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 tHE MysTERIES of  UDOLPHO / The MONK A Sight of the Abbey ( Northanger Abbey , Jane Austen, 1803) It's about a young woman who is about to discover an old abbey, and she muses about the past of the building. This novel is a parody of a Gothic story. The main character is a young girl who is about to live in an old abbey. She expects horrible and exciting adventures in that place, imagining a miserable fate for herself, but it just doesn't happen. The house is clean and neat, and its inhabitants are as nice as can be. A majority of Gothic novel readers were women. Some of the most famous Gothic writers were women too. J. Austen plays on these stereotypes with Northanger Abbey. She also examplifies this trend of "the happiness of being sad" from V. Hugo, here by proxy ( par procuration ). Gothic elements :  The walls, and windows of the imaginary Abbey (and its isolation). The character needs assistance to find her way (a maze?). The rain (Pathetic Fallacy...

For Poe, the reason is feminine, but it's tottering. Usher's poem explores the themes of old age, religion and decay. It's reminiscent of other poems by Poe ( Annabel Lee, the Raven ). The trees and the fungi near the house are sentient, they seem to be awakening.  The books in Poe's library are all connected with the plot somehow: they evoke underground passages, physical evil, the impossibility for the Apollonian side to win ( The City of the Sun is a utopia), and the inescapability of fate (with Chiromancy ). The Latin book highlights a very important element of the story : Madeline dies, and Roderick insists to put her body in a vault, under the house. Her body seems still fresh. The Dyonisian side of Usher seems to be winning. In the end, Poe uses pathetic fallacy to insist on the "terror and the beauty," the sublime aspect of the situation.  SUMMARY - Roderick improvises and sings a poem. - the poem itself. - the Narrator talks about Roderick'...

Apollonyan Usher's appearance is sometimes Apollonyan (the narrator writes that he is "remarkable," surpassingly beautiful," "luminous," finely moulded," "miraculous lustre") Painting, writing, playing music, talking, reading are all Apollonyan activities.  The symmetry of the twins / Harmony Dyonisian  Usher's room is dark. Usher's condition is Dyonisian (he's melancholy, it verges on insanity) Usher's appearance is sometimes Dyonisian ("cadaverousness," "very pallid,"  "web-like," "ghastly pallor"). There's a ("futile" ?) struggle inside Roderick between his Apollonyan and his Dyonisian natures. The House mirrors this struggle too : it's magnificient and huge and symmetrical, but it's decaying and ancient. The relationship bewteen Roderick and Madeline seems tensed. Oppression Superstition Sickness (she's cataleptic; he's going to go crazy) - > Traged...

  Observations The narrator uses very specific words to describe his friend. He says he's an ennuyé man of the world (which echoes the French expression mal du siècle to speak about the Romantic age) ; he's also described like a tragic hero : his "struggles" are "feeble and futile," and he inspires "fear and awe" (see Aristotle).  Catharsis=purification Greek Tragedies were devoted to Dyonisius When Usher says his sister and him are going to die, is it plausible, is it avoidable ? Furthermore, his sister Madeline is also Roderick's twin.  The Theme of the Double : In The Fall of the House of Usher , the narrator insists on the physical ressemblance of Lady Madeline and her brother Roderick. They both have a classical beauty, and are week and feeble. They're twins. They're both sick. They're both likely to die soon. They both have some sort of a link with the House. Poe had already explored the theme of the (evil) double in ...

 Dyonisan ? The appearance of Roderick's sister.  disease / mental disorder Roderick's condition : his senses are overactive. Archetype of the Romantic artist. Apollonyan ? Art : they're reading, writing, painting, playing music. These moments are counterpoints to insanity, disease and death, through the intellect, reason and beauty. Symmetry : the House reflects in the tarn, the Usher twins reflect in each other, the family reflects in the House. This symmetry maintains the cohesion of order and sanity. A phantasmagoria was a type of show that was popular in the late 18th, early 19th century in Europe and in the USA. It used magic lanterns (old-school projectors) and special frames with painted glass that could move, and these images would reflect on smoke in the dark.  Gothic Novel 101 Frankenstein: the narrator makes a wish, then he contemplates the sea and Nature. It's quiet and still. In the distance, he can see and hear sailors. He then hears noises ; he's ter...

 SUMMARY : The narrator enters Roderick Usher's room and breathes a strange air. He describes the room and R.U. It reflects the description of the house, and both are about to collapse (crumble). R.U. explains his illness to the narrator. The narrator understands R.U.'s fear. R.U. says that the house has a bad influence on his health. He mentions his sister, and she appears, saying nothing. He speaks about her illness (the doctors don't know how to cure it, and she is sometimes comatose ; she's about to die). They try to spend some time through art (reading, painting, guitar playing). The narrator describes Usher's music and painting. The narrator then describes a painting by Usher, the painting of a vault, the interior of a tomb.   The narrator uses very specific words to describe his friend. He says he's an ennuyé man of the world (which echoes the French expression mal du siècle to speak about the Romantic age) ; he's also described like a tragic hero...