Page 3 - Edgar Allan Poe

Poe’s Tales of Imagina7on
The Tales of ImaginaIon present some typical features of the Gothic tradiIon (the supernatural, gloomy castles, dungeons, young women in danger, murders, wicked villans), elements which all contribute to create a dark atmosphere of horror. Poe went beyond this tradiIon to write stories where the ‘horror’ does not come from ouside but from inside the self. Most of his tales are narrated in the first person and are long confessions and exploraIons of the dark side of man.
The Fall of the House of Usher (1839) Plot summary
‘On a dull, dark and sounless day’ the unnamed protagonist (the Narrator) approaches the gloomy and mysterious House of Usher. His boyhood friend, Roderick Usher, sent him a le;er requesIng his company and the Narrator has decided to spend some Ime with his old companion, who is suffering from a strange mental illness. His sister Madeline too is near death because of a mysterious disease. The Narrator keeps company to Usher while he paints and plays guitar, spending all his days inside, avoiding the sunlight and obsessed by death. When Madeline dies, Usher decides to bury her temporarily in the tomb under the house. A few days later, however, she emerges from her tomb, a;acks her brother who dies of fear while the Narrator flees for his life. The House of Usher falls apart and collapses, wiping away the last members of the ancient family.
An illustra'on by Aubrey Beardley for a 1894 edi'on of ‘The Fall of the House of the Usher