Heather Harris English III Mr. Reeves 31 March 2011 Roderick and His House Edgar Allan Poe is the master of the macabre. His stories are well-remembered for the images of darkness and death they all contain. As a romantic writer, Poe focuses on the emotion and the imagination of dismal situations. In his short story “The Fall of the House of Usher” Edgar Allan Poe personifies the dark decaying “Usher” house as a manifestation of the deteriorating mental, physical, and emotional state of Roderick himself. The story begins with a striking example of personification as the narrator comes upon the “Usher” house.
The fall of the house of usher is a short story written by Edgar Allen Poe. There are many interpretations of the title. One of the interpretations of the title is the actual house of Roderick Usher collapsing. Roderick is the main character of this short story. He sends a letter to a long time friend because he is ill mentally and emotionally.
It is a poem that conveys a message about the brutalities and horrors of war to an ill-informed and complacent audience in England. The length of the poem is short, but powerful and wrought with vivid imagery, griping the reader’s attention from the beginning to the end. The poem focuses on the horrifying death of a solder in WWI who falls victim to gas warfare because he fails to attach his gas mask quick enough. Wilfred Owens, a war veteran himself, uses the story of the soldier to expose the harsh truths of war. With his effective use of imagery, diction and irony, Wellford Owens strips away the glory of war and reveals the horror of what it was really like to fight in WWI.
Symbolism in The Scottish Play In this dark play, the symbol of blood becomes quite apparent. Not only is this dire word mentioned over forty times, but it is also a driving and reoccurring figure that greatly affects a number of characters. Both Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth, deeply feel the guilt and sin that is caused by this symbol. Blood is a haunting stain that symbolically does not leave the hands of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth as it drives them to their downfall. The idea of blood in other works and novels typically evokes the idea of slaughter and massacre.
Finally, Prospero, together with the guests of the masquerade, dies from the disease. To begin with, the title of the story could be interpreted as Gothic. The red colour could be distinguished, because in most sources it is associated with “blood, death-throes and sublimation”[1], while Ferber in the Dictionary of Literary Symbols explains it concentrating on “the colour of devil”[2]. In this case both interpretations perfectly represent the story The Masque of the Red Death, because those elements reflect the very idea of death and the image of evil, which represent that particular masquarader named the Read Death. Throughout the story, the very idea of horror is expressed with the help of a great variety of images and details, which naturally evokes fear.
The narrator says, “I looked upon the scene before me, upon the mere house, upon the bleak walls, upon the vacant eyelike windows, with an utter depression of soul.” (Poe 397) From the characteristics the narrator gave of the house, he would ultimately feel depressed because there was no signs of life. Each characteristic of the house is symbolic of something, or signal for what is
An Analytical Review of corruption's ability to induce death and mortality In Hamlet For centuries, humanity has been intrigued by the profound discussion about death and the undefined inevitable state of mortality it presents. Death is often foreseen as the separation between the soul or spiritual being, and the biological compound of the human body. Factors which cause death can derive from the gradual onset of natural physical deterioration of the surrounding anatomy and mental capacity, much like the progressive evolution of corruption in a diseased state. Vulnerability can also lead to exterior instances of mortal exacerbation such as murder, suicide and accidental killings that are caused by a third party. In the play Hamlet, Shakespeare uses the theme of corruption to metaphorically represent the deterioration of each Character’s physiological well being and state of mind when exposed to corruption that ends in death.
There are many elements in the story that are a mirror image to the mental state of Roderick himself, including his twin sister and the house they inhabit. These same elements also mirror Poe himself during the time he was writing the story. By using the double efficiently, Poe is able to create unity within the story, reflecting everything to Roderick Usher and even Poe himself. When the friend first comes upon the house he notices “the bleak walls” (113) along with the “the white trunks of decayed trees” (113) and “minute fungi” (115) that covers the exterior. After observing the house’s deteriorating state, he decides to continue on inside to meet with his old friend.
In Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, “The Masque of the Red Death”, he dramatically tells the reader that death isn’t something you can avoid with wealth and power. In “The Masque of the Red Death” Poe starts off by talking about a mysterious disease that devastated the country, and eventually leading toward prince Prospero. Prospero was the leader at this time period and wanted to hide from death.Poe gave dramatic stages while giving mysterious hints like the clock and the 7 rooms. By the end of the story not only did Prospero died after trying to avoid death it’s also where death had killed him. After analyzing a secondary source critical essay I seen a different way of looking at the story from what I had seen, and I agree with his analysis of the story.
Jane imagines Mr Reed’s ghost haunting the room, from wrongdoing regarding his last wishes. Bronte presents this idea by the phrase “it was in this chamber he breathed his last”. The striking imagery provides interesting insight into the way Jane’s thought processes work as she was frequently sent to the red room. The word “chamber” generates connotations with a death chamber and being trapped for eternity, this could have a repercussion on Jane as the dark imagery coupled with the word “chamber” would make the character feel as if she was trapped and confined at a young age. This in turn would affect her psychologically as she grows older.