ABSTRACT

Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most famous poets, short-story writers, editors, and literary critics in American literary history. He is also the leading figure in American Romantic Movement who is famous for his suspense novels and thrillers. His style is unique with delicate forms, various contents and beautiful language. The Gothic story “The Fall of the House of Usher” is a mature masterpiece of his short stories which epitomizes his idea of romanticism as he advocates.

Combining beauty and terror, Poe resorts to, in “The Fall of the House of Usher”, not only traditional environmental description to create Gothic atmosphere to indicate the mental world of his characters, but also detailed psychological description of the characters’ struggle between soul and body, especially their distorted mind. Poe’s unique psychoanalytic approach greatly enhances the  perpetual artistic appeal of this Gothic story. Through the above discussion, it is hoped that the present study will inspire readers to probe into Poe’s humanistic concerns beneath this weird story. 

Key words: Allan Poe; “The Fall of the House of Usher”; psychological depiction

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABSTRACT

摘要

Chapter One  INTRODUCTION-1

Chapter Two  LITERATURE REVIEW-3

2.1 History of Previous Studies-3

2.2 Inadequacy of Past Studies-4

2.3 Significance of the Present Study-5

Chapter Three  POE’S MANIPULATION OF BREATHTAKING SCENCES AND HORRIFIC EVENTS-6

3.1 The Horrible Environment Outside and Inside the House-6

3.2 The Horrible story of “Mad Trist” and Miss Madeline’s Revival in the Stormy Night-7

3.3 The Fall of the House into the Tarn-8

Chapter Four  POE’S INGENIOUS PRESENTATION OF THE CHARACTERS DISTORTED PSYCHOLOGY-10

4.1 The Narrator: The Affected Ego-10

4.2 Roderick Usher: The Unrestrained Id-12

4.3 Madeline Usher: The Oppressed Superego-13

Chapter Five  THE UNDERLYING CAUSES OF DISTORTION OF THE CHARACTERS’ HUMANITY-15

5.1 The Living Backgrounds of the Ushers-15

5.2 Imbalance between the Three Aspects of the Ushers’ Personality-16

5.3 The Impact of Poe’s Life Experience-17

Chapter Six  CONCLUSION-19

WORKS CITED-21