I NEED TO KNOW THE LINK BETWEEN ARCHITECTURE AND THE MIND IN THE WORKS LIGIA, THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER AND THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH AS IT APPLIES TO THE MIND OF THE NARRATOR AND THE READER

-- Anonymous, November 27, 2002

Answers

Calm, calm. "The Fall of the House of Usher" best explains this because Poe takes time, through Usher himself, in explaining the relationship between place and mind in fate. He expounds the theory then illustrates in in several ways, notably through the poem "The Haunted palace" which itself is like the mind, a skull, everything speaking of decay and imminnent doom. The narrator notes how things have changed with the soorry state of Usher. The building, the House(family), the Usher's and Usher's mind all are bound in the same rush of decay and hopelessness. The weather and atmosphere too, but it is the building that cracks along its visible fault with the cracking of Usher's weak heart.

Now you could do the whole paper on that story alone, but the other two tales do not explain things in such philosophical detail. No college student comrades there. "The masque" is also an escapist attempt to wall out death and time but it too contains the symbols of destruction, the moral decay, the frantic denial, the black room with the clock at the end. The bizarre extremes of this inverted fortress are the personal construction of another one of Poe's mad nobles(see architecture in "Cask of Amontillado" and other tales. The building not only is the symbolic stage of the tale but it is a prime actor, organic to the effect and the outcome. The narrator is remote in "Masque" but as in "Usher" it is necessary to have someone outside to note the connections and the changes.

In "Ligeia" the narrator is alone mostly. So his use of architecture is for us alone to note. Leaving the place where his first love died, he sets up a more decadent, ritualistic replacement location where he uses his unloved second wife as a sacrifice to bring back the strong-willed Ligeia. We do not know what kind of love or ideal place the first was, but the progression in the second place is again the bizarre tinged with horror. The innocent victim is swallowed up this time and the "victory" of the Frankenstein like resurrection is no more loving than the demon lovers in "Wuthering Heights". The narrator's perception here is adequate since this story more than the others zeros in to the center of the obsession. If it was usher of course who would be telling the story since he died? In "Ms Found in the Bottle" the narrator is forced to speedily pen his last words and somehow seal them in the bottle(an early story).

So the place in the unity of the tale to its singular effect is a metaphysical reality whether nature(The Maelstrom) or the buildings people make to separate themselves hopelessly from reality. There is no escape, claustrophobia, decay and madness after all the art and the effort of those enclosed within.

-- Anonymous, November 28, 2002

Calm, calm. "The Fall of the House of Usher" best explains this because Poe takes time, through Usher himself, to explain the relationship between place and mind in fate. He expounds the theory then illustrates it in several ways, notably through the poem "The Haunted Palace" which itself is like the mind, a skull, everything speaking of decay and imminent doom. The narrator notes how things have changed with the sorry state of Usher's own physical and mental health. The building, the House(family), the Ushers and Roderick's mind all are bound into the same rush of decay and hopelessness. The weather and atmosphere too, but it is the building that cracks along its visible fault with the cracking of Usher's weak heart.

Now you could do the whole paper on that story alone, but the other two tales do not explain things in such philosophical detail. No college student comrades there. "The Masque..." is also an escapist attempt to wall out death and time, but it too contains the symbols of destruction, the moral decay, the frantic denial, the black room with the clock at the end. The very architecture of the Dance of Death though it is supposed to be an arrogant escape. The bizarre extremes of this inverted fortress are the personal construction of another one of Poe's mad nobles(see architecture in "Cask of Amontillado" and other tales. The building not only is the symbolic stage of the tale but it is a prime actor, organic to the effect and the outcome. The narrator is remote in "Masque" but as in "Usher" it is necessary to have someone outside to note the connections and the changes. A survivor like Ishmael in "Moby Dick".

In "Ligeia" the narrator is alone mostly. So his use of architecture is for us alone to note. Leaving the place where his first love died, he sets up a more decadent, ritualistic replacement location where he uses his unloved second wife as a sacrifice to bring back the strong-willed Ligeia. The place is darkly symbolic of death and weaker, unhealthier so that Ligeia can overcome and replace it. We do not know what kind of love or ideal place the first was, but the progression in the second place is again the bizarre tinged with horror. The weak, innocent victim(second wife) is swallowed up this time and the "victory" of the Frankenstein-like resurrection is no more loving than the demon lovers in "Wuthering Heights". The narrator's perception here is adequate since this story more than the others zeros in to the center of the obsession. If it was usher of course who would be telling the story since he died? In "Ms Found in the Bottle" the narrator is forced to speedily pen his last words and somehow seal them in the bottle(an early story).

So the place in the unity of the tale to its singular effect is a metaphysical reality whether nature(The Maelstrom) or the buildings people make to separate themselves hopelessly from reality. There is no escape, claustrophobia, decay and madness after all the art and the effort of those enclosed within.

-- Anonymous, November 28, 2002

I can honestly tell you that "Ligeia" is about a imaginary person that the narrator has who is an absolutely perfect woman in his mind. He marries a woman named Rowena who is believes is the next Ligeia, but when she gets old he kills her by putting poison in her wine. He was on opium, but he knew that he killed her.

-- Anonymous, March 09, 2004