“The Fall of the House of
Usher”
by Edgar Allan Poe
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 isn’t very big – only a direct
line of descent (inheritance)
• The mansion and the family are
identified as one in the name “House of
Usher”
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
In your own words, sum up Usher’s
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
What is so startling about the
narrator’s first glimpse of Madeline
Usher?
• She looks just like Roderick.
• He’s overcome with stupor and he notices
that Roderick goes pale and cries.
What does Usher’s painting
suggest to you?
• The flood of light in the closed, apparently
underground room suggests Roderick’s
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.
How might the poem parallel
Roderick Usher’s 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.
What is strange about Madeline’s
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
What do you infer about the
changes in Usher’s 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 he’s
listening closely to something
• This suggests that he is very afraid and
knows something he should tell the
narrator
Which of the narrator’s experiences
in the Usher mansion might have
led to what he “endeavored to
believe”?
• He is increasingly fearful and tries to
believe that it’s just because of the dark,
gloomy atmosphere of the house.
• However, the burial of Madeline probably
unnerved him, too.
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
• There’s also a mist or fog gathering
around the house that actually glows
unnaturally.
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.
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.
What do you predict will happen
after the narrator reads about the
shield falling to the floor?
• He will hear a crashing sound.
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.
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.
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).
Narrator
Method of
Example or Quote What it shows about
Characterizati (with page number) character
on
Character’s p. 122 “what
Rational/logical
thoughts
was it that so
unnerved me”
Character’s p. 122 feels he Kind, sympathetic
words
must go to RU
Narrator
Method of
Example or Quote (with page
Characterizatio number)
n
What it shows
about
character
Other
character’s
thoughts
Trustworthy
p. 122 Roderick asks
him to visit
Character’s p. 130 doesn’t question passive
actions
Madeline’s burial
Character’s p. 122 Describes
own words Roderick
observant
Roderick Usher
Method of
Example or Quote (with page
Characterization number)
What it shows
about
character
Other
characters’
words/own
actions
p. 122 “passionate devotion artistic
to … musical science”; his
painting; plays music;
poetry
Character’s
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
Roderick Usher (cont)
Method of
Example or Quote (with
Characterizatio page number)
n
What it shows
about character
Character’s p. 126 “tenderly
own words beloved sister”
“bitterness” about her
illness
Loving,
values family
Other
characters’
words
p. 122 “his reserve
had been …
excessive”
reserved
Roderick Usher (cont)
Method of
Example or Quote (with page
Characterizatio number)
n
Character’s
own actions
What it shows
about character
p. 134 “I heard her first Passive,
feeble movements
possibly cruel
…yet… I dared not
speak”
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 Possibly
living into the tomb”
vampiric
Madeline Usher
Method of
Characterization
Example or Quote (with
page number)
What it shows
about
character
Character’s
own action
p. 126 “sole
companion for long
years”
P. 126 “disease….
Had long baffled…
physicians”
Loyal
Narrator’s
comments
mysterious
The House of Usher
Method of
Characterizatio
n
Example or Quote (with page
number)
What it shows
about character
Other
characters’
thoughts/nar
rator’s
comment
other
characters’
thoughts/nar
rator’s
comment
p. 122 “utter depression Oppressive/
of soul” when looking at lifelike
house; “vacant eye like
windows”
p. 129 order of stones, sentient
fungi (similar to R’s hair
p. 124), reflection in
tarn, vapor around
house
The House of Usher
Method of
Example or Quote (with page
Characterization number)
Other
characters’
thoughts
Other
characters’
thoughts
p. 123 fungi in “webwork”;
p. 124 R’s “web-like” hair;
loss of life force; Madeline
rises from dead (sort of)
p. 123 “barely perceptible
fissure”; p. 135 collapses
What it shows
about
character
Vampiric
Unstable/
run-down
Romantic Story Analysis Chart
Fantasy and Imagination
• Madeline being buried alive and breaking
out of coffin and crypt
• Story of Ethelred
• Haunted Palace poem
• Mansion’s oppressive personality and
possible vampirism
Love of Nature
• N/A
Intense Emotion
•
•
•
•
Roderick’s fear and guilt
Narrator’s fear and dread
Madeline’s desire for retribution
Possible vampiric tendencies of the house
and/or Madeline
Sympathetic interest in the past,
medieval
• Mansion seems medieval, including old
furniture, crypt
• Old, noble family
• Ethelred
Exotic Places
• Huge mansion
• Underground crypt with copper clad floor
and iron doors
• Strange reflection of house in tarn (pond)
Legends and Myths
•
•
•
•
Ethelred
Vampires
Stories of being buried alive
Roderick’s superstitious beliefs about
house
Death
• Madeline
• Roderick
• House of Usher
Morbid melancholy; insanity
• Roderick’s 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.
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
Failed Love
• N/A
Mysticism
• Roderick possibly understands what is
happening to Madeline when Roderick
doesn’t – 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.
Rural Life and the Common Man
• Mansion seems to be in a rural area
• NOT common people