摘 要

19世纪美国著名诗人、小说家和文学评论家爱伦·坡，是侦探小说的鼻祖以及恐怖小说大师，他将哥特小说推向了世界巅峰。他的作品主要围绕“死亡”为主题，他的黑暗浪漫主义和超验主义对后来的文学产生了一定程度的影响。在坡的恐怖文学作品中随处可见哥特元素的烙印，无论在文字还是形式上都无疑透露着幽婉恐怖的气氛。他对哥特小说的继承与发展从世人所瞩目的外部恐惧转向心灵恐惧。论文先引见爱伦·坡的平生以及哥特小说，再介绍小说《厄舍府的倒塌》，并从故事情节、人物、环境、心理等方面进行多角度剖析，力图阐明《厄舍府的倒塌》中所体现的哥特元素。再将其与坡的短篇小说《丽姬娅》进行对比参照，从而使能够清晰认识到爱伦·坡对哥特小说的发展以及他在文学史上的影响。

关键词：爱伦·坡；厄舍府的倒塌；恐怖小说；哥特元素

Abstract

As a renowned American poet, novelist and literary critic in the 19^th century, Edgar Allan Poe is also regarded as the inventor of detective novel and the master of horror fiction. Poe stands for the peak of Gothic literature. The themes of death become the hallmark of his works. His dark romanticism tremendously influenced literary development. Poe’s horror fiction filled with Gothic elements, create mysterious and macabre atmosphere. He developed horror fictions from external fears concerned by people to internal fears. This paper first introduces Poe’s background and Gothic literature. And then with the introduction of The Fall of the House of Usher, the paper analyzes The Fall of the House of Usher from the perspective of plot, characters, atmosphere and psychology to manifest the Gothic elements in this novel. The paper also compares The Fall of the House of Usher with Ligeia to give a clear understanding of Poe’s high status in literary history and his profound influence on the later Gothic novels.

Key words: Edgar Allan Poe; The Fall of the House of Usher; horror fiction; Gothic elements

Table of Contents

1 Introduction 1

1.1 An Introduction to Edgar Allan Poe and Gothic Fiction 1

1.2 An Introduction to The Fall of the House of Usher 2

1.3 The Significance of the Research 2

1.4 Organization of the Paper 3

2 Literature Review 4

2.1 Overseas Researches on Edgar Allan Poe and His Works 4

2.2 Domestic Researches on Edgar Allan Poe and His Work 5

3 Major Gothic Elements in The Fall of the House of Usher 5

3.1 The Suspenseful Plot 5

3.2 The Gloomy Atmosphere 7

3.3 The Description of the Psychology of Protagnists 8

4 Application of Symbolism in Highlighting Gothic Themes 9

4.1 The Title and Name 9

4.2 The Ancient Mansion 10

4.3 The Violent Storm 10

5 Enlightenment to Understanding Ligeia 11

5.1 The Creepy Plot of Ligeia 11

5.2 Similarities between the Relationships of Major Characters 12

5.3 Similarities between the Decaying Settings 13

6 Conclusion 14

References 15

Appendix 16

Acknowledgements 17

Gothic Elements in The Fall of the House of Usher

1 Introduction

1.1 An Introduction to Edgar Allan Poe and Gothic Fiction

Edgar Allan Poe is one of the renowned novelists in the 19^th century. Although his life is short, he wrote more than seventy short stories. Poe’s life was permeated by highs and lows, which directly reacted in his literary works. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1809. When he was only a three-year-old boy, his father left the family and his mother died of tuberculosis. Thus orphaned, John and Frances Allan took Poe to their home in Richmond, Virginia and they became Poe’s foster parents. In 1826, Poe attended University of Virginia, where he dropped out because of heavy debt (Chen, 2015). Since then, Poe had a strained relation with John Allan. Soon he moved to Boston in which he published his first book, Tamerlane and Other Poems in 1827. In 1828, he was stone-broke and enlisted into the army. However, when Poe was in West Point, he declared that he wants to be a writer, finally he was expelled. After he left West Point, he separated ways with his foster father. Poe went to Baltimore, to live with his aunt Maria Clemm. It was at this time that Poe marred his cousin, Virginia, who was only thirteen years old. At the same time, Poe started writing short stories. In 1845, one of Poe’s most famous poems The Raven was published (Cui, 2015). It was this poem that laid the foundation of his writing style. Two years later, his wife passed away.

It is not hard to see that Poe endured much pain in his childhood and adulthood, which led to his obsession with death. He re-interpreted the horror and romance with his psychological exploration of death and insanity. As one of the greatest writer of Gothic fictions, Poe developed Gothic literature to a new level.

The word “Gothic” first came with the magnificent architecture built by Germanic clans named the Goths (Gao, 2014). Before long, this kind of superb style was considered as an ideal background in literature because this mysterious setting made tales more evil. In general, Gothic literature has its own specific key elements such as setting, atmosphere, supernatural, and women in distress. Gothic fictions involve the imaginary, but it differs from Romantic literature because it focuses more on supernatural events. It also tends to explore the dark side of human nature, which is reflected on Edgar Allan Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado and Mary Wollstonecraft’s Frankenstein. Another theme can be seen frequently in Gothic fictions is ruin and decay, as seen in Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher (Huang, 2011).

1.2 An Introduction to The Fall of the House of Usher

The author, also the unnamed narrator approaches the house of Usher. It is an ancient, gloomy and mysterious castle. The narrator received letter from his boyhood friend, Roderick Usher, to ask for his accompany. In the letter, Roderick said he was in torment physically and emotionally. The Usher family is an old clan, but never thrived. Only one family member can survive from generation to generation. As the narrator arrives, he notes the castle is decaying and there is a crack in the house. The house is engulfed by gloom and fear.

Roderick’s mental illness is partly because of his twin sister, Madeline Usher. She has suffered from a mysterious sickness. The narrator accompanies with Roderick and tries to cheer him up. But nothing helps. Soon, Madeline dies, and Roderick buries her in the tombs under the house for temporarily. The narrator helps Roderick to bury Madeline.

At a storming night, Roderick comes to the narrator’s room and he takes the narrator by the window. They see a bright gas around the castle. To calm his friend, the narrator reads Mad Trist by Sir Launcelot Canning to Roderick. There were noises coming when he was reading. He tries to ignore, however, Roderick fell down from the chair. Roderick says it is Madeline who made the noises and he has heard the sound for several days. Roderick also says they were burying Madeline alive. The door is blown by the wind and Madeline is standing in her bloody white robes. Madeline flings herself upon her brother. Roderick dies of fear. The narrator escapes from the house and as he is running he see the house crumbling.