Gothic Romanticism

      Gothic Romanticism with Poe, Hawthorne, and Baudelaire


  
   An interpretation of "The Fall of the House of Usher" is the Usher's weakness and nervousness are the results of Madeline Usher's being a vampire. Madeline eventually in the end kills Usher, but the way Usher acts after her death is extremely odd, because he knows that they buried her in her tomb while she was still alive. He was worrying about what would happen to him if she broke out, that was the reason why Usher was acting to strange. The interpretation of Madeline being a vampire is understandable, because reading the story, the reader is under the impression that Madeline actually dies and gets buried by the narrator and Usher. In the end of the story, Madeline breaks out of her tomb and she finds Usher and kills him. Before she kills him, the narrator described her as pale, wearing white, and covered in blood. Also, she makes the same noises that the narrator reads out of the book, "Mad Trist", and it makes it sound to the reader that she is stalking them and trying to scare them. Vampires are supposedly well preserved as well, and when they buried Madeline in her tomb, Usher noticed that her cheeks were still rosy red. This gives the reader suspicions that Madeline might not be dead, or that she is a vampire. In the story, it says, "but then without those doors there did stand the lofty and enshrouded figure of the lady Madeline of Usher. There was blood upon her white robes, and the evidence of some bitter struggle upon every portion of her emaciated frame." This quote describes to the reader how Madeline looks after she broke out of her tomb. The reader can infer that Madeline has killed anyone who has gotten in her way or tried to stop her, because the narrator describes to us that there is blood on her white robes. This quote best supports the interpretation of Madeline being a vampire. Also, another good quote that supports the this interpretation is, "the mockery of a faint blush upon the bosom and the face, and that suspiciously lingering smile upon the lip which is so terrible in death." This quote supports the interpretation because it is telling the reader that there is still blood in her body that is running, and the muscles in her face haven't fully relaxed because she is still smiling, even though she is already dead. This goes back to the thought that vampires extremely well preserved and they don't change looks over time. These quotes are what support the interpretation that Madeline Usher is a vampire. Usher's weakness and nervousness are a part in this because he knew that when he buried her that she wasn't actually dead, but he wanted to get rid of her, and he was scared because he knew that she was going to come back and get revenge on him. She did get her revenge by killing him, but she also kept making sounds in the house and giving him clues that she was going to come get him. These sounds get extremely clearer while the narrator is reading "Mad Trist", because she imitates the sounds from the book at the same moment they are read aloud. This scares both Usher and the narrator. Usher gets so scared over time since they buried Madeline, that he becomes weak and feeble and he can hardly move or do anything because he is nervous about what Madeline will do to him. He is trying to protect himself from her evil.


  
     In the story, "The Masque of the Red Death", the author, Poe, is criticizing human nature directly. He is doing this by saying that Prince Prospero is separating the people in his society. He separated the people who were sick with the red death and the poor people from the rest of the society. He walled the society to keep the healthy and wealthy people from the poor and sick people. Poe criticizes in his story that people run from their problems instead of facing their problems themselves. He does this again by separating the people in their society. He separates them instead of trying to solve the problem, which won't help any because the problem (the red death) will start to spread more and spread faster. Poe communicates this criticism to the reader by again, stating that Prince Prospero walled his society to keep the red death out, or anyone who was associated with the red death. In the story, it says, "A strong and lofty wall girdled it in. This wall had gates of iron. The courtiers, having entered, brought furnaces and massy hammers and welded the bolts." This quote is describing the wall that the Prince put up, he intends to make sure nobody gets in or out of the wall. In this quote, it says, "he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court, and with these retired to the deep seclusions of one of his castellated abbeys." This quote is saying that the Prince wants to get and protect all of his friends from the red death. He wants to protect his friends and help them instead of helping everyone else, so he puts his friends behind the wall with him so they are all safe. He keeps everyone else out. This quote sums up all of this criticism about running away from one's problems, "The external world could take care of itself." This quote sums up the fact that the Prince doesn't care about anyone else, only himself. He wants to protect only himself and make sure that the red death doesn't come near him. Poe agrees with this human nature, and he shows it by saying, "And was now acknowledged by the presence of the Red Death. He had come like a thief in the night." This is saying that the Red Death eventually came, even though the Prince went to extreme measures to keep it away. This is a good example of when someone tries to run away from their problems, their problems always find a way to come back.


     In the story, "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment", the author, Hawthorne, criticizes the human nature of selfishness. He does this by telling us about the experiment, which is based on if water from the Fountain of Youth will really make people younger. It proves to be true, and the people that Heidegger tested the water on become younger from every glass of water they drink. The act of criticizing selfishness comes in when the four people who are becoming younger, want to drink more of the water. They want it for themselves because they only care about how they look, especially the old woman, Widow Wycherly, and she proves this by saying in the end, "the widow clasped her skinny hands before her face and wished that the coffin lid were over it, since it could be no longer beautiful." This quote proves that the widow is selfish and she only cares about how she looks. It is also the same for the other three gentleman. This is expressed directly because it is an experiment that Heidegger makes, and it proves that all those four people care about is looking good and being young. Hawthorne expresses this criticism by telling the reader what these four people think in their minds about the Fountain of Youth and its water. What these four characters think about the water goes back to them being selfish and wanting to be young. Hawthorne does have a similar attitude towards this human nature, and he proves it through Dr. Heidegger. He does this by making the doctor a character who isn't selfish and who won't drink the water, because he doesn't care whether he is young or not. He cares about how he lives his life and if he is happy or not, he doesn't care about how he looks. This quote says, "if the fountain gushed at my very doorstep, I would not stoop to bathe my lips in it--no, though its delirium were for years instead of moments." This quote says that the doctor doesn't care about youth, he cares about being happy and enjoying the moments he has, and letting them go as the years go by. This is how Hawthorne expresses his similar attitude through Dr. Heidegger. A person should care about their happiness, not their looks.