Essay Comparing The Fall Of House Of Usher And Where Is Here

An analytical essay discussing the importance of setting in The Fall of the House of Usher, by Edgar Allan Poe and Where is Here, by Joyce Carol Oates.

In this essay I will explore the idea that having a fundamental understanding of the concept of eighteenth-century “gothic” and the literary techniques involved in creating it is necessary in gaining a well-rounded appreciation for the works of authors such as Edgar Allen Poe. Through a close reading of Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher I will illuminate the methods used by Poe to warrant it one of the most innovative pieces of gothic literature, and therefore establish how it paved the way for many gothic and dark romantic authors after its publishing.

In this essay, I will be comparing the characterization of two narrators in Edgar Allan Poe’s work, which are “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “The Raven”. “The Fall of the House of Usher” was published in 1839, and years later “The Raven” was published in 1845. Poe shows that the two narrators fall into anxiety due to Gothic and mysterious elements.

The genres are different because The Fall of the House of Usher it is Gothic Literature and Where is Here and House Taken Over is Modern Gothic Literature. In Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where is Here” happens the story starts off in a normal and neighborhood in an early November evening and in The Fall of The house of Usher it starts off in a dull and soundless day in the autumn.For instance in Where Is Here is states that they [Lived in a quiet residential neighborhood](Oates 1).This

The genre in “where is here” takes place in a suburb neighborhood and “The House of Usher” takes place in an old abandoned swamp like area in a dark and cold, wet setting. Edgar Allan Poe’s“Fall of

Edgar Allen Poe is known for his intricate and unsettling short stories and poems. Poe believed that an effect had to be an unifying aspect of a story. In his “Philosophy of Composition”, he writes about how the reader needs to feel the effect throughout a story and realize that the writing buttresses the effect. Poe’s short story, “The Fall of the House of Usher”, uses the quintessential features of the Gothic tale to fulfill Poe’s goals of creating a singular effect for the reader. The desolate landscape and a pervading sense of vagueness coalesce to create an atmosphere of abject terror in “The Fall of the House of Usher”.

Within both Fall of the House of Usher and Where is Here? by Poe and Oates, the importance of setting is displayed. One of the ways this is done, is by using such descriptive writings. The detailed sections allow us to imagine what is actually happening, where it is going on, and what the surroundings are suggesting. If the story didn’t have any setting to tell us what certain things look like then we might miss an important part of the story, like the horror movie concept. One of the statements that educators like to use a lot is that you should never make a decision without knowing all of the facts first. The same is true with stories, and one of those important facts, is the setting. By line eight of Where is Here? by Oates, she writes, “He had not seen the house since

“The Fall of the House of Usher” has been noted as one of Edgar Allan Poe’s most famous short stories. The story begins when the narrator arrives at the house of his friend, Roderick Usher. Roderick is ill and has been living his life deeply reclusive. His sister Madeline suffers from a sensory disorder and is considered to be dead. The narrator attempts to comfort Roderick and alleviate his melancholy by reading a story that appears to foreshadow later events. In this story, Poe provides his audience with classic themes such as fear, madness, and most important, identity. Through psychoanalytical criticism the reader can explore and gather a deeper understanding of the literary work. A comprehensive analysis of psychoanalytical criticism and the characters mental state in “The Fall of the House of Usher” will provide an in-depth interpretation of the characters and of the work.

In Edgar Allan Poe’s “Fall of the House of Usher”, there is an unnatural force that takes over the house causing the house to be destroyed. Also in Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where is Here” there is a supernatural force that takes the stranger in the story to have a weird force in which they cannot control. In “The Fall of the House of Usher,” the author states, “I was forced to fall back upon the unsatisfactory conclusion, that while, beyond doubt there are combinations of very simple natural objects that have the power of thus affecting us still the analysis of this power lies among us considerations beyond our depth” (14). This explains the unnatural force of the house. Therefore, the two stories are similar because they both have a supernatural being used in the

Both writers have very famous works that are quite well-known among the public. For example, one of Poe’s more famous works is “The Fall of the House of Usher” and one of Oates’ more famous work is “Where is Here?”. Both stories have some differences between them due to the writing style of each respective writer and the different sub-genres of gothic literature that each story is in. In Poe’s story, the setting of the story is the dreary mansion that is described as very bleak and melancholy with decaying trees, which gives off a sense of dismay and creepiness right from the start. While Poe’s story shows the elements of gothic literature through the

In “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Poe uses the themes of suspense, split personalities, and mystery explores a family so isolated from the real world around him. The protagonist has established their own imagination of what surrounds them. The House of Usher has its own place in the person’s mind, where it is ruled by its own set of rules and with no regard of how different it is from the real world. The House of Usher has twisted the mind of the protagonist to interpret two different personalities from Roderick and Madeline. The author focuses on multiple

In this article, Bieganowski examines the role of the narrator in “The Fall of the House of Usher”. He makes the argument that the narrator focuses the reader’s attention on what is happening to him while trying to describe something that is indescribable. By attracting the reader’s attention away from the point of what he is supposed to be describing, the narrator allows Poe to build up an impressive array of hints and implications that have a much greater effect than the direct description could.

Edgar Allan Poe is known for his tales and poems of horror and mystery have made him a mysterious figure to the public, but there are several stories that highlight his brilliant imagination. Molly Boyd compares Poe’s work with that of William Gilmore Simm and Nathaniel Hawthorne and notes the way their stories have similar attributes to Poe’s work. In Rodney Stenning Edgecombe’s critical essay, “The Fall of the house of Usher and Little Dorrit,” he reveals that others believe that Dickens story associates with Poe’s work. Katherine Feeney Fenlon also recognizes Poe’s influence in John Gardner’s work by re-creating and using some of his techniques, specifically from one of Poe’s famous stories, “The Fall of the House of Usher.” Moreover, John H. Timmerman acknowledges the Gothic romance theme in the way reader characterizes Poe’s, particularly in “The Fall of the House of Usher,” he also examines how Poe gained inspiration to write the way he does.

The story of “The fall of the house of Usher” is categorized as a tragic short story published under the name Edgar Allen Poe, and has proven over time to be a very illusive and vivid tale, as the extensively descriptive vocabulary eludes readers to entrance them into such a gloomy experience, of which the overtone of the story unpleasantly provides readers; as even then there is still no certain meaning from which a person may derive the actual circumstance of which the passage may bring unto them, while there are a multitude of different interpretations that are neither proved nor disproved, only ones sense of perception may provide them a viable understanding of which the passage may present them. Nonetheless the story no less significant or hazy, as it severely dwells on the emotions and thoughts of the narrator who has the apparent displeasure of experiencing the events that partake in this story, presenting such prolific portions of idea that can all but resist the urge to unease the individual who may unfortunately come across this particularly eerie piece of literature.

Edgar Allan Poe is arguably one of America’s most famed authors of American gothic literature. His text more than most authors exemplifies true gothic horror. His stories often tend to relate to very dark themes that make the reader feel very uncomfortable. It deals with themes of death, very extreme taboos, and supernatural elements. The stories are also set in very Gothic settings with creepy atmospheres such as tombs catacombs. Two of Edgar Allen Poe’s stories that stand out in particular is the “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Fall of the House of Usher”. “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Fall of the House of Usher draw heavily on American Gothic tenants, themes, ideas, and settings.