English
Xiumei Liu
The unity effect in Edgar Allan Poe's "The
Fall of the House of Usher"
Seminar paper
The unity of effect in Edgar Allan Poe’s
“The Fall of the House of Usher”
Hauptseminararbeit
im Rahmen der Lehrveranstaltung
„Antebellum in American Short Fiction“
im Fachbereich
Amerikanistik/ Wirtschaftswissenschaften
der Universität Kassel
vorgelegt von
Xiumei Liu
April 2005, Kassel
Contents
Introduction ..................................................................................................................3
Chapter 1 Tone .............................................................................................................5
1. Unity of Tone in Theory............................................................................................5
1.1. Unity of Tone in Theory........................................................................................5
1.2 Unity of Tone in “Usher” .......................................................................................5
Chapter 2 Setting ..........................................................................................................9
2.1 Unity of Setting in Theory......................................................................................9
2.2 Unity of Setting in “Usher” ..................................................................................10
2.2.1 Effect of Closed Space ......................................................................................10
2.2.2 Adoption of Blackness and Darkness................................................................11
2.2.3 Contribution of Extreme Weather Condition ....................................................12
Chapter 3 Characters in “Usher” ................................................................................13
3.1 The Narrator .........................................................................................................13
3.2. Madeline Usher ...................................................................................................13
3.3 Roderick Usher .....................................................................................................14
Chapter 4 Plot .............................................................................................................16
4.1 Unity of Plot in Theory.........................................................................................16
4.2 Unity of Plot in “Usher” .......................................................................................16
4.2.1 Brief Time Span ................................................................................................17
4.2.2 Coherent Plot Line.............................................................................................17
4.2.3 Mutual Relationship between Incidents ............................................................22
Conclusion ..................................................................................................................26
Works Cited................................................................................................................28
Table: Plot Structure in “Usher” 21
Figure: A Diagram of the “Fabric” of “Usher 23
2
Introduction
“A skilful literary artist has constructed a tale. If wise, he has not fashioned his
thoughts to accommodate his incidents... In the whole composition there should be
no word written, of which the tendency, direct or indirect, is not to the one preestablished design” 1
Edgar Allan Poe, who was given the title of “one of the greatest journalistic critic
of his time”2 by Bernard Shaw, stressed unity, totality, and prescribed design in
his review of Hawthorne’s “Twice-Told Tales” which has been seen as the best
“summary of Poe’s theory on prose writing”. 3 While critics disagree on how
seriously such a “mechanical” method of writing short stories should be taken
and to what extent Poe himself adhered to his ideal theory in practice, they all
agree that “The Fall of the House of Usher” is one of Poe’s best stories – some
critics point out that “Usher” is Poe’s “finest experiment in the technique of fluid
form.”(Ketterer 193) My intention of this research paper is, therefore, to examine
the unity of effect in Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher”. It is true that a
study of one individual text by Poe does not result in any conclusion on Poe’s
adherence to his “single effect” principle in general. Nevertheless, that does not
contradict my attempt to examine how Poe carried out his theory of “unity” and
“totality” to achieve a desired effect in one of his best-known stories.
Consistent with Poe’s theory of “unity”, “totality” and “full design”, I will study
four aspects in “Usher”, namely tone, setting, characters and plot through which
Poe attempts to create a vision of “unity of effect” in this tale.
According to my close reading of “Usher”, I am above all impressed by the
melancholic tone that Poe obviously intends to raise at the very beginning of
this story. Subsequently, growing melancholy is the dominating tone in this story
that accompanies my reading of all the events. For this reason, I will at first
1
E. A. Poe, “Review of Hawthorne’s Twice Told Tales” Poe: Essay and Review Ed. G. R. Thompson
(New York: Literary Classics of the United States, 1984) 586.
2
Yaoxin Chang, A Survey of American Literature, (Tianjin: Nankai University, 1990) 140.
3
David Ketterer, The Rationale of Deception in Poe, (USA: Louisiana State University, 1979) 70.
3