The Fall of the House of Usher

what aspects of gothic literature are apparent in the description of Madeline usher?

?

Asked by
Last updated by judy t #197809
Answers 1
Add Yours

"The disease of the lady Madeline had long baffled the skill of her physicians. A settled apathy, a gradual wasting away of the person, and frequent although transient affections of a partially cataleptical character were the unusual diagnosis. Hitherto she had steadily borne up against the pressure of her malady, and had not betaken herself finally to bed; but on the closing in of the evening of my arrival at the house, she succumbed (as her brother told me at night with inexpressible agitation) to the prostrating power of the destroyer; and I learned that the glimpse I had obtained of her person would thus probably be the last I should obtain—that the lady, at least while living, would be seen by me no more."

This description of the lady Usher shows her wasting away and almost ghostlike, appearing so quickly that she seems like a ghost. She has a disease that cannot be identified; there seems to be nothing about her that is concrete. She is simply a "glimpse" and the family Usher is rapidly fading in a decaying house.

Source(s)

"The Fall of the House of Usher"