Flashcards for The Fall of the House of Usher

Madeline Usher

Madeline Usher is Roderick's twin sister and the ghostly center of Edgar Allan Poe's 1839 Gothic tale.

character

Roderick Usher

Roderick Usher is the troubled main character of Edgar Allan Poe's gothic story and the final male heir of the old, inbred Usher family.

character

The Family Physician

The Family Physician is a minor but atmospherically important character in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher."

character

The Narrator

The unnamed Narrator is the only viewpoint character and serves as the reader's rational anchor in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher."

character

The Valet

The Valet is a minor yet atmospherically significant figure in Edgar Allan Poe's gothic tale "The Fall of the House of Usher."

character

“Suddenly there shot along the path a wild light, and I turned to see whence a gleam so unusual could have issued; for the vast house and its shadows were alone behind me.”

This line is narrated by the unnamed first-person narrator near the climactic end of Edgar Allan Poe's 1839 Gothic short story The Fall of the House of Usher.

Unnamed first-person narrator

“And now—to-night—Ethelred—ha! ha!—the breaking of the hermit's door, and the death-cry of the dragon, and the clangor of the shield!—say, rather, the rending of her coffin, and the grating of the iron hinges of her prison.”

This chilling outburst is delivered by Roderick Usher near the climax of Edgar Allan Poe's gothic short story "The Fall of the House of Usher" (1839).

Roderick Usher

“There was an iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart—an unredeemed dreariness of thought which no goading of the imagination could torture into aught of the sublime.”

This line is both spoken and felt by the unnamed first-person narrator at the beginning of Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Fall of the House of Usher" (1839).

Unnamed first-person narrator · Opening section (the story is undivided into chapters)

“I know not how it was—but, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit.”

This opening line is delivered by the unnamed narrator in Edgar Allan Poe's gothic short story The Fall of the House of Usher (1839).

Unnamed narrator · Opening paragraph (no chapter divisions)

“I must perish in this deplorable folly. Thus, thus, and not otherwise, shall I be lost.”

This haunting statement comes from Roderick Usher, the overly sensitive and increasingly unstable main character in Edgar Allan Poe's 1839 Gothic short story "The Fall of the House of Usher."

Roderick Usher

“The entire orb of the satellite burst at once upon my sight—my brain reeled as I saw the mighty walls rushing asunder—there was a long tumultuous shouting sound like the voice of a thousand waters—and the deep and dank tarn at my feet closed sullenly and silently over the fragments of the 'House of Usher.'”

This closing sentence is narrated by the unnamed narrator of Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Fall of the House of Usher" (1839).

Unnamed narrator · Conclusion / final paragraph

“In the greenest of our valleys / By good angels tenanted, / Once a fair and stately palace— / Radiant palace—reared its head.”

These opening lines are from "The Haunted Palace," a poem featured in Edgar Allan Poe's gothic short story The Fall of the House of Usher (1839).

Roderick Usher

“I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country, and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher.”

This opening line is delivered by the unnamed first-person narrator in Edgar Allan Poe's gothic short story "The Fall of the House of Usher" (1839).

Unnamed first-person narrator

“There was blood upon her white robes, and the evidence of some bitter struggle upon every portion of her emaciated frame.”

This haunting line is spoken by the unnamed narrator in Edgar Allan Poe's gothic short story The Fall of the House of Usher (1839).

Unnamed Narrator

“The eye of a scrutinizing observer might have discovered a barely perceptible fissure, which, extending from the roof of the building in front, made its way down the wall in a zigzag direction, until it became lost in the sullen waters of the tarn.”

This line is spoken by the unnamed narrator early in Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Fall of the House of Usher" (1839) as he rides toward the crumbling Usher mansion.

Unnamed narrator · Opening section (no chapter divisions; early in the story)

Madeline's Catalepsy

In Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher," Madeline Usher's catalepsy — a condition that makes her body stiff and seemingly lifeless — symbolizes the horrifying blur between life and death.

The Crack / Fissure in the Wall

In Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher," the zigzag crack on the mansion's front signifies the deep rift within the Usher family.

The Haunted Palace (Poem)

In Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher," the poem "The Haunted Palace" serves as a deeper metaphor for Roderick Usher's crumbling sanity.

The House of Usher

In Poe's story, the House of Usher is like a living representation of the Usher family—its physical decay reflects the mental and physical decline of its last two residents, Roderick and Madeline.

The Tarn (Dark Lake)

In Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher," the tarn—the dark and motionless lake encircling the mansion—embodies the inescapable doom and psychological entrapment of the Usher family.

Extended Metaphor

In Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher," the house serves as a powerful metaphor for Roderick Usher's failing mind and body.

Symbolism

In Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher," symbolism is woven throughout the narrative, connecting the physical estate to the psychological and moral decline of its owner.

Allegory

In "The Fall of the House of Usher," Poe weaves a deep allegory where the crumbling mansion and the deteriorating Usher family are essentially one entity.

Personification

In Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher," personification is the main force that turns the house into a living enemy.

Pathetic Fallacy

In Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher," pathetic fallacy serves as the story's foundation, linking the decaying Usher family to their crumbling surroundings so tightly that nature appears to mourn, deteriorate, and ultimately fall apart alongside its residents.

Irony

Poe fills "The Fall of the House of Usher" with such thick irony that the narrator's rationality itself becomes a punchline.

Imagery

In "The Fall of the House of Usher," Poe uses imagery as the main tool for creating dread, turning the house into a sensory experience even before any character speaks.

Alliteration

In Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher," alliteration serves as a kind of sound design, making the prose feel as suffocating and inescapable as the mansion itself.

insufferable

So extreme or overwhelming that it cannot be endured or tolerated; here describing a crushing, unbearable sense of gloom that seizes the narrator the moment he sees the house.

adjective · Chapter 1

pervaded

Spread through every part of something completely, the way a smell fills a room; here the gloom soaks into the narrator's entire spirit rather than touching only part of it.

verb · Chapter 1

unnerved

Robbed of courage or composure, leaving a person shaken and unable to think steadily; the narrator cannot explain what has stripped away his sense of calm.

verb · Chapter 1

contemplation

The act of looking at or thinking carefully and steadily about something; here the narrator's sustained, troubled gaze at the mansion itself.

noun · Chapter 1

aggravated

Made worse or more intense; here the narrator's dread is deepened and sharpened by a half-pleasant, poetic feeling that normally accompanies gloomy natural scenes.

verb · Chapter 1

desolate

Completely empty of warmth, life, or comfort; bleak and forsaken in a way that produces deep sadness in anyone who looks upon it.

adjective · Chapter 1

tarn

A small, dark, still mountain lake or pool; here the black, stagnant body of water that lies directly in front of the Usher mansion and eventually swallows it.

noun · Chapter 1

apathy

A complete absence of feeling, interest, or energy; a settled, unshakeable indifference to everything around one, described here as one of Madeline's chief symptoms.

noun · Chapter 2

transient

Lasting only a very short time before passing away; here describing episodes of Madeline's illness that come and go rather than remaining constant.

adjective · Chapter 2

cataleptic

Relating to catalepsy, a condition in which the body becomes rigid and unresponsive, mimicking death, while the person may still be alive and conscious inside.

adjective · Chapter 2

baffled

Completely defeated or stumped; here Madeline's disease has resisted every attempt by her doctors to understand or treat it, leaving them without answers.

verb · Chapter 2

malady

A disease or illness, especially one that is serious, lingering, or hard to diagnose; used here to refer to the mysterious condition that has been killing Madeline.

noun · Chapter 2

obtrusive

Pushy and intrusive in a way that draws unwanted attention; here describing the doctors' inquiries as aggressive and prying rather than simply professional.

adjective · Chapter 2

toil

Hard, exhausting physical effort; here the difficulty and strain required to climb back up through the oppressive lower passages of the house after sealing the vault.

noun · Chapter 2

screwed down

Fastened tightly shut by turning screws into place; here the act of sealing Madeline's coffin lid so it cannot be opened from the inside or outside without tools.

phrase · Chapter 2

emaciated

Dangerously thin and wasted away, with flesh visibly reduced to almost nothing; here describing Madeline's body after her ordeal of being buried alive and fighting free.

adjective · Chapter 3

fissure

A long, narrow crack or split running through a solid surface; here the crack in the wall of the Usher mansion that rapidly widens until the entire structure collapses.

noun · Chapter 3

tumultuous

Loud, chaotic, and violently disordered; here describing the roaring, crashing sound that accompanies the final destruction of the house.

adjective · Chapter 3

orb

A sphere or circular body; here referring to the full moon, whose entire round disk suddenly blazes into the narrator's view through the widening crack in the house.

noun · Chapter 3

satellite

In older usage, a heavenly body that orbits another, specifically the moon orbiting the Earth; here used as a formal, archaic term for the moon itself.

noun · Chapter 3

resolution

A firm decision reached after deliberation; here the decision Roderick has made to place Madeline's body in the vault rather than in the family's exposed burial ground.

noun · Chapter 2

hollow

Empty inside, producing a dull, echoing sound when struck or moved; here emphasising that the coffin is an enclosed, resonant space in which Madeline's faint movements could be heard.

adjective · Chapter 3

hysteria

A state of extreme, uncontrollable emotional agitation, often involving wild fear or excitement that overwhelms rational thought; here describing Roderick's escalating mental breakdown.

noun · Chapter 3

whirlwind

A violently rotating column of wind; here part of the unnatural storm that tears at the house in the final scene, contributing to its destruction.

noun · Chapter 3