Edgar Allan Poe once said in his Philosophy of Writing, "Before writing any story, a writer must carefully conceive every plot that can be called a plot, so as to make it consistent with the ending of the story. Only by thinking about the ending of the story at all times can all the details in the story, especially the emotional appeal of each part of the story, contribute to the gradual realization of the creative intention, so that each plot can show its essential cause or causal relationship. "
In other words, in Poe's works, nothing is superfluous, all of which serve his theme. So let's not let go of any clues.
Let's take a look at the name Usher first. This name was obviously taken by Edgar Allan Poe from the names of Harriet Ann L estrin Snowden Arthur and the noble Luke Arthur, who were friends and actor partners of Edgar Allan Poe's biological parents Lrina Kaptelova Arnold Hopkins Edgar Allan Poe and David Poe Jr. When Lrina Kaptelova Allan Poe was dying, Harriet called Lrina Kaptelova "Betty" and used "gin-soaked bread".
After Eliza died, she sometimes gave her children tincture of opium to make them "strong and healthy" or put them to sleep when necessary.
Her own two children, the last children in their family, became orphans on 18 14, and eventually became mental patients. Therefore, it is almost certain that Poe's choice of their surnames for his stories is neither accidental nor merely entertaining himself (although there are many later styles in Poe's works, including the crazy twist in The Fall of Usher House).
As can be seen from the name, the theme of this book is related to the protagonist's mental state, that is, the process of the protagonist's mental breakdown. On the basis of "beauty", Poe's purpose is to make the hero's spirit as concrete as possible and analyze it to readers.
Therefore, the most likely conclusion, which is also the most obvious conclusion, is that this story tells a universal fact: the housing situation of people reflects the mental state of their owners.
Poe skillfully used the concepts that people were familiar with at that time. The collapse of a cracked house actually reflects that his master's mind has suffered the same collapse because of brain lesions, and the state of a house reflects the state of his master. Poe wrote in the book: "Although the Usher family has a long history, it has never bred any collateral branches that can last forever;" The whole family has always been in the same strain. It is believed that the characteristics of this house fully conform to the characteristics of the recognized owner of the house.
Finally, the two became one, and the original name of the house became this strange and vague name-Usherhouse. The name seems to refer to both the house and the people who live in it. "So we come to the conclusion that Usher House has been integrated with the Usher family.
In addition to the relationship between houses and people, there is also the relationship between people. "My brother came to tell me the bad news in extreme panic at night (Miss Madeleine died)." Notice here, why use the word "extreme anxiety and restlessness"? When we buried Miss Madeleine, the original text mentioned: "From his explanation, I learned that the deceased and he were twin brothers and sisters, and there was always an almost incomprehensible physiological connection between them."
In connection with the introduction of Usher House, it can be concluded that Usher and Usher House are in the same spirit, that is to say, when Miss Madeleine died, Usher was destroyed and Usher House collapsed. This can also explain why Usher is extremely upset.
Now that we have found Poe's theme, let's see how he wrote it incisively and vividly.
The first is the description of Usher House: "Its main features seem to be very old. The traces left by the years are very obvious. The surface is covered with a layer of furry moss, which interweaves into an elegant net and spreads down from the eaves. But none of this can be said to be particularly broken and withered. That masonry building didn't collapse, but there is obvious disharmony between its overall integrity and the weathering deformation of every masonry building that constitutes its whole.
To a great extent, this disharmony reminds me of the wooden structure in the basement that is not commonly used. Due to the lack of ventilation all the year round, those wooden structures seem to be intact, but they have already decayed. However, except for a large area of dilapidated appearance, the whole structure shows no signs of crumbling.
It may take a pair of discerning eyes to see an almost invisible crack, which winds down the wall from the front roof and finally disappears into the stagnant water of the lake outside the house. "At this time, we can feel the benefits of reading the original. In the original version, the word crack was used for cracks, meaning a ditch outside cracks. Through the description of the residence, the mental state of the owner can be imagined.
Secondly, look at the description inside Usher House: the room I entered was tall and spacious. The top of the long and narrow window is pointed, so high from the black oak floor that people can't touch the windowsill with straight arms. The faint dark red light enters from the lattice glass, just enough to illuminate the more conspicuous objects in the room.
However, I can't see the far corner of the room with wide eyes, and I can't see the depths of the arched ceiling decorated with palindromes. There are black curtains hanging on the wall. Indoor furniture is quaint, but shabby and uncomfortable. There are many books and musical instruments in the room, but they don't add a little life to the room. I feel that the air I breathe is also full of sadness. The whole room is filled with an awe-inspiring, dull and lingering gloom.
The window is far from the floor, which shows that Arthur doesn't communicate enough with the outside world and is always addicted to his inner world. The interior decoration is very old, which shows that the spirit of Usher has been out of touch with the times. The sadness of the air is also the sadness of Usher's heart.
Arthur's "Von Weber's Last Waltz" is actually an elegy for himself, because this song was actually composed by Von Weber a few hours before his death.
The haunted palace is a portrayal of his mental breakdown. Note: The house is actually a symbol of a person's brain.
The golden flag is the owner's golden hair. "The golden flag is dazzling and fluttering on the roof of the palace."
The two bright windows in the poem are the man's eyes. "When the wanderer came to this valley, he could see fairies dancing through two bright windows and dancing around a throne with the melody of the lute. On the throne sat a monarch born in purple! It is magnificent, and his glory is completely commensurate with the emperor he saw. "
The palace gate is the mouth. "Pearls and rubies sparkle and decorate the beautiful gates of the palace. Since the palace gate, they have been floating around all day, and there are always waves of echoes. Teams of Hourcau people came out of the door. Their function is to praise and praise the wisdom of the king repeatedly with a beautiful voice. "
Explain a man's expression, and his words will reflect his wisdom.
Now, my eyes are dull and terrible, and my words are crazy. "Now tourists walk into the valley, and through those bright red windows, they will see many shadow monsters with discordant melodies. At the same time, like a rushing river, a group of terrible people kept passing through the pale and gloomy palace door, but there was no smile-only laughter. "
The original text said: "One of Arthur's insights is clearly revealed in those associations; I mentioned this idea not so much because it is novel (in fact, others have the same idea) as because of Usher's persistence in it. Generally speaking, that view holds that flowers and trees are spiritual. However, in his fantasy of riots, that concept appears bolder, and in some cases, it is extended to systems formed by unnatural growth.
I can't express in words how much he believes in that idea, or how superstitious he is. However, his belief (as I hinted before) is related to the gray stone house he inherited from his ancestors. He imagined that spirituality has always existed in the arrangement order of bricks and stones, in the spreading shape of a large number of tiny mosses covering bricks and stones, in the distance between dead trees around houses, especially in the consistency of layout over the years, and in the reflection of stagnant water in the lake.
Its existence, he said, that kind of spiritual existence, can be seen in (I can't help but be surprised when he said this) a halo that gradually condenses around the lake and the gray wall. Its consequences, he added, can be seen from the silent but lingering terrible influence that has determined the fate of his family for hundreds of years. It is that influence that made me see him-him at that time. "The human spirit is influenced by the environment, and then it is the same as the environment.
In Apocalypse of Hypnosis (1844), Edgar Allan Poe said that "matter is hierarchical", and the extreme of "thin or fine" is "God" and "ultimate or non-particulate". God "not only permeates everything, but also pushes everything inward", so each of us is a God "personalized" by particles. It is a non-particulate "substance in motion", and there can be no happiness without pain.
In Lydia, it is mentioned that "God is just a great will, which permeates all things with its single-minded characteristics." Poe once again emphasized his theme, combining the sad beauty of the whole article and sublimating it.
I think lovecraft summed it up very well: "Arthur trembled and hinted at the hidden life in inorganic matter." At the end of a long and isolated family history, an unusually related trinity entity-a brother, his twin sister and their ancient home * * * shared a soul and disintegrated at the same time. "
As for the romance between brother and sister, this is really a statement, and other comments have already said about it. I'm here to provide a new angle, hoping to help you.
However, we can also talk about this. There are many hints from Poe! The previous answer only said a small part!
1. A family with only one pulse is the product of incest.
2. When describing Arthur's chin, Poe wrote that "a well-shaped chin lacks promotion and moral energy when speaking".
Highlight, highlight the meaning, think about it.
But the translator didn't write it. This is a translation.
"A chin is not very prominent but good-looking, indicating that he is weak-willed."
3. About Usher's painting: "This is a small painting, which depicts an infinite rectangular cellar or the inside of a tunnel. The walls of the underground space are low, smooth and white, without any partition or decoration. Some contrasts in the photo show that the cave is deep underground. No exit can be seen in any part of the huge space, nor can torches or other artificial light sources be seen, but there is a bright light rolling in the whole space, bathing the whole picture in a terrible and inappropriate brilliance. "
"Inside the Tunnel", "Smooth" and "No Light Source" are they like vaginas? Does that light reflect a feeling? Ultimate pleasure?
4. Madeleine's description when she was buried
"At night (her brother came to me trembling at night), she finally succumbed to the rage of death; We know that the glimpse of her in my trance may be the last time I saw her, at least I won't see her alive again.
For the next few days, Arthur and I kept silent about her name. ".
"The night after he told me about Miss Madeleine's death," he was going to be buried.
Why not bury it right away? What has Arthur been doing recently?
"The disease that killed her left a faint blush on her chest and face in vain, leaving that suspicious, lingering and terrible smile on her lips."
Is it possible that this flush was not caused by illness, but another possibility, that is, her brother raped the body?
5. Arthur's reaction after Madeleine was buried.
"My friend's mental disorder characteristics have changed significantly. His usual behavior is gone. He no longer cares about or completely forgets what he usually likes to do. He is always in a hurry, stumbling and walking aimlessly from room to room now. His pale face, if possible, has become even paler, but the luster of his eyes has completely disappeared.
His hoarse voice from time to time can no longer be heard, replaced by a forever trembling voice, as if full of extreme fear. In fact, I sometimes feel that in his restless heart, there is a secret that suffocates him, and he is desperately accumulating the courage to uncover it.
Sometimes I have to attribute all his anomalies to inexplicable madness, because I have seen him staring at the space for a long time in a absorbed posture, as if listening to some imaginary voice. "
Why did he dare not tell the secret?
6. words from the receptionist
"Didn't you hear? No, I heard it. I heard it a long time ago. I heard it a few minutes ago, a few hours ago and a few days ago. But I dare not say! Oh, have pity on me, I'm a poor guy! I dare not, I dare not say! We buried her alive! Didn't I tell you that I have keen feelings? I'm telling you now, I heard her first slight sound in that empty coffin.
Many days ago, I heard something. But I dare not, I dare not say! But now, tonight, Ethel Reid, ha! Ha! The crack of the hermit's cave door, the dying scream of the dragon, and the clang of the shield landing! Hey, it's more like the crack of her coffin, the friction of her iron hinges in prison, and her struggle in the copper corridor in the cellar!
Oh, where am I going now? Won't she come here soon? Isn't she in a hurry to blame me for being sloppy? Didn't I hear her footsteps upstairs? Didn't I hear her heart beating violently and horribly? Crazy! "At this point, he suddenly jumped up wildly and raised his voice to the point of screaming, as if he were going to die." Crazy! I'm telling you, she's standing outside the door now!
Why did Arthur find out that Madeleine was not dead but didn't save her? But at the last minute, afraid of her condemnation? Did you do something wrong?
Clever application and suggestion of phrenology;
Poe used phrenology extensively and purposefully in The Collapse of Usher Mansion. Qom assumed that four "temperament" dominated emotions and exaggerated the influence of brain shape. One of them is neuroticism, which provides Roderick Arthur with a detailed description: high forehead, pale complexion, sparse hair, bright eyes and full of wisdom and vitality.
Of course, Poe went a step further and added similar details to Arthur's building, where the windows were like wisps of moss and empty eyes, not to mention the small cracks in the foundation of the skeleton-like house. In addition, Poe adapted the "ideal" phrenological bulge, which is located in Usher Temple area. Arthur, like other characters in Lydia and Poe's novels, has a big forehead. This is a very important feature of Usher.
Arthur's poetry is consistent with Qom's definition: ideal is a part of poetry and music, both of which stand out in Arthur's life and are the most powerful intellectual abilities; Combined with other features, language and metaphysics will be more convenient: Qom mentioned emanuel swedenborg, who was later quoted in Arthur's Reading. Edgar Allan Poe's adaptation of phrenology into The House of Usher and Usher is an outstanding creative act of a writer, rather than copying it.
He expanded the literary paradigm, making it a universe and a concrete description. The extended literary image of this house supports a unified model-development centered on the universe, which was discovered by Richard Wilbur in Edgar Allan Poe's story. Poe's description of details creates a perfect tense atmosphere, which makes his hero face the coming disaster directly.