Edgar Allen Poe
The Fall of the House of Usher
Some Themes to consider in “The Fall of
the House of Usher”:
 Terror—arises from the complexity and multiplicity
of forces that shape human destiny.
 Evil—it has been at work in the House of User for
generations.
 Isolation– Roderick and Madeline have sealed
themselves in the tomb of their mansion, and their
“soul-sickness” comes, in part, from their lack of
contact with the outside world.
Themes
 Failure to adapt to modern traditions.
 Madness– Roger and Madeline suffer from mental
illness characterized by anxiety, depression, and
other symptoms.
 Mystery– from the beginning of the story, the
narrator realizes that he is in a world of mystery in
his surroundings.
 Strange Phenomena—the mood, atmosphere, and
setting mirror the characters and their situations.
The Narrator: The
The narrator is
anonymous—a
Poe trademark.
The narrator
often has no
name, perhaps
suggesting an
untrustworthy
or unreliable
narrator. The
audience may
call into
question how
true the story is.
What does the narrator
discover about the brother and
sister after viewing Madeline
in her coffin?
What does this discovery explain
about the characters of Roderick and
Madeline?
An Allegory is a story or poem that can
be read on one level for its literal
meaning and on a second level for its
symbolic meaning
How might this story be read as an
allegory of the journey into the
human mind?
How convincing
is Poe’s
treatment of the
irrational mind?
Consider
descriptions of
Roderick’s state
of mind and the
workings of the
narrators
imagination.
How does Poe
create mood in this
short story?