“The Fall of the House of Usher” by
Edgar Allen Poe is a gothic story that deals with the issue of mortality.
Essentially, the plot involves a woman who dies, is buried, and then rises from
her grave. It’s unclear whether or not the woman actually dies. At the end of
the story Usher yells, “We have put her living in the tomb!” (324). While this
certainly does not appear to me as a religious story, the similarity between
the woman rising after death and Jesus rising from the dead is certainly there.
She may just be a zombie, but I was interested in the religion of Edgar Allen
Poe and how it may influence his stories, because I think that the manner in
which authors write about death must be greatly influenced by their religion.
I found a website that discusses
Edgar Allen Poe’s connection to religion. http://www.eapoe.org/geninfo/poerelig.htm
It is somewhat unclear what his views were, but the author concludes by saying,
“The most realistic view is that Poe’s religious inclinations changed greatly
back and forth during his lifetime, but were never seriously abandoned.” He
certainly had some ties to Christianity, which may or may not have surpassed
his childhood. However, Dr. John Moran testified that Poe’s last words were “Lord,
help my poor soul.”
What do you guys think? Was this
story related in some way to religion, or was Poe simply an atheist writing a
dark story
-Amanda
I completely agree that there is some relation to Jesus and Christianity in "The Fall of the House of Usher". It isn't as much a story preaching Christianity but it does have that main theme of resurrection from the dead which is certainly one of the basis' around the Christian belief. Although Edgar Allen Poe's religious beliefs have swayed throughout his lifetime, they definitly played a role for him when he published this story.
ReplyDeleteNick
There is definitely some hint of religion going on throughout Poe's story. I think you touched on it in your post. I fell like this story is much more Edgar Allen Poe's style of writing rather than some deep religious text. Poe is known for his very deep gothic style of writing and I have read a couple different works by him that all seem to be dark and mysterious. This story is pretty strange but it is easy to convey it into any meaning that you want. My question would be why does Poe enjoying this scary writing style so much?
ReplyDeleteI actually think Poe wrote stories such as this, to escape religion. Religion defines rules and regulations in which a person has to live by and believe in. For example, catholics believe following the 10 commandments, they will ultimately be allowed to enter heaven. There is a clear sense that thier God is the one running their lives. In Poe's stories, there is no defined power controlling the situations. That unknowing and mysteriousness is what Poe was intrigued by. The way he never defines Madeline's death creates a confusion of whether she is in this life, or the next. This is the opposite of the way religion looks at life and death, as two different worlds.
ReplyDelete-Jordan