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The Fall Of The House Of Usher Symptoms Essay

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Hairs standing on end, sweaty palms, fear that will cause sleepless nights these are all symptoms that describe what Gothic Literature is all about. A famous Gothic Literature poet is Edgar Allan Poe, he wrote many grotesque and mysterious tales. One of the stories that depicts Gothic literature is called , The Fall of the House of Usher. The story qualifies as Gothic Literature by utilizing grotesque characters, bizarre situations, and violent event. The first element of gothic literature required is Grotesque Characters. This element is obvious in the short story. Beginning with Roderick Usher, he is said to have “… a cadaverousness of complexion...” (408), this complexion is explained to mean that Roderick looks corpselike. Close to death, Mr. Usher has various symptoms to his illness that give him a certain grotesqueness about him. He can only eat bland foods, cannot smell flowers or strong odors, and the touch of certain fabrics are unbearable to him. Contributing to his corpse like appearance, Mr. Usher does not go into or let sunlight in his home. Each of these symptoms contributes to what makes up a grotesque character in the short story. Another example as …show more content…

The narrator goes to a man’s house he knows little of and stays with him while he is sick. This situation strike most people as abnormal, but the narrator proceeds to go anyways. Also Roderick’s sister, Madeline, has an unknown sensory illness with the same symptoms as her brother. Later and on she is found to be dead and Roderick and the narrator bury her in a tomb inside the house. The situation is very odd, for one why would a person bury someone in a house, with a strange man he has not seen in years. Later it is discover that Madeline was never deceased and had been buried alive. These situations depict the next point that makes up Gothic Literature as demonstrated in the

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