Edgar Allan Poe: A Look At The Gothic Author

The comparison of Edgar Allen Poe’s Gothic stories “Ligeia”, as well “The Fall of the House of Usher”, shows a lot of similarities. However, there are also some differences. The similarities between “Ligeia”, “Usher”, and other works by Edgar Allen Poe are striking. The only major differences are the themes and plots.

The narrator of “The Fall of the House of Usher”, visits an elderly friend who appears to be losing his mind. Roderick Usher (narrator) and Usher’s older sister are buried prematurely. Both siblings will die when the truth is revealed. The narrator is able to escape in time and see the house slide into the water. In “Ligeia”, an inspiring woman inspires a man to marry her. She declares on her deathbed that her love for him will never be affected by death. Although he is saddened by her loss, he marries someone else despite their lack of love. The second wife becomes ill after some mysterious events. She dies. The narrator reveals, after a night spent reviving the corpse and failing, that it is his deceased first wife Lady Ligeia.

Both stories have been told in the past and in first person. Roderick’s friend tells the story “Usher”. The first-person perspective is used for “Ligeia”, which is told by the husband of Ligeia and Rowena. Each story contains three characters. The narrator is the only character in “Usher”. Ligeia features Ligeia Rowena’s husband and the narrator.

Poe describes some characters in a similar way. Poe says that Roderick Usher has “large and liquid eyes, luminous in color” (Poe, 2500), along with “a delicate Hebrew nose” (2500). Ligeia has “large, luminous eyes” (2489), and her nose looks like “graceful Hebrew medallions” (2488). Both appear to be of a different “race”. (2501)(2488).

Poe sets the mood with his excellent understanding of connotative and nuanced words. There are many words that appear in both stories (or different forms of these words): decay, emaciated and desolate; melancholy; sorrowful, ancient or ghastly; corpses. Stringed instruments and leaden-hued are two phrases which appear in both tales but aren’t necessarily Gothic. Leaden-hued describes “vapor” (24499) in “Usher”. In “Ligeia”, the glass window in the bridal chamber is described by this term. Roderick Usher is a fan of “stringed instrumentals” and Ligeia’s gaze evokes similar feelings.

Both settings are strikingly similar. The House of Usher has a dreary setting due to its “extraordinary dilapidation”, “extensive degradation” and “extraordinary decay”. Usher can also be found in the “sombre tapestries”, (2499) or a ceiling with “vaulted fretted vaults”, (2500). After her death, the narrator in Ligeia moves to an “eerie and dark” abbey located in “the wildest and least visited parts of…England”. The bridal suite is described as “a lofty, vaulted ceiling with elaborately fretted details” (2493) and “a massive and heavy-looking tapestry”.

Edgar Allen Poe makes extensive use of foreshadowing when he wrote “The Fall of the House of Usher.” These include the title of the story, the melancholia of the home, the “remodeled” and “inverted” images (2498) of the “black, lurid water” (2498), the tiny fissure (2499), the “faint flush” (2506) of the Lady Madeline corpse. This foreshadowing will be fulfilled at the end of the story when Lady Madeleine reveals that she is not dead. The last muttered words by Ligeia, “Man will not surrender himself to death or angels except because of the feebleness of his will”, (2492) (2489) (2487), are a foreshadowing. Joseph Glanville is credited with the three repetitions of a particular line. Ligeia is able to overcome her weak desire to return to the beloved.

Poe is present in both stories as an author’s creation. Roderick Usher is the poet behind “The Haunted Palace,” (2504) a story about a monarch, his decaying house and the eerie reflection of its past and present. The poem has six lines with ababcdcd rhyming schemes. Ligeia wrote “The Conqueror Worm”, a poem (2491) that describes the sad play of angels through death. The Conqueror Worm also follows the ababcdcd pattern.

Both stories play a significant role in “sight” and “eyes”, despite the similarity in their physical descriptions. Eyes become windows into the soul in “Usher”. The eyes show the progression of Roderick’s mental decline. “The luminousness in his eye was gone” (2506) after the entombment Lady Madeline. On the last night of the bizarre party at Usher’s house, “there were… mad hilarity and laughter in his eyes” (2507). When the reanimated Madeline’s sounds get closer to him, he opens his eyes “widely and rigidly” (2509). The House of Usher is visible from the “vacant, eye-like” windows of the House. Roderick’s “The Haunted Palace” reflects Roderick’s view of Usher’s House. In the past, “through two luminous window” (2504) one might have seen “spirits dancing musically”. They see “forms moving…to discordant melodies” through “red-lit windows” now (2504-2505). There is also a feeling of blindness throughout “Usher”. To see Usher’s corners, “the eye of a scrutinizing observer… the eye…struggled” (2500). Roderick’s eyeballs are “tortured…by…faint light” (2501). The narrator feels “stupor”, when he watches Madeline. In “Ligeia”, the eyes have a completely different function. Her husband perceives divinity in her eyes. In her eyes, he sees the secrets of science and life. Her “eyes shone a little less and a little more” when she became ill or “blazed wildly with an too–too–glorious effulgence”. He cannot comprehend his academic pursuits when she is no longer there. His “lustre of eyes” is missing (2490). The narrator’s “vision dimmed” when Ligeia left, but he consoles himself by “visions of Ligeia”. The narrator’s final identification of the reanimated body of Lady Rowena is “the full…the black…the wild eyes of…Ligeia”.

Each story contains a questionable element of sanity. Roderick Usher is “excessively nervous” (25). Lady Madeline is “apathetic” (2502). The narrator says that Lady Rowena was driven insane by the room. Ligeia’s narration is a bit unstable. Perhaps it is due to the fact that he has lost his beloved Ligeia. Or, maybe, the setting. The characters’ insights are questioned by the madness.

In spite of their remarkable similarity, “Usher”, like “Ligeia”, differs in plot, theme and other subtleties. Themes are a big part of “Usher”. “Ligeia”, on the other hand, focuses more on themes such as obsession and death. Despite the differences in plot, there are some strange similarities. The women in both stories are seen meandering around the house, barely noticed. Ligeia “came as a shaddow” and “left” (2487), while “the girl Madeline… walked slowly in a far corner of the house and… vanished…” (2501). Both stories feature a woman who dies, then comes back to life. Both stories have suspense because the characters are unable to accept that they hear sounds.

The similarities between stories are not the only thing that differs. In “Usher”, however, the narration is done in first person. But the narrator of this story is not one of the Usher family. His observations are reasonable and credible. The narrator in “Ligeia” is married to both women. His words are biased.

Each story mentions opium, but the importance of opium varies. The narrator in “Usher”, mentions only that Roderick was an “irreclaimable opium eater” (2501). The narrator describes his husband as “a bounden…of…opium” (2493) after Ligeia has died. He designed the horrifying wedding chamber inspired by his “opium dream excitement” (2494). The narrator is a drug addict, and his story’s reality is never certain.

The endings in both stories are very different. In particular, “Usher’s” story has a happy ending. The House of Usher is a closed story. The story of “Ligeia” is open-ended. As the narrator is speaking as if Ligeia was dead, what happened? Was she really raised from the dead by her narrator? Was the narration insane? Was the narrator a drug addict? Poe ends his story when he is shocked by the realization.

Ligiea is a rich, opulent world with a lot of exotic references and thick descriptions. This is not the case in “Usher”. There are references to historical figures, such as “Cleomenes”, “Homer”, “Democritus”, “Leda”, “Azrael”, and ancient deities. The plot in “Ligeia”, however, is based on the setting. There are many references to the ancient deities, as well as exotic locations, including the “Valley of Nourjahad”(2488), the “Luxor”(2493), and the “India” (2494).

Both stories have a different feel, but many of the similarities are apparent. Poe, who firmly embraced the Gothic story, is responsible for many of these startling similarities. The exactitude in the language can be attributed to one author. Certain aspects are “Poe”. Poe’s name is always associated with opium. Poe is not the only Gothic writer to use “eyes”, but he does make frequent references to music or instruments.

Edgar Allen Poe is regarded as the father of Gothic fiction. These two stories are similar, which shows that he adhered to a particular standard when writing Gothic tales. Poe’s Gothic tales are different because of his mastery in details, and his inspired way to weave suspense into the dark atmosphere.

Works Cited

Poe, Edgar Allen. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Paul Lauter was a renowned figure in the literary world. His works have been recognized for their authenticity and cultural significance. He was a great contributor to the field of literature and his works are still studied and appreciated today. The 2009 edition of Boston was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2497-2510. Print.

– – -. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Paul Lauter was a renowned scholar of literature. His work focused on the analysis and interpretation of various texts. He was a major contributor to the field of literary studies. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt published “Boston” in 2009. 2487-97. Print.