Edgar Allan Poe “Fall of the House of Usher”

1. Edgar Allan Poe“Fall of the House of Usher” The Uncanny and Grotesque

2. RECAP: The Uncanny • Sigmund Freud • We experience the uncanny because what we come into contact with was once familiar to us. • This person, idea, experience, etc., resurfaces in the form of the grotesque as a physical manifestation of that which with we cannot deal and have likewise repressed. • This is the quintessential “skeleton in the closet” that we all have. • These manifestations are often due to our confrontation with things that are taboo, out of the norm, our prejudices, guilt, and other vices.

3. Back to “Ligeia” • Can be read as an uncanny tale: • we have a revenant that comes back because of the narrator’s inability to deal with his dead wife’s memory. • he also remarries so we can make assumptions about the meaning here. • Ligeia dies (she represents a non-normative image) and comes back in grotesque fashion because she was familiar to and repressed by the narrator.

4. We can also read “Ligeia” the opposite way: • We can interpret the second wife, Rowena, as the idea being repressed. • Rowena is consumed by Ligeia because the narrator prefers everything she represents, thus, he is repressing Rowena. • This causes the grotesque = repression, adverse feelings toward Rowena, familiarity.

5. Last, instead of the social aspect of reading Poe’s story, we can read it in terms of historicity. • Note the light/dark dichotomy; consider what each woman looks like as a symbol against the backdrop of 19th century America. • Writer and critic Toni Morrison has argued that Poe uses light and dark symbolism to interrogate social and racial constructions. • Civil War • Social changes • Romanticism versus realism

6. “The Fall of the House of Usher” • Setting: Gothic? How? • Characters: who are they? What are they like? How are they Gothic characters? • Plot: what is happening and how can you apply the uncanny? • Imagery: what about it is uncanny and Gothic? What grotesque images can you find? Why does the grotesque emerge in these scenes? • Style: how does Poe use style to convey these themes? • Tone: what’s the tone of this story?

7. Motif: Twins • Critic: William Stein • The twins, Roderick and Madeline, are mirrors; opposing ideals represented through characters, they are often one side of an identity and an alter ego. • Madeline's sickness is tied to Roderick's mental condition. • She dies and is buried in an underground vault, things for which Roderick feels guilt and responsibility for. • In the case of “Ligeia” we had mirrors in the characters of Ligeia and Rowena.

8. Motif: Revenant • Like most of Poe's works, “House of Usher” contains a revenant. • This is a woman who dies and is resurrected in the story. • They usually represent the resurfaced repressions of the protagonist. • Often, she is the alter ego of the narrator; Madeline is for Roderick the emotional side of his personality, which he has forsaken for reason and intellect. • There is also a mind/body dichotomy. Poe suggests through them that a split between the two is impossible.

9. Romanticism and Modernism • Like Ligeia, who contrasts Rowena's character, Madeline is Roderick's contrast. • With these twins, Poe symbolizes the 19th century transition from Romanticism/Modernism, to a more realist, industrial society. • As the 19th century progressed and the industrial revolution was in full swing, many feared what this would bring. • Many also felt that the old modes of art were outdated; Modernism would bring the abstract, the emotion, and the idea of “new” to art. • Poe is arguably attempting to criticize the repression of everything Modernism and celebrate this ideal (Madeline). • He does this through resurrecting his romantic characters.

10. The Gothic House • In the beginning, Roderick's house is noted for one very distinct feature: a crack splitting down the length of its exterior. What do you think this crack is a symbol of? • What do Gothic stories usually lament the passing of?