EDGAR ALLAN POE- THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER -1839- PART ONE

PART 1: THE MELANCOLY HOUSE OF HUSHER

Son cœur est un luth suspendu ;
Sitôt qu’on le touche il résonne.
De Béranger.
During the whole of a dull1, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the
5 clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone on horseback, through a
singularly dreary2 tract of country, and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew
on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher. I know not how it was—but, with the first
glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded 3 my spirit. I say insufferable;
for the feeling was unrelieved by any of that half- pleasurable because poetic, sentiment with
10 which the mind usually receives even the sternest natural images of the desolate or terrible. I
looked upon the scene before me—upon the mere house, and the simple landscape features of
the domain—upon the bleak4 walls—upon the vacant5 eye-like windows—upon a few rank
sedges6—and upon a few white trunks of decayed trees—with an utter depression of soul which
I can compare to no earthly sensation more properly than to the after-dream of the reveller7 upon
15 opium—the bitter lapse into every-day life—the hideous dropping off of the veil. There was an
iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart—an unredeemed dreariness of thought which no
goading of the imagination could torture into aught8 of the sublime. What was it—I paused to
think—what was it that so unnerved me in the contemplation of the House of Usher? It was a
mystery all insoluble; nor could I grapple9 with the shadowy fancies that crowded upon me as I
pondered10. I was forced to fall back upon the unsatisfactory conclusion, that while, beyond
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doubt, there are combinations of very simple natural objects which have the power of thus
affecting us, still the analysis of this power lies among considerations beyond our depth. It was
possible, I reflected, that a mere11 different arrangement of the particulars of the scene, of the
details of the picture, would be sufficient to modify, or perhaps to annihilate its capacity for
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sorrowful impression; and, acting upon this idea, I reined my horse to the precipitous brink of a
black and lurid tarn12 that lay in unruffled lustre by the dwelling13, and gazed down—but with
a shudder even more thrilling than before—upon the remodelled and inverted images of the
gray sedge, and the ghastly14 tree-stems, and the vacant and eye-like windows.

QUESTIONS ON PART ONE

1- The Epigraph: how do you react to the metaphor? (a lute is a musical instrument that has a body with a
round back and a flat top, a long neck, and strings that are played with the fingers)

40 1
Dull= sans intérêt, ennuyeux, insipide
2
Dreary= morne, gris
3
To pervade= se répandre, se propager
4
Bleak= lugubre
5
Vacant= vide
6
Rank sedges= des joncs ( = herbes) nauséabonds
7
A reveller= un fêtard
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8
Aught= anything, quoi que ce soit
9
To grapple with= lutter contre
10
To ponder= to reflect on something
11
Mere= simple
12
A tarn= a lake
13
A dwelling= une demeure
14
Ghastly= horrible, affreux
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 EDGAR ALLAN POE- THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER -1839- PART ONE

2/ THE PLACE

a) Look at the following groups of quotations from the short story from Part 1. Match each group of
quotes with the element it represents in the picture. (write the number in one of the rectangles)

1-“when the clouds hung oppressively low in the 2-

heavens” (l.2)
“I had been passing alone on horseback” (l.2)

“with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom

3-“through a singularly dreary tract of country” (l.3) pervaded my spirit” (ll.5-6)

“I looked upon the scene […] with an utter depression of soul”

4-“upon the vacant eye-like windows”(l.10)
1 (ll.8.10)

5-
6 - “a few rank sedges”
“the bleak walls” (l.10)
7-“a black and lurid tarn” (l.10) “this mansion of gloom” (l.29)

“Its principal feature seemed to be that of an excessive antiquity”

8- “the remodelled and inverted images of the gray
(ll.74-75)
sedge, and the ghastly1 tree-stems, and the vacant
and eye-like windows “(ll.27-28) “Minute fungi overspread the whole exterior”(ll.75-76)

“there appeared to be a wild inconsistency between its still perfect

adaptation of parts, and the crumbling condition of the individual
stones”(ll.78-79)
9-“a few white trunks of decayed trees”
“a barely perceptible fissure, which, extending from the roof of the
building in front, made its way down the wall in a zigzag
direction”(ll.84-85)

b) Who or what do you think the noun “Usher” refers to?

c) Which human-like particularity of the mansion does the narrator seem to be obsessed with?
d) A “tarn” (L 23) is a small lake. What theme/motif does it introduce in the story?

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 EDGAR ALLAN POE- THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER -1839- PART ONE

3/ THE NARRATOR

a) Read the text and pick out all the information about the narrator (who, where, when, what, why?)
What effect(s) does the use of the first-person narrator make on the reader?
b) In the opening scene, there is one of Poe’s most famous descriptions. “During the whole of a dull,
dark and soundless day in the autumn of the year” ….Find the consonant sound that dominates.
What does it probably imitate? What impression does it convey in your mind?
c) Focus on L 13 “There was an iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart” What is this literary
device? What effect does it produce?
d) What do you notice about the words used to describe the house and those used to reflect the
narrator’s reaction? Copy the grid below and make a list of these words and find their translation

THE SETTING : The house/landscape/trees THE NARRATOR: feelings and reaction

e) To sum up what is the narrator’s reaction in this opening scene? Does he understand it? How does
this contribute to the overall impression created by the text? Fill in the gaps
symbiotic a puzzle odd own fear over-reacting haunted clueless affects
mental and emotional health supernatural thought process apprehensive depressing
paranoid neurotic pervaded jerky ponders troubled reflects

The House so strongly _______________ narrator that his spirit is _______________________ with a
“sense of insufferable gloom”; he is ________________________ and doesn’t know why the mansion
is causing this feeling within him. He _____________ (=wonders) whether a _______________aspect
could be causing his pain during his approach of the House and goes as far as to attempt to change his
actual angle of view of it.
The narrator makes several asides (= apartés) throughout the _____________(= shaking) rhythm of the
passage, explaining when he ________________ and pauses to think, as if the mansion’s exterior
were _____________ and as if he were describing his __________________________________
while actively trying to solve it.
The reader is thus led to question himself about the narrator’s _________________________________.
Being so internally ________________ by a dreary exterior seems __________to the reader, and the
first view one gets of the narrator is that of a __________________________________, incapable of
describing the House without injecting his _______________________.
Yet, there exists another ambiguity here: is the narrator ______________________, or is the House of
Usher truly _________________? Or are the two ___________________(= mutually dependent or
interacting) in their strangeness? The reader only realizes the place’s _________________(= bleak)
nature through a singular character’s ___________ (=worrying ) descriptions (i.e the narrator’s description)

f) Word Lab - Analyse these words from the text. Identify the root word and prefix or suffix Fill
in the grid

prefix root suffix Possible translation

soundless
Unrelieved
Unredeemed Sans redemption/sans espoir
Unnerved
Insoluble
unsatisfactory
unruffled Sans remous/imperturbable

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 EDGAR ALLAN POE- THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER -1839- PART ONE

g) What impression is conveyed by all negative prefixes and suffixes in the text?
__________________________________________________________________________

h) Decide whether this 2012 poster could be a good illustration for The fall of The house usher. Why?/ Why
not ? Does it correspond to the narrator’s vision in the original story?

PART 2: RODERICK USHER’S INVITATION

Nevertheless, in this mansion of gloom I now proposed to myself a sojourn of some

weeks. Its proprietor, Roderick Usher, had been one of my boon companions in boyhood; but
many years had elapsed since our last meeting. A letter, however, had lately reached me in a
distant part of the country—a letter from him—which, in its wildly importunate nature, had
5 admitted of no other than a personal reply. The MS15. gave evidence of nervous agitation. The
writer spoke of acute16 bodily illness—of a mental disorder which oppressed him—and of an
earnest desire to see me, as his best and indeed his only personal friend, with a view of
attempting, by the cheerfulness of my society, some alleviation17 of his malady. It was the
manner in which all this, and much more, was said—it was the apparent heart that went with
10 his request—which allowed me no room for hesitation; and I accordingly obeyed forthwith what
I still considered a very singular summons18.

15
The message
16
Acute= sévère, intense
17
Alleviation= soulagement
18
Summons= convocation
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 EDGAR ALLAN POE- THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER -1839- PART ONE

Although, as boys, we had been even intimate associates, yet I really knew little of my
friend. His reserve had been always excessive and habitual. I was aware, however, that his very
ancient family had been noted, time out of mind, for a peculiar sensibility of temperament,
15 displaying itself, through long ages, in many works of exalted art, and manifested, of late, in
repeated deeds of munificent yet unobtrusive charity19, as well as in a passionate devotion to
the intricacies, perhaps even more than to the orthodox and easily recognizable beauties, of
musical science. I had learned, too, the very remarkable fact, that the stem 20 of the Usher race,
all time-honored as it was, had put forth, at no period, any enduring branch; in other words, that
20 the entire family lay in the direct line of descent21, and had always, with very trifling and very
temporary variation, so lain. It was this deficiency, I considered, while running over in thought
the perfect keeping22 of the character of the premises23 with the accredited character of the
people, and while speculating upon the possible influence which the one, in the long lapse of
centuries, might have exercised upon the other—it was this deficiency, perhaps, of collateral
issue, and the consequent undeviating transmission, from sire to son, of the patrimony with the
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name, which had, at length, so identified the two as to merge the original title of the estate in
the quaint and equivocal appellation of the “House of Usher”—an appellation which seemed to
include, in the minds of the peasantry who used it, both the family and the family mansion.

QUESTIONS ON PART TWO

1/ Read the text and answer the following question (without focusing on the difficult words!) Who
is Roderick?

2/ Use elements from the text to fill in Roderick Usher’s mind map

RODERICK USHER FAMILY HISTORY

PERSONALITY: FAMOUS FOR :

LINK WITH THE NARRATOR: TALENTS

PROBLEMS:

3/ Why does the narrator came to visit Roderick Usher?

4/ What does ‘The House of Usher” refer to?
5/ The letter

a)Why did Roderick send the narrator a letter?

b) Read this extract again and focus on the highted words. What do they express?

Although, as boys, we had been even intimate associates, yet I really knew little of my friend. His
reserve had been always excessive and habitual. I was aware, however, that his very ancient family
had been noted, time out of mind, for a peculiar sensibility of temperament (…)

19
Des dons généreux mais discrets
20
The stem= ici, la branche, au sens généalogique
21
There were not many members in the Usher family, the name had always been passed on from father to son
22
Keeping= correspondance, adéquation
23
The premisies= les lieux
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 EDGAR ALLAN POE- THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER -1839- PART ONE

c) Do we get the impression that they know other well?

6/Using the words below, sum up Part 2

Identified Spooky afflicted requesting emotionally
mansion letter friends descendants arts habits

In Part 2, we learn that the narrator has received a ____________

from Roderick, earnestly __________________ his company.
Roderick wrote that he was feeling physically and ___________
_______________ ______________, so the narrator is rushing
to his assistance.
Although they were old ___________________, the narrator did
not know Roderick very well.
The narrator mentions that the Usher family, though an ancient
clan, has never has many: only one member of the Usher family
has survived from generation to generation. He explains that the
family is famous for its dedication to ________ (music, painting,
literature). However, Roderick and his family were known for
Roderick Usher by Abigail Larson
their very strange _________________ .
The Usher family has become so ______________with its estate
that when people use the phrase “House of Usher” they refer to
both the _______________ and the __________________ .
The narrator finds the inside of the house just as _____________
as the outside.

PART 3 : A TOUR OF THE HOUSE

I have said that the sole effect of my somewhat childish experiment—that of looking
down within the tarn—had been to deepen the first singular impression. There can be no doubt
that the consciousness of the rapid increase of my superstition—for why should I not so term
it?—served mainly to accelerate the increase itself. Such, I have long known, is the paradoxical
5 law of all sentiments having terror as a basis. And it might have been for this reason only, that,
when I again uplifted my eyes to the house itself, from its image in the pool, there grew in my
mind a strange fancy—a fancy so ridiculous, indeed, that I but mention it to show the vivid
force of the sensations which oppressed me. I had so worked upon my imagination as really to
believe that about the whole mansion and domain there hung an atmosphere peculiar to
10 themselves and their immediate vicinity24—an atmosphere which had no affinity with the air of
heaven, but which had reeked up from the decayed trees, and the gray wall, and the silent tarn—
a pestilent and mystic vapor, dull, sluggish25, faintly discernible, and leaden-hued26.

24
Vicinity= les abords, le voisinnage
25
Sluggish= apathique ( endormi, mou)
26
A leaden-hued atmosphere= une atmosphere de plomb, lourde
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 EDGAR ALLAN POE- THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER -1839- PART ONE

Shaking off from my spirit what must have been a dream, I scanned more narrowly the
real aspect of the building. Its principal feature seemed to be that of an excessive antiquity. The
15 discoloration of ages had been great. Minute fungi27 overspread the whole exterior, hanging in
a fine tangled web-work from the eaves. Yet all this was apart from any extraordinary
dilapidation. No portion of the masonry had fallen; and there appeared to be a wild inconsistency
between its still perfect adaptation of parts, and the crumbling28 condition of the individual
stones. In this there was much that reminded me of the specious totality of old wood-work which
20 has rotted for long years in some neglected vault, with no disturbance from the breath of the
external air. Beyond this indication of extensive decay, however, the fabric gave little token of
instability. Perhaps the eye of a scrutinizing observer might have discovered a barely perceptible
fissure, which, extending from the roof of the building in front, made its way down the wall in
a zigzag direction, until it became lost in the sullen waters of the tarn.
25 Noticing these things, I rode over a short causeway to the house. A servant in waiting
took my horse, and I entered the Gothic archway of the hall. A valet, of stealthy step, thence
conducted me, in silence, through many dark and intricate passages in my progress to the studio
of his master. Much that I encountered on the way contributed, I know not how, to heighten the
vague sentiments of which I have already spoken. While the objects around me—while the
30 carvings of the ceilings, the sombre tapestries of the walls, the ebon blackness of the floors, and
the phantasmagoric armorial trophies which rattled29 as I strode, were but matters to which, or
to such as which, I had been accustomed from my infancy—while I hesitated not to
acknowledge how familiar was all this—I still wondered to find how unfamiliar were the fancies
which ordinary images were stirring up. On one of the staircases, I met the physician of the
35
family. His countenance, I thought, wore a mingled expression of low cunning and perplexity.
He accosted me with trepidation and passed on. The valet now threw open a door and ushered
me into the presence of his master.
The room in which I found myself was very large and lofty. The windows were long,
narrow, and pointed, and at so vast a distance from the black oaken floor as to be altogether
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inaccessible from within. Feeble gleams of encrimsoned light made their way through the
trellised panes30, and served to render sufficiently distinct the more prominent objects around;
the eye, however, struggled in vain to reach the remoter angles of the chamber, or the recesses
of the vaulted and fretted ceiling. Dark draperies hung upon the walls. The general furniture was
profuse, comfortless, antique, and tattered31. Many books and musical instruments lay scattered
45 about but failed to give any vitality to the scene. I felt that I breathed an atmosphere of sorrow.
An air of stern, deep, and irredeemable gloom hung over and pervaded all.

QUESTIONS ON PART THREE

50

27
Fungi= des champignons, de la moisissure
28
Crumbling= croulant, qui s’effondre
29
To rattle= s’entrechoquer, faire un bruit métallique
30
De faibles lueurs rougeâtres passaient à travers les panneaux ajourés

31
Tattered= en lambeaux, en piteux état

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 EDGAR ALLAN POE- THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER -1839- PART ONE

1/ Using the context, try to associate each word to its French equivalent so as to picture the
inside of the house of Usher
heighten   médecin
ceiling   étroit
rattle   tristesse / chagrin
physician   cramoisi
usher   cliqueter / bruit de ferraille
lofty   distant / éloigné
narrow   augmenter / intensifier
encrimsoned   mener / faire entrer
remote   morosité / mélancolie
tattered   abîmé / délabré
sorrow   imposant
gloom   plafond
2/ Focus on the first paragraph. Draw and colour the details of the façade of the house according
to the description.

3/ THE CHARACTERS -Who are the three new characters? Write down their characteristics

FIRST CHARACTER : ________________________________________________

SECOND CHARACTER : ______________________________________________

THIRD CHARACTER: ________________________________________________

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 EDGAR ALLAN POE- THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER -1839- PART ONE

To put it in a nutshell, these secondary characters are both ____________ and _____ They lead the
narrator into the _________________ just like the narrator leads the reader into his
________________________________________________.

4/ THE HOUSE –
a) Put the places the narrator passes through in the right order.
Staircases Gothic archways Usher’s studio dark and intricates passages

First, he goes through the __________________ and feels oppressed. Then he goes silently through
many _________________________, led by a valet of ‘’stealthy step”. After he goes up
_______________________ and meets the doctor who looks puzzled and then he finally arrives at
Usher’s studio in which he immediately feels uncomfortable as an ‘’air of stern, deep, and
irredeemable gloom hung over and pervaded all”

b) Read this text. Pick out all the

expressions conveying the impression
of a labyrinth

d) Now, read part 4 again and pick out element showing that the narrator is losing grasp on
reality.

e) Show the whole place has Gothic characteristics

In the first part, the mansion is depicted as very old/decaying “excessive antiquity”. The whole place is
shrouded in /surrounded with gloom and mystery.
In this part, little by little, both the narrator and the reader develop a feeling of curiosity and
apprehension.
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 EDGAR ALLAN POE- THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER -1839- PART ONE

The description we have here reminds us of Gothic fiction because of several elements like
- ________________________________________________________________
- ________________________________________________________________

In addition, the adjective _________________ itself is used to describe

____________________________________________________________________________

Ilaria Cascardo march 2018

LET’S RECAP PART 1,2 AND 3

approaches – crack – flourished – diseased – murky– earnestly – survived.

An unnamed narrator ……………………………………… the house of Usher on a “dull, dark, and

soundless day.” This house — the estate of his boyhood friend, Roderick Usher—is
gloomy and mysterious. The narrator observes that the house seems to have
absorbed an evil and ……………………………………… atmosphere from the decaying trees and
……………………………………… ponds around it. He notes that although the house is decaying
in places — individual stones are disintegrating, for example — the structure itself
is fairly solid. There is only a small ……………………………………… from the roof to the ground
in the front of the building. He has come to the house because his friend Roderick
sent him a letter ……………………………………… requesting his company. Roderick wrote that
he was feeling physically and emotionally ill, so the narrator is rushing to his
assistance. The narrator mentions that the Usher family, though an ancient clan,
has never ……………………………………… . Only one member of the Usher family has
……………………………………… from generation to generation, thereby forming a direct line
of descent without any outside branches

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