An Exploration of the Tangible and Intangible in Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher

[Introduction] In his “Philosophy of Composition”, Poe stresses the importance of creating effect — “The Fall of the House of Usher” is a prime case-study of this guiding principle. Poe uses the physical setting of the Usher Mansion to reflect the mental deterioration of its inhabitants, evoking startling images of physical disease and decay which amplify the reader’s response of uncertainty, disgust, and horror. This eerie interplay between the tangible and intangible introduces an ambiguity as to whether the mansion serves only as a mirror to the mind, or rather as a sinister influence that induces the illness upon the Ushers and the narrator. By following both directions of the causal link, we find that this ambiguity not only creates the unsettling effect that Poe so desires, but also provides him a channel through which he can comment on the craft of the effect itself. This transforms the piece from solely a disturbing story of a man’s descent into madness into a testament to the power of Poe’s literature in its ability to exert such strong emotional responses from its readers.