Mockery Of Transcendentalism In The Fall Of The House Of Usher Essays

Mockery Of Transcendentalism In The Fall Of The House Of Usher Edgar Allan Poe's Mockery of Transcendentalism in ?The Fall of the House of Usher? Throughout the development of our culture there have been a large number of literary movements. From existentialism to naturalism, humanism to surrealism, they all play an important role in the development of the literature we read today. One important movement during the nineteenth century is known as the transcendentalist movement. Transcendentalism is a form of idealism. In philosophy and literature, it is the belief in a higher reality than that found in sense experience or in a higher kind of knowledge than that achieved by human reason. Nearly all transcendentalist doctrines stem from the division of reality into a realm of spirit and a realm of matter. This movement influenced many great writers such as Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Edgar Allan Poe. While Thoreau and Emerson upheld the beliefs of transcendentalism in nearly all of their works, Poe criticizes those beliefs. This is strongly displayed in his short story ?The Fall of the House of Usher.? Poe mocks transcendentalism in many different ways throughout ?The Fall of the House of Usher.? Rather than the traditional upward spiral, which is very characteristic of transcendentalism, Poe has a continual downward spiral throughout this work. The mockery begins with the description of the house in the opening of the story, and is reflected in nearly every aspect surrounding the house and its occupants. Transcendentalists compose work containing bright colors and heavenly tones. They are optimistic and believe in living in the ?here and now'. Poe ridicules this flowery aspect in the first sentence of the story. It opens in autumn ?during the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day?when the clouds hung oppressively low? in the sky (Poe 95). The gloomy setting is visible throughout the entire story. In the beginning the atmosphere and house are used to set the dreary tone. During the close of the work, a terrible storm surrounds the house. The narrator states that all terrestrial objects immediately around us, were glowing in the unnatural light of a faintly luminous and distinctly visible gaseous exhalation? (108). Within the ending paragraph the ?full and blood-red moon? is used to end the story with its perpetual gloom. Not only is the atmosphere dreary, the actual house is full of despondent features. As the narrator approaches the house he feels ?a sense of insufferable gloom pervading [his] spirit?(95). The term melancholy is used as an adjective to describe the house. The house is covered in fungi and the masonry is decaying. The windows are described as ?vacant? and ?eye-like?. There is a barely visible fissure in the house that runs from top to bottom indicating that it is fated to fall. The house is sometimes referred to as being haunted. As the narrator lies in his bed one evening a feeling of nervousness overcomes his body. He believes that the environment of his room has a strong contribution to his uneasiness. The story states that the bewildering influence of the gloomy furniture of the room-of the dark and tattered draperies leads to the narrator's sleepless night (107). All of these features are contradictory to what transcendentalists would believe. The setting and house are described with a strong negative aspect that is not customary to transcendentalist works. Not only do the setting and the house exhibit mockery of transcendentalism, but the characters do as well. Each character has his/her own unique contribution to Poe's ridicule of transcendentalism. Roderick Usher, the owner of the House of Usher, plays an important role throughout this work. Through his appearance and actions he is vital to the argument that Poe mocks transcendentalism. Roderick is described as having ?lips somewhat thin and very pallid? (99). He is said to have a ghastly pallor of the skin. He suffers from ?morbid acuteness of the senses? (100). He suffers from a mental illness that will eventually lead to his death. He can only eat a small variety of foods, only wear certain textures of clothing, and flowers are seen as oppressive to him. The faintest of lights and nearly all sounds bother Roderick. This lack of light is