Warning: Use of undefined constant referer - assumed 'referer' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 102

Warning: Use of undefined constant host - assumed 'host' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 105

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays:102) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 106

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays:102) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 109
Main Theme of The Fall of the House of Usher - Paper

Main Theme of The Fall of the House of Usher

Main Theme

The central theme of "The Fall of the House of Usher" is terror that arises from the complexity and multiplicity of forces that shape human destiny. Dreadful, horrifying events result not from a single, uncomplicated circumstance but from a collision and intermingling of manifold, complex circumstances. In Poe's story, the House of Usher falls to ruin for the reasons listed under "Other Themes" (below

Other Themes

Evil

Evil has been at work in the House of Usher for generations, befouling the residents of the mansion. Roderick Usher's illness is "a constitutional and family evil . . . one for which he despaired to find a remedy," the narrator reports. Usher ...

Want to read the rest of this paper?
Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay
and over 50,000 other term papers

narrator implies there has been marriage between relatives:

I had learned, too, the very remarkable fact, that the stem of the Usher race, all time-honored as it was, had put forth, at no period, any enduring branch; in other words, that the entire family lay in the direct line of descent, and had always, with very trifling and very temporary variation, so lain.

Later, the narrator describes Madeline Usher as her brother's "tenderly beloved sister¨Chis sole companion for long years." He also notes that Roderick Usher's illness "displayed itself in a host of unnatural sensations."

Isolation

Roderick and Madeline Usher seal themselves inside their mansion, cutting themselves off from friends, ideas, progress. They have become musty and mildewed, sick unto their souls for lack of contact with the outside world.

Failure to Adapt

The Usher family has become obsolete because it failed to throw off the vestiges of outmoded tradition, a failing reflected ...

Get instant access to over 50,000 essays.
Write better papers. Get better grades.


Already a member? Login


CITE THIS PAGE:

Main Theme of The Fall of the House of Usher. (2011, June 22). Retrieved March 28, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Main-Theme-of-Fall-House-Usher/99757
"Main Theme of The Fall of the House of Usher." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 22 Jun. 2011. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Main-Theme-of-Fall-House-Usher/99757>
"Main Theme of The Fall of the House of Usher." Essayworld.com. June 22, 2011. Accessed March 28, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Main-Theme-of-Fall-House-Usher/99757.
"Main Theme of The Fall of the House of Usher." Essayworld.com. June 22, 2011. Accessed March 28, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Main-Theme-of-Fall-House-Usher/99757.
JOIN NOW
Join today and get instant access to this and 50,000+ other essays


PAPER DETAILS
Added: 6/22/2011 12:06:32 PM
Submitted By: mikelin
Category: English
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 978
Pages: 4

Save | Report

SHARE THIS PAPER

SAVED ESSAYS
Save and find your favorite essays easier

SIMILAR ESSAYS
» Edgar Allen Poe's Symbolism Of ...
» Edgar Allen Poe's Symbolism Of ...
» The Fall Of The House Of Usher:...
» The Fall Of The House Of Usher ...
» An Analysis Of Poe's The Fall O...
» Madness And Insanity In The Fal...
» A Comparison Of Alfred Hitchcoc...
» The Life And Times Of Edgar ALl...
» RedScare
» Edgar Allen Poe
Copyright | Cancel | Contact Us

Copyright © 2024 Essayworld. All rights reserved