Physiognomy In Roderick Usher

The first references to physiognomy occur in the narrator’s initial description of Roderick Usher. The narrator discusses almost every distinct area of physiognomy, stating,
“an eye large, liquid, and luminous beyond comparison; lips somewhat thin and very pallid but of a surpassingly beautiful curve; a nose of a delicate Hebrew model, but with a breadth of nostril unusual in similar formations; a finely moulded chin, speaking, in its want of prominence, of a want of moral energy; hair of a more than web-like softness and tenuity … made up altogether a countenance not easily to be forgotten” (Poe, 36).
If the reader is aware of the physiognomic areas, it becomes easy to determine the character of Roderick Usher. Once again, George Combe’s
The temperaments are supposed to depend upon the constitution of particular systems of the body: the brain and nerves being predominantly active from constitutional causes, seem to produce the nervous temperament; the lungs, heart, and blood vessels being constitutionally predominant, to give rise to the sanguine; the muscular and fibrous systems to the bilious; and the glands and assimilating organs to the lymphatic” (Whye).
The temperament that is most relevant to “The Fall of the House of Usher” is the nervous temperament. Indicators of this temperament are “fine thin hair, thin skin, small thin muscles, quickness in muscular motion, paleness of countenance, and often delicate health. The whole nervous system, including the brain, is predominantly active and energetic, and the mental manifestations are proportionally vivacious and powerful” (Whye). Once again, Poe expects his readers to be able to identify these physiognomical references, as he hints at Roderick Usher’s ‘nervous agitation’ in his letter to the
The narrator describes the house after he arrives, stating that the clouds hung “oppressively low in the heavens” and he viewed “upon a few white trunks of decayed trees” that surrounded the house (Poe, 32). Upon arrival, the environment of the house of Usher plays an immediate impact on the narrator, as the narrator claims it causes “an utter depression of soul which I can compare to no earthly sensation more properly than to the after-dream” (Poe, 32). The narrator states how there are “shadowy fancies” (Poe, 32), and they have power to play an effect on his mood, however analyzing this power is hard to comprehend. Essentially, the narrator believes that external factors have a subtle tendency to affect his mind, however he cannot exactly determine why. This correlation between the internal mind and the external can be related to the relationship between Roderick Usher and his house. At first, Roderick Usher uses “the severe and long-continued illness” and “approaching dissolution… of a tenderly beloved sister” as the reasoning behind his melancholy. However, most of his melancholy is due to a different