厄舍府的倒塌.ppt

The Fall of the House of Usher
Edgar Allan Poe
李聪 li__cong@
"The Fall of the House of Usher," which first appeared in Burton's Gentleman's Magazine in September, 1839, and was reprinted in Poe's books of 1840 and 1845, is a detailed, symbolic account of the derangement(精神错乱) and dissipation (精神消散)of an individual's personality.
outline
Ⅰ The author
Ⅱ Plot

Ⅲ Structure analysis
Ⅳ style and interpretation
Ⅴ Theme
ⅠThe Author
Edgar Allan Poe (born Edgar Poe, January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849)
an American author, poet, editor and literary critic.
Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre.
Ⅱ Plot
An unnamed narrator received his boyhood friend Roderick Usher 's letter , which read that Usher spoke of acute bodily illness - of a mental disorder which oppressed him - and of an earnest desire to see me, as his best, and indeed his only personal friend, with a view of attempting, by the cheerfulness of my society, some alleviation(缓和) of his malady(疾病). As a reply ,I came to the house of Usher to pany with my friend.
Led by a servant ,I met Usher in his room . He greeted me with great warmth.
It is revealed that Roderick's twin sister, Madeline, is also ill and falls into cataleptic, death-like trances.
The narrator is impressed with Roderick's paintings, and attempts to cheer him by reading with him and listening to his improvised positions on the guitar.
Roderick sings "The Haunted Palace", then tells the narrator that he believes the house he lives in to be sentient(有感知的), and that this sentience arises from the arrangement of the masonry(石造建筑) and vegetation(植物) surrounding it.
Roderick later informs the narrator that his sister died. The narrator helps the entombment. Roderick decided to put his sister's coffin in one of vaults, which have been deserted for a long time . On certain one night that is