TFOTHOU 9 b

 

Today we finished studying the Fall of the House of Usher. We talked about the imaginary book that the narrator read to Roderick to calm him down, the Mad Trist.  This story within the story (like a Matrioshka) is set in the Middle Ages, reinforcing the Gothic element of the short story. Coincidently, the Mad Trist parallels what happens in the "real plot" : the storm outside is replicated in the adventures of Ethelred, and the noises of the dragon mimics the sound of Madeline getting out of her vault.

Some words hinted at the Gothic nature of the end :

oppressed

terror

In the end, Madeline falls on her brother and kills him. Dying this way means they're finally together in death (the double is reunited, Roderick is no longer alone).

Likewise, the end is the triumph of the Dyonisian side, culminating in a storm, by night, in death and fright and destruction and chaos. The two Houses fall.

The narrator escaped the "intricate labyrinth" of the house ; the story itself could be seen as a labyrinth, just like Poe's writing, with its intricate syntax and its dark words. In the end, the maze collapses.

Summary

§ n°1 : "the antique volume..." : the narrator finds a book which might help with Usher's disease. 

§ n°2 :  the narrator reads an interesting part of that book. He quotes it.

§ n°3 :He's reading the passage ; Ethelred the hero of that story breaks things with his mace.

§ n°4 : the narrator reads about scary sounds (cracking) and he can hear them for real (in the house).

§ n°5 : It's another passage form the book. In it, Ethelred slays a dragon.

§ n°6 : The narrator hears more sounds in real life (a scream, and grating noises)

§ n°7 :   The narrator describes Usher's strange behaviour.

§ n°8 : The narrator resumes the reading of the book ; there's an enchanted shield that falls on the floor.

§ n°9 : There's a huge noise in the Usher house. Roderick doesn't seem to care. He starts smiling and whispering to himself.

§ n°10 : Usher goes crazy ; he speaks to himself ; he admits knowing Madeline was buried alive.

§ n°11 : Madeline stands in the room, she falls on her brother and they both die. (Maybe she was dead all along ; dead from the inside)

§ n°12 : the narrator escapes from the house of Usher and sees its destruction (the fissure appears). Pathetic fallacy.