The Fall of the House of Usher DQ
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Transcript The Fall of the House of Usher DQ
Discussion Questions
Gloomy, dark, scary (Gothic)
“dull, dark, soundless autumn day”
“clouds hung oppressively”
“alone”
“melancholy (sad) house of Usher”
“Direct line of descendents”
Paintings, music – “Fuseli” and “von Weber”
Decorative- “tapestries” and “armorial
trophies”
Has a mental condition
“cadaverousness”- looks like a dead person
Sloppy and unclean- hair grown out, tired
Sad- talks about dying and worried about his
sister
Much different from when he was a boy
“evil things in robes of sorrow”- Usher’s grief
for himself and his sister
“hideous throng”- wild mind of Usher
Always music playing
Dream like paintings
Difficult to tell the difference between reality
and dreams (Fuseli paintings)
The crack in the wall- his mind
Decayed trees- death
He wants to show a strong bond- both
physically (twins) but mentally as well. They
are nearly the same person in thought and
action
When Madeline dies, Roderick fully loses his
mind
Roderick buries Madeline alive
He is trying to end/cover up his insanity just as he
is trying to end/cover up Madeline’s life
The house falls down
“fissure widened”
“Mighty walls rushing asunder”
The family is finished
Both Roderick and Madeline die
Fear-Surprise
He thinks he has killed Madeline, but then she
shows up alive
Pg. 309 “bore him to the floor a corpse”
We need mental and physical health to
survive