TFOTHOU Notes

TFOTHOU Notes

1. Vocabulary

   • reveller
     • "which I can compare to no earthly sensation more properly than to the after-dream of the reveller upon opium" (Poe 1).
     • a person who is enjoying themselves in a lively and noisy way
   • sojourn
     • "Nevertheless, in this mansion of gloom I now proposed to myself a sojourn of some weeks" (Poe 2)
     • A temporary stay.
   • antiquity
     • "Its principal feature seemed to be that of an excessive antiquity" (Poe 5).
     • the ancient past, especially the period before the Middle Ages.
   • phantasmagoric
     • "the ebony blackness of the floors, and the phantasmagoric armorial trophies which rattled as I strode" (Poe 6).
     • having a fantastic or deceptive appearance, as something in a dream or created by the imagination.

2. Traits of Gothic Romanticism

   • Setting
     • "dull, dark, and soundless day" (Poe 1).
     • Mansion perceived as gloomy by the narrator, felt the mysterious and nervewracking atmosphere in the area..
   • Events
     • Usher is suffering from a mental illness, causing him to hallucinate about superstitions and often feels gloomy.
     • The paintings which Usher created were abstract, made the narrator awe, and added to the gloomy, mysterious atmosphere of the mansion.
     • Progression of Usher's mental illness.
     • After Madeline's death, Usher's mental illness progresses which adds to the nerve wracking mood.
       • The story displays insanity developing due to Usher's illness, alongside the unexpected survival of Madeline who was buried alive and kills Usher right before their house collapses.

3. Key Points/Plot

   • Unnamed narrator arrives at the mansion of Roderick Usher.
     • Usher was the narrator's friend when they were young, though many years have passed since they last met.
     • However, the narrator was recently sent a letter asking for his presence especially after Usher mentioned he began to suffer from a mental disorder.
     • When arriving, he felt a gloomy and dark atmosphere around the building.
   • The Usher family line has been always deficient, family tree only forms a direct line of descent.
   • Inside the mansion, the narrator also found it to be very discolored, dilapidated, and seemingly instable.
   • Eventually he was brought to a room where Usher is waiting.
     • The two talk to each other as the narrator notes of his new appearance, being pale and unenergetic from when they last met.
     • Usher tells the narrator of his to desire to see him, especially after because of the illness he is suffering through.
       • The illness resulted in Usher hallucinating about superstitions within the mansion.
   • It is revealed that Usher's sister, Madeline, is also suffering from a disease, which her physicians are unable to determine.
     • This disease causes parts of her body to act cataleptical.
     • Meanwhile, the narrator takes note of Usher's paintings which makes them shudder because their designs.
     • The narrator now believes that the house was just as dilapidated and dark as he first assumed on arrival.
   • Later on, Madeline dies prompting the narrator and Usher to temporarily bury her in the event her physicians try to examine her body.
     • While burying her, the narrator realizes that Usher and Madeline are both twins, and that she is blushing as do many people after they die.
     • As the days pass however, Usher's mental disorder rapidly progressed as he becomes more agitated.
   • The narrator also begins to struggle in sleeping, in part due to the mysterious noises around the house, especially after after her felt a tremor one night.
     • The narrator goes out to investigate, witnessing that Usher is mumbling to himself.
     • As the narrator approaches Usher, they realize that Usher too has heard these noises, believing Madeline was unintentionally buried alive.
     • Like Usher predicts, Madeline comes from the door with blood on her white robe still alive.
       • She kills Usher, scaring off the narrator who escapes right before Usher's house collapses under a blood-red moon.