The Fall of the House of Usher
8. How are the details of both Roderick’s and Madeline’s illnesses important to the development of the plot?
- ATheir sicknesses reflect the decay of the estate and their familial line.
- BMadeline is near death, while Roderick’s sensitivity (or possible hypochondria) prevents him from leaving the house, ensuring the end of their line.
- CMadeline’s cataleptic condition leads to her early burial, while Roderick’s heightened senses forces him to hear her struggle to break out of the tomb, driving him mad.
- DMadeline’s weakened condition permits Roderick to take advantage and kill her off, symbolically killing his own illness/self, but his heightened senses send him into madness over his guilt.
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sharon d #945819
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