Jane Eyre vs the Fall of the House of Usher

Dane Zarba Madness is an aspect greatly used in literacy to show a violent or unknown parallel in stories. The role of madness is especially prevalent in literary works of the 19th century, in this case the short story “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allen Poe and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. In these works madness is a driving force behind the traits of characters and driving force of the conflict in these stories. In “The fall of the House of Usher” it drove Roderick to his demise and almost killed Rochester in Jane Eyre. With the growing popularity of gothic literature in the 19th century many authors introduced elements those elements in their works. Edgar Allen Poe who was at the for front of gothic literature brought storytelling to a new level one of those stories was “The Fall of the House of Usher” were many gothic elements are present especially madness. Gothic elements are recognizable in the first lines of the story “During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country ; and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher”( Opening lines of “The Fall of the House of Usher”)

Having such a dark setting be opened right off the bat in the story introduces the depth and dark basis that shapes this story. A gothic attribute to this story is its use of madness and how it is a driving force for the plot of the story. Roderick who is a unwell man who is one of the last two descendents of the “Usher” legacy, The other descendent is his sister. As the story goes on you start to see the unraveling mind of Roderick who is suffering from many illnesses both mental and physical. The mental health of Roderick is paralleled by the condition of the house and seems to be degrading at the same pace. Being cooped within his destitute house with only his sister to keep him company, also presumably being the result of inbreeding makes the two descendents quite susceptible to mental compromises. Upon continuation of the story Roderick’s sister passes away and is buried within the tomb under the house, For the next few days, screams and sounds of extreme malice. As the screams continue Roderick simply disregards the noises because of his current illnesses he cannot escape the screams. The last 2 paragraphs culminate the idea that the madness within this story comes together and results in swift and powerful collapse of both The Usher legacy and the house itself. The second to last paragraph shows this greatly. “As if in the superhuman energy of his utterance there had been found the potency of a spell - the huge antique pannels to which the speaker pointed, threw slowly back, upon the instant, their ponderous and ebony jaws. It was the work of the rushing gust - 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. For a moment she remained trembling and reeling to and fro upon the threshold - then, with a low moaning cry, fell heavily inward upon the person of her brother, and in her violent and now final death-agonies, bore him to the floor a corpse, and a victim to the terrors he had anticipated.”(second to last paragraph)

Madness within this story is the seemingly result of the poor conditions of the last remaining Usher’s, as stated by William Heim he tell how all entities of Poes tales begin at one point and this explains while all matters of the story meet their demise at a single point such that Roderick and his sibling pass at the same climactic moment. Critics have commonly remarked on the tight unity of the tale; character, setting, and action are bound into a single image of ruin by a style carefully wrought for the purpose. Unity, however, is more than an effect in "The Fall of the House of Usher"; it is actually a theme, a central theme in Poe 's work that found its definitive expression in Eureka (1848). Poe theorized that all creation emanated from a single point, and, despite cosmic diffusion, it is still a part of the Godhead. Ultimately this universe will cease to expand and bend back upon itself in a cycle of contraction resulting in final reunification with the source that must annihilate things as they now exist” (Reference Guide to American Literature. Ed. Jim Kamp. 3rd ed. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994. From Literature Resource Center.)

Even though Charlotte Brontes Jane Eyre isn’t as dark and gothic as Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher “ it still has a dark undertone and still implements the idea of madness within the realms of one of its characters. That character is Berha Mason, Rochester’s first wife who upon showing mental disintegration was placed within the bowls of the huge domicile in which the young governess Jane Eyre served. As the story unfolds you are unaware of Bertha s presence, but once her presence is reveled you understand why Roderick does what he does. His time away and his continuous distance he puts between the child who is believed to be his daughter. As Jane’s thoughts begin to escape here normal ideology her thoughts seem to be put into action thru Bertha. “What is persistently lacking in interpretations of Jane Eyre is a concentrated focus on the text of madness. In attending to the representations of madness in the novel, my reading, like Kloepfer 's, uses Julia Kristeva 's theory of the semiotic as it helps to focus the significance of Bertha, designating "the contribution of sexual drives to signification." '4 However, as both novel and theory hinge on the coupling of madness and social/linguistic subversion, I will interpret them in relation to each other.”( The mystery at Thornfield: Representations of madness in Jane Eyre Valerie Beattie, Studies in the Novel(Denton) , Winter 1996, Vol. 28, Iss. 4, pg. 493)

At the end of the story when Bertha sets fire to the house this is very much like when Rodericks sister escapes to tomb and brings all the aspects of the story to a point. In both stories the continuing manifestation of madness within the protagonist lives leads to the madness boiling over and reaching a fever pitch. Such that when both Ushers pass at the same moment, and that of when Bertha burns down the Rochester house and she meets her demise and leads Rochester to have heavy damage due to the manifestation that grew within his home that he continuously tried to hide away. Both stories show how their characters are the result of unexpected consequences implemented with madness within their lives. In Jane Eyre it is Rochester’s fear of Berthas affect on his life and others around, This come to a fever pitch when she burns down his home and bringing everything to a point. In the case of “The Fall of The House of Usher “ the continuous ignorance of his own failing health and that of his sister leads him to bury his sister and once she escapes he realizes his madness and passes at the moment his sister does too. Both stories implement the manifestation of the protagonist own problems with the madness of another aspect of the story. Both reach a climactic point and boil over the problems both characters tried to hide away.

Bibliography
1.
Heim, William J. "The Fall of the House of Usher: Overview." Reference Guide to American Literature. Ed. Jim Kamp. 3rd ed. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994. Literature Resource Center. Web. 16 Dec. 2012.
Document URL http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CH1420006470&v=2.1&u=nysl_li_esuff&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w 2. Valerie Beattie, Studies in the Novel(Denton) , Winter 1996, Vol. 28, Iss. 4, pg. 493
3. Poe, Edgar Allan. Eleonora, The Fall of the House of Usher and The Purloined Letter. Vol. X, Part 3. Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction. New York: P.F. Collier & Son, 1917; Bartleby.com, 2000. www.bartleby.com/310/3/.

Bibliography: 1. Heim, William J. "The Fall of the House of Usher: Overview." Reference Guide to American Literature. Ed. Jim Kamp. 3rd ed. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994. Literature Resource Center. Web. 16 Dec. 2012. Document URL http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CH1420006470&v=2.1&u=nysl_li_esuff&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w 2. Valerie Beattie, Studies in the Novel(Denton) , Winter 1996, Vol. 28, Iss. 4, pg. 493 3. Poe, Edgar Allan. Eleonora, The Fall of the House of Usher and The Purloined Letter. Vol. X, Part 3. Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction. New York: P.F. Collier & Son, 1917; Bartleby.com, 2000. www.bartleby.com/310/3/.