Vocabulary
Very, very thin, usually from being sick or not eating enough
Emaciated
This character is the owner of the Usher mansion and suffers from both a mental and physical illness.
Roderick Usher
This body of water surrounds the Usher mansion and reflects its image, adding to the eeire atmospere. What did Poe call it?
Tarn
This theme is explored through the gradual mental deterioration of Roderick Usher and the overall atmosphere of the story.
This physical feature of the Usher mansion represents the fractured state of the family and their impending collapse.
Crack in the mansion
Shook or trembled, usually because of fear or strong feelings.
Quivered
This character is Roderick's twin.
Madeline
The story takes place during this time of year, which adds to the gloomy and foreboding mood.
Autumn
The fate of the Usher family and their mansion emphasizes the theme, which suggests that everything, including families and structures, decays over time.
Decay or deterioration
The gloomy and oppressive atmosphere around the Usher mansion, often referred to as this, symbolizes the pervasive dread and isolation felt by its inhabitants.
The tarn
A sickness or illness
Malady
This character is the unnamed observer of the story.
The narrator
The Usher mansion is located in this type of remote, desolate area, contributing to the theme of isolation.
Countryside or Rural
The close relationship between Roderick and Madeline Usher, as well as the house itself, illustrates this theme, symbolizing how one cannot escape their familial ties or legacy.
Family or family ties
This object, used to seal Madeline in her tomb, symbolizes the entrapment of both the body and the mind.
Coffin
Dilapidation
Roderick Usher sends this to the narrator, urging him to visit and provide support during his time of distress.
A letter
The interior of the Usher mansion is described with this type of oppresive, decaying atmosphere, symbolizing the decline of the Usher family.
Dark and gloomy
Roderick's hypersensitivity to his enviornment, combined with the dark and oppressive mansion, contributes to this overwhelming theme that pervades the story.
The decaying state of this place reflects the physical and mental deterioration of Roderick Usher.
Usher mansion
Feeling really sad or gloomy, often without knowing.
Melancholy
This characters countenance, when first met, was a miongled expression of low cunning and perplexity.
The physician
This feature of the Usher mansion's architecture is first noticed by the narrator and symbolizes the instability of the family.
Fissure or crack
Doom or fate
The storm at the end of the story symbolizes this emotional and mental state, mirroring the climax of the characters' descent into madness.
Chaos