Psychological Analysis of the Gothic Elements in The Fall of the House of Usher

苗沺+刘晓明

【Abstract】Edgar Allen Poes greatest literary achievement was his innovation of the terror tale. It is remembered as one of the most sophisticated creations in English psychological fiction. He realized at the beginning of his career that Gothic Elements were compatible with psychological analysis in literature. Thus， he worked out such design in combination， and repeatedly used it throughout his literary career. The Fall of the House of Usher is a typical work of this kind of combination.

【Key words】Edgar Allen Poe； Gothic Elements； Psychological analysis

1. Readers Fear Generated by the First Person Narrative Perspective

As is known to all， there are different types of fear on different levels. Some are mildly exciting which are usually told by the third person narrative； some explore terror to a new depth， which use the first person narrative to show the readers a kind of direct feeling and trigger their inner fear. The Fall of the House of Usher inspires the latter.

There is a strong sense of evil defeating good in this story. It is a conflict between what ought to be and what is， but in a mysterious， obscure way. Poe produces this effect mainly through his use of the first-person narrative. The narrator is an un-named childhood friend of Roderick Usher. His typical characteristic is his loyalty to the principles of logic and science. All we are told of the narrator is that he was a friend to Roderick. Even as a child when the two of them were closer， the narrator admits he knew little of his friend. Therefore he lacks an understanding of character he would otherwise have had as a close， trusted friend. This contributes to the sense of mystery which is being built. The narrator is a representative of scientific approach. He attempts to explain everything in terms of natural occurrences and fact-based logic. In the supernatural setting of the story， the narrator seems to be a scientific lens. Later， he begins to wonder whether what he cant explain is right， and actually try to make himself believe it is in some way not unnatural. This starts when at one point he is looking up at the house itself and imagines it to be in a hellish surrounding. To pass this off he tells himself it “must have been a dream.” After he settles into his temporary room， more and more odd occurrences hit him one after another. Walking through the wired and terrible halls of the house， the narrator still wonders how the horrible feeling is justified. When he meets Lady Madeline， he “finds it impossible to account for” his feeling of “dread.” How is it possible that so many dark and unexplainable things keep happening starts to get under his skin. Gradually it gets harder for the narrator not to succumb to the terror. Several days after putting Lady Madeline in the tomb， the narrator finds that Roderick keeps gazing off into space as if he were listening to something. The narrator makes a slip. We see how much things are really starting to get to him in this twisted place he finds himself.endprint

From the above， the author uses the first person narrative perspective to let readers feel that they themselves are “I”. While reading， readers can easily gain psychological fear because they put their personal emotion in “I” and experience what “I” see， hear， feel and experience. Besides， readers can also sense the gradual losing of the rational mind.

2. The Horror Caused by the Contradictory and Morbid Psychological Description of the Characters

The development of the whole story leads the readers to the morbid mentality of Roderick and Madeline， which generates even greater fear in readers mind than that caused by the first-person point of view.

With the rising of the plot， it can be easily found that Rodericks mind went terribly wrong. Lost in his mind， Roderick experiences the urge toward self-destruction， a primitive impulse to “do wrong for the wrongs sake”. According to the theory of psychology， the self-destructive urge always firstly act to the external world and then back to functions towards the inside world. It becomes irresistible under certain conditions. Therefore， Roderick abruptly exhausts the rationality he is running out of. His whole soul is filled with eagerness to fall， a desire， a longing， and a passion completely uncontrollable. Compelled by the self-destructive urge， Roderick is eager to kill his other self—Madeline， because they two share much similarity.

However， in his heart， he is fully aware of the fatal consequences of his murder. In the tale， Roderick Usher， the brother， knows every turn of his own disintegrating mind. He tries to destroy his twin sister， because he believes that if his sister no longer exists in this world， he might drop his abnormal aesthetic pursuit and live a normal emotional and physical life. And at the same time， he also knows that as the last members of Ushers family， they are closely tied together in life. As soon as she dies， he dies， too. Whats more， Roderick seems like a fortuneteller， he learned the doomed death of Madeline long ago. This foresight is like the surreal element in a real world， which leads Roderick into desperation. Driven by the uncontrollable self-destructive urge and the desperation， he finally went into action.

By burying Madeline alive， Roderick receives great nervousness and oppressiveness as if he is carrying a secret， wondering from one room to another. That is to say， the deep repression of Madeline makes Madeline monstrous， which leads to Rodericks mental crash. Rodericks abnormal psychological feeling which scares readers leads to tragedy. Readers consider the story more horrible because it doesnt just include the terrible description of scenery but include a lunatic who is always ready to murder.endprint

There is another morbid character whos wrong in mind in this story—Madeline. Madeline is described to be a fragile abstract person who has a complete mental disorder. According to some psychological theories， all human beings brains consist of splits of mind， with consciousness and unconsciousness. Living in a real world， some of our wishes may not be fulfilled. Sometimes， we human beings have to repress the wishes. When a wish is repressed， it will be hidden in our unconsciousness. But the wish will never be forgotten. It will hide in our mind in the form of unconsciousness， as if it does not exist at all. When the unconsciousness is awakened by some certain reason， it will yell out uncontrollably no matter how much damage it will do to others. This very human being with provoked unconsciousness will suffer from a mental disorder. In the novel， Madeline has un-fulfilled wish. She wishes to be normal， but she is repressed by the society， the disease and ethics. Therefore， the ailing Madeline goes into a complete state of unconscious， ready to roar at any time.

3. Conclusion

Although Poe never knew the notion of psychological analysis because the creator of psychological analysis—Freud was born seven years after Poes death， his The Fall of the House of Usher is of psychological characteristics. Poe unconsciously foreshadows the method of psychological analysis to strengthen the Gothic elements in his works.

References：

[1]Ellis，Markman.The History of Gothic Fiction.Edinburgh： Edinburgh University Press，2000.

[2]Griffith，Clark.“Poe and the Gothic”，Critical Essays on Edgar Allan Poe.Boston：Boston University Press，1987.endprint