“Terrorofsoul”in“TheFalloftheHouseofUsher”

【Abstract】As a gothic writer of the nineteenth century， Edgar Allan Poe believes that terror presented in his gothic novels， is “not of Germany but of the soul”. This paper aims to analyze how Poe displays the “terror of soul” in “The Fall of the House of Usher” through the mental derangement of the two protagonists， Roderick Usher and the narrator. Playing a drama of consciousness， Poe shows how the “atmosphere” of the House of Usher leads to insanity of the two protagonists. In this way， he elicits a growing fear in the reader.

【Key words】The Fall of the House of Usher； terror of soul； mental derangement； protagonists

As a gothic writer of the nineteenth century， Edgar Allan Poe presents an American translation of European terrors without resorting to the actual supernatural. In the preface to Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque， Poe wrote “if in many of my productions terror has been the thesis， I maintain that terror is not of Germany but of the soul”（2）. Poe places the emphasis on psychological observation to explore the terror inherent in the human mind. This paper aims to analyze how Poe displays the “terror of soul” in “The Fall of the House of Usher” through the mental derangement of the two protagonists， Roderick Usher and the narrator.

I. The madness of Roderick Usher

The title of the estate， “House of Usher” is the appellation both of the family and the family mansion， implying the possible influence which “the character of the premises” has exercised on the character of the family. Roderick Usher inherits from his forebears the mansion and “a peculiar sensibility of temperament” （276）. The gloomy atmosphere of the family mansion has an influence on its present owner both physically and mentally （Spitzer 357）. Consequently， when the narrator meets with Usher， “the ghastly pallor of the skin”， “the miraculous luster of the eye” and “the silken， floating hair” （277） of Usher startle the narrator. Ushers physical appearance is the embodiment of his inner world that suffers from an excessive “nervous agitation”， which the narrator observes as： “His action was alternately vivacious and sullen. His voice varied rapidly from a tremulous indecision to that species of energetic concision…” （278）

Not only the narrator， but Usher himself is conscious of the “silent， yet importunate and terrible influence which for centuries had molded the destinies of his family” （282）. He believes it is the influence that makes what he is now， whereas he is powerless to resist it. “The physique of the gray walls and turrets， and the dim tarn into which they all looked down” had brought about the effect upon “the morale of his existence” （278）. Under such influence， Usher is in an acute state of terror and thus becomes “a bounden slave” to terror. He is afraid that he may give up life and reason altogether in the extreme horror which brings the intolerable anxiety and pain of soul. Therefore， he is fearful of terror itself. The fear of terror forces him to struggle with grim fantasy day and night.endprint

As a person is frequently in an intense nervous agitation， the result can be a state of mental derangement. Terror of the soul leads to Ushers deranged mental （Goodman， 37）. Reading the internal monologue of Usher， readers imagine naturally that they stay with a psychotic who murmurs about his disturbed soul with a sickly smile. The shudder of horror penetrates into the deep inner of readers when they ponder the direct psychological description on the madman. The letter reaches the narrator in the beginning gives evidence of “nervous agitation”. In the letter， Usher confesses the “mental disorder” which oppresses him. The strange letter hints the following unusual development of the plot. His morbid mental appears more distinct with depictions of specific symptoms. For instance， an unhealthy “acuteness of the senses” tortures him： The most insipid food was alone and endurable…and there were but peculiar sounds， and these from stringed instruments， which did not inspire him with horror. （278）

The oversensitive senses are the representation of his fragile and vulnerable mind. Furthermore， he holds superstitious impressions on the sentience “of all vegetable things” and of “the kingdom of inorganization”. He seems to treat himself as one of the gray stones in the family mansion， or part of the many fungi which overspread them. His soul is embedded into the “atmosphere” of the house， and of the tarn； thus， he is able to sense the sentience of the home， even communicate with it. Or rather， Usher himself is the mansion. He indulges in a grim phantasm and lives in illusion. The abnormal mind and humanity is where the thriller lies in.

After his beloved sister， Madelines death， Ushers mind is engulfed by total inherent darkness. There is not a single gleam of the once feeble light in his heart： “…darkness…poured forth upon all objects and physical universe， in one unceasing radiation of gloom” （279）. The gloom intensifies his mental disorder， which is reflected in all his artworks such as the wild improvisations and the abstract paintings. Even， the entombment of Madeline accelerates his fear. As twins and “the last of the ancient race of the Ushers” （279）， he predicts his death after Madelines dissolution. Nevertheless， what he fears is the “absolute effect” caused by the events in the future—terror. In other words， he fears that the moment of losing his life will be too much for him and that consequently “he will succumb to the pain and consequent fear that this moment of annihilation will produce” （Stahlberg 16）. The fear of fear causes extreme terror. As a result， he gets serious auditory hallucination. He gazes upon vacancy for hours， “as if listening to some imagery sound”. The highest tension produces the illusion that his prematurely buried sister will come for him for revenge. In the end， the phantom of Madelines bloody figure scares the madman to death.endprint

The madmans fear and madness with detailed psychological depictions affect readers profoundly. In the journey into the endless darkness of human mind， readers are overwhelmed by the strong frenzy. Therefore， Ushers madness is one element of macabre ideas.

II. The loss of sanity in the narrator

Ushers disintegration terrify readers with evident expressions， while what scares readers the most is a psychological undercurrent—the loss of sanity in the narrator. The effect of terror is achieved through the details and actions in presenting how the narrator loses his mind. Arriving at the mansion a rather reasonable man， the narrator struggles between sanity and insanity in the whole process. Walker holds that the “atmosphere” and Ushers madness are important causes for the narrators passive mental change （590）. Reaching the mansion alone， he feels “a sense of insufferable gloom” at the first sight of the house. He has no company but the madman， Roderick Usher. Obuchowski believes that isolation deprives him of the opportunity to pour out his heart to others （407）. Long-period suppressed fear piles up in his mind， awaiting the final explosion.

In addition， “the depression of soul” indicates the narrator is sensitive and susceptible to the surroundings （Obuchowski 409）， which foreshadows his mental derangement. His fear is vague and undefined at first： “an iciness， a sinking， a sickening of the heart， an unredeemed dreariness of thought” （275）. Then he tries to explore the legitimate sources of fear with rational explanation： “what was it that so unnerved me” and comes to the unsatisfactory conclusion： the combinations of natural objects have the power of affecting us. His sense for the peculiar “atmosphere” and consciousness of “the increase of my superstition” “accelerates the increase itself” （276）. As he enters the “gothic archway” and passes through “dark and intricate passages”， the vague sentiments are heightened. Hence he breathes “an atmosphere of sorrow” in the sullen chamber. The ghastly countenance of Usher startles and even awes the narrator. And the lady Madeline causes “an uttered astonishment” mingled with dread in the narrator. In the state of stupor， again he finds it impossible to account for such feelings； his reason fails again.

The situation gets worse after Madelines death. The artworks Usher creates expose the narrator in the complete darkness of Ushers mind. The atmosphere of gloom and the man with mental derangement always besiege the narrator and he has no way to escape. He shudders at the morbid condition of Ushers nerve， but shudder “knowing not why”. Rationality in vain endeavors to explain his fear. With singular music， painting and gothic books， Usher leads the narrator into a phantasmagoric world， where it is difficult for him to distinguish reality and reverie. Especially， the picture of the vault with “no source of light” but strangely rolling “intense rays” blurs the boundary between reality and illusion for him.endprint

Furthermore， he is exposed to irrational elements. Specifically， Ushers sense of the “sentience” and the “condensation of an atmosphere” coincide with the narrators impressions on the mansion. In this way， his superstitious beliefs accelerate his fear and mental disorder. Ergo， the rhapsody， “The Haunted Palace” also suggests the tottering of the narrators “lofty reason”. With the shaky reason， he regards Ushers preserving of Madelines corpse as “by no means an unnatural precaution” （283）， which readers cannot connect with the thinking of normal humanity. Even worse， the “unceasingly agitated mind” after the burial of Madeline obliges the narrator to “resolve all into the mere inexplicable vagaries of madness” （283）. Ushers condition terrifies and infects the narrator： “I felt creeping upon me…the wild influences of his own fantastic yet impressive superstitions” （284）.

On the night of the catastrophe， the narrator “experiences the full power of such feelings”： “an irrepressible tremor gradually pervaded my frame…there sat my heart an incubus of utterly causeless alarm”. He struggles to “reason off the nervousness”， but his efforts are “fruitless” （284）. As a consequence， he is “overpowered by an intense sentiment of horror， unaccountable yet unendurable” （284）. Later presence of Usher appalls the narrator with his mad hilarity and restrained hysteria. Enchanted by the illusion， they both see the physical “atmosphere”： “a faintly luminous and distinctly visible gaseous exhalation which hung about and enshrouded the mansion” （284）. The narrator struggles with the reverie， comforts himself that it is merely common “electrical phenomenon” or “rank miasma of the tarn” （285）.

While the narrator is reading the Mad Trist， the over mental agitation make him produce the similar auditory hallucination as Usher. He seems to hear the sounds which are described in the book. He still struggles between the little sanity and predominant insanity. Rational explanations for the unnatural and unknown are expected to help his mind maintain balance： he consoles himself that the sounds are simply coincidences. Nonetheless， his sanity which he attempts to retain collapses when finally the coincidences accumulate. He becomes another madman as Usher as he sees the resurgence of Madeline， which is actually an illusion. The reason of the narrator breaks down with the fall of the House of Usher. The loss of sanity is one of the universal and most terrifying of human fears （Obuchowski 411）. The process in which the narrator becomes mentally unbalanced is the process of internalizing terror.

To conclude， the “atmosphere” of the House of Usher is the external form of the mind， while the mind is the intrinsic nature of the “atmosphere”. Playing a drama of consciousness， Poe displays how the “atmosphere” leads to insanity of the two protagonists. In this way， Poe achieves his purpose： to elicit a growing fear in the reader.

References：

[1]Goodman，Daniel.“Morbid Visionary.”The Weekly Standard，vol.19，no.16，2014，pp.36-37.

[2]Obuchowski，Peter.“Unity of Effect in Poe's ‘The Fall of the House of Usher”.Studies in Short Fiction，vol.12，no.4，1975，pp.407-412.

[3]Poe，Edgar Allan.Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque.Philadelphia：Lea & Blanchard，1840.

[4]Spitzer，Leo.“A Reinterpretation of ‘The Fall of the House of Usher.”Comparative Literature，vol.18，no.4，1952，pp.351-363.

[5]Stahlberg，Lawrence.“The Source of Ushers Fear.” Interpretations，vol.13，no.1，1981，pp.10-17.

作者簡介：王城婷（1996.5.1-），福建福安人，研究方向：美國小說。endprint