materialism/Competition: Families Art

Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque (1840)

Style Lack of traditional style -> Chaos in USA

Immigration

Urbanization

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A clear representation of its time period Symbolism

Vivid description

Connects the element of Romanticism to the plot of the

story and themes

Unique way of writing Horror in the story

Setting is brought to life in full color Reader feels like he is actually in the story