The Fall of the House of Usher

The Fall of the House of Usher Summary | The Fall of the House of Usher Summary

As the narrator comes to the House of Usher, he is filled with an inexplicable and overwhelming sense of gloom and foreboding. Nothing he does, no stretch of his imagination, can erase his black mood.

He explains that he is on his way to the House of Usher to spend a few weeks at the request of his childhood friend, Roderick Usher. Roderick had written to him detailing his current mental agitation and hoping that a visit might cheer him in some way. The narrator admits that, though they were close as children, he knows little of Roderick now except that his family has been very passionate about the arts. He also notes that, "the stem of the Usher race ... had put forth, at no point, any enduring branch; in other words, that the entire family lay in the direct line of descent" (pg. 108), which he feels may have led to the "House of Usher" standing for both family and family mansion.

After a more thorough look at the outside of the house and its surroundings, the narrator enters the home of his friend. He is greeted by a servant who leads him to Roderick's room. The narrator comments that the décor continues the theme of gloom; on the stairs, he meets the Usher family physician. Finally he arrives at Roderick's studio; his old friend greets him warmly.

The narrator is shocked at the appearance of his friend. Though his face is still made up of the features he remembers, they have changed so drastically that the narrator barely recognizes him. He also finds that Roderick is somewhat incoherent and suffers from an "excessive nervous agitation" (pg. 113), going from energetic to sullen with no real provocation.

Roderick explains to the narrator that he wrote to him in the hopes that his visit would bring him out of his mental state. All of his senses are heightened; sights, smells, and sounds drive him to despair. He is, he admits, in a life and death struggle with fear. He also says that part of his mental condition can be traced to the long illness of his sister Lady Madeline, also a resident of the House of Usher. She had, despite her sickness, resisted becoming bedridden, but upon the narrator's arrival she takes to her room and does not emerge.

For several days, the narrator attempts to rouse Roderick from his gloom, but the more he tries, the more he realizes it is impossible. He is, however, impressed by Roderick's paintings, and also of his original guitar songs - the only instrument he can tolerate with his heightened senses. Then one evening, Roderick informs him that Lady Madeline is no more, and that he plans to preserve her body for a fortnight in one of the house's vaults.

Once the body has been prepared for burial and placed in its coffin, the narrator helps Roderick entomb it in the vault, a small, dark and damp place behind a massive iron door. Before placing the coffin in the vault the two take one last look at Lady Madeline. The narrator remarks at how similar brother and sister looked, and Roderick informs him that they were twins. They replace the coffin lid and screw it down.

After Lady Madeline's death, the narrator observes a change in Roderick, and he seems even more agitated and unstable than before. His mood even begins to affect the narrator, who starts falling into the same kind of nervous despair. On the seventh or eighth day after putting the corpse in the vault, the narrator is unable to sleep. He tries to blame his feelings on the dreary furnishings of his room or the storm brewing outside, but he is unable to shake his nerves, especially when he hears, "certain low and indefinite sounds" (pg. 125) that he cannot explain.

Agitated, he begins pacing his room, and is soon joined by Roderick, also in a disturbed state. The narrator tries to calm Roderick by reading the Mad Trist of Sir Launcelot Canning. Though neither of them likes the volume, it is all they have in the room, and he is surprised at how interested Roderick is. As he reads, certain elements of the story, such as the breaking down of a door or the screaming of a dragon, seem to be occurring somewhere in the house in real time. Finally Roderick, who seems on the verge of a breakdown, admits that he has been hearing strange sounds for days but he dared not speak of them. He tells the narrator that he is sure they have buried his sister alive, and upon this revelation, he also cried that she is currently standing outside the door.

At this, the door flies open, and the bloody figure of Lady Madeline, looking as if she has fought her way out of the coffin. She enters the room, then falls upon her brother and they both topple to the floor, finally dead. The narrator flees from the house, and as he runs away, the House of Usher collapses and is swallowed up by the surrounding tarn.