"The Fall of the House of Usher" - More than fiction
André Düser
Seminar paper from the year 2007 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 1,7, University of Duisburg-Essen, language: English, abstract: The short story “The Fall of the House of Usher”, written by Edgar Allen Poe, was published the first time in the year 1839 in the September issue of Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine; it was and still is considered one of Poe’s most popular stories. Many critics and interpreters have brought to attention, that this story, more than any other of Poe’s works, contain information and hints about the life of Edgar Allen Poe himself.
While the character of Roderick Usher seems to be an image of Poe himself, the character of Roderick’s twin sister Madeline Usher can be seen as an image of Virginia Clemm, who was actually Poe’s first cousin as well as his child bride. Virginia died on January 30, 1847, on behalf of tuberculosis. “Certainly, the wasting away of Madeline Usher strongly calls to mind the suffering of […] Virginia Clemm.”
In this term paper I am going to point out the parallels and similarities between Edgar Allen Poe and Roderick Usher, as well as those between Virginia Clemm and Madeline Usher. I too, like many others, believe that Poe was inspired to write “The Fall of the House of Usher” by his own life as well as the life of his child-bride Virginia, especially the events of Virginia’s death, which had sent Poe into deep depression and inspired many of his tales and poems.
