THE SIGNIFICANCE OF INCEST AND THE GOTHIC MOTIF IN EDGAR ALLAN POE’S “THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER” .doc

the significance of incest and the gothic motif in edgar allan poes “the fall of the house of usher” kerri pearson, salem state college, salem, ma k abstract. in poes “the fall of the house of usher,” the underlying intimation of the incestuous union between twin siblings, roderick and madeline, serves as an extension of poes use of the doppelganger motif. my paper explores this insinuation of sibling incest, apparently left out of the scholarly conversation on this particular tale, as an ingredient of the gothic mode. the allusion to incest in “the fall of the house of usher” is directly related to the characters slow and withering demise. more importantly, it is outright related to the violent deaths of both brother and sister. keywords: poe, usher, doppelganger, gothic, incest one of the most interesting literary motifs present in the short fiction of edgar allan poe is his infusion of diverse elements of the german gothic tradition. the gothic literary tradition is a synthesis of two genres: the romantic and the horrific; yet the origins of gothic influence in literature and myth can be traced back to ancient folklore. traces of the gothic tradition in literature are often found in stories and novels that employ the use of tropes such as eerie supernaturalism, haunted or cursed houses and castles, storms and darkness, decadence, and of course, the formidable doppelganger motif. in poes “the fall of the house of usher,” the underlying intimation of the incestuous union between twin siblings, roderick and madeline, serves as an extension of poes use of the doppelganger motif. the word “doppelganger” translates literally from the german to mean, “double-walker.” thus, the twins roderick and madeline are “double-walkers” of a sort; they are a close version of each other despite their differences in gender. poe is undeniably employing conventions of the gothic tradition in “the fall of the house of usher,” incorporating elements such as the dark setting, the haunted house, characters who exhibit madness, the motif of doubles, or the doppelganger. yet what has seemingly been left out of the scholarly conversation on this particular tale is an exploration of the insinuation of sibling incest in the story and how it relates specifically to the doppelganger motif and thus, as an extension of the gothic mode. the allusion to incest in “the fall of the house of usher” is directly related to the characters slow and withering demise. more importantly, it is outright related to the violent deaths of both brother and sister. the influence of the gothic tradition in european fiction took nearly a century to reach america (hume 1969: 282). the european origins of gothic literature are often attributed to 18th century novels such as horace walpoles the castle of otranto and charles robert maturins melmoth the wanderer. the american gothic literary tradition, which was popularized in america nearly a century later is often credited in its popularity to authors such as poe, nathaniel hawthorne and later, william faulkner and flannery oconnor. in his essay, “gothic versus romantic: a revaluation of the gothic novel,” robert d. hume writes that the tradition “can be seen as a widespread shift away from the neoclassical ideals of order and reason, toward a romantic belief in emotion and imagination” (1969: 282). certainly poes short works employ elements of the romantic and as an author, he aims to excite readers imagination and in exploring their deepest fears, he seeks to consequently heighten their emotions. in “the return of negation: the doppelganger in freuds the uncanny,” dimitrius vardoulakis writes that, “the doppelganger as a motif arose within german romanticism and became a canonical theme in gothic literature. the term was coined by jean paul in his novel siebenkas, published in 1796” (2006: 100). vardoulakis explains that “doppelganger characters” in literature “tend to be associated with evil and the demonica notion of the subject/subjectivity that is defective, disjointed, split, threatening, spectral” (ibid.). while this description is certainly more applicable to poes short story “william wilson” wherein the main character discovers his defective moral conscious is split into two personalities and he attempts to murder his morally superior half. however, vardoulakis description of the “spectral” element of the doppelganger motif can certainly be applied to “the fall of the house of usher” (ibid.). madeline is often described as “ghostly” when the narrator first notices her passing slowly through the halls and the narrators initial description of roderick describes his “ghostly pallor” (poe 2004: 203). the spectral or supernatural element in fiction is perhaps most commonly associated with more general gothic fictional conventions. in “the fall of the house of usher,” the infusion of the gothic tradition is established immediately as poe creates the dark and macabre setting: “during the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless autumn daywhen the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, i had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country; and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy house of usher” (poe 2004: 199) . upon arriving, the narrator reveals that “with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit” though he expects himself to be excited by the exalted architecture of the house of usher. instead, gazing at the house, the “bleak walls” and the “decayed trees,” he feels an “utter depression of soul” which he associates with an opium withdrawal. he likens it to a comedown of sorts, when the user experiences the “lapse into everyday lifethe hideous dropping of the veil” (ibid.: 199). hereto, within the first paragraph of the story, the perfect chilling setting has been established. the narrator discloses that the closer that he gets to the house, the more anxious he grows. the house itself appears to have an influence on those who approach it. it is surrounded by an atmosphere of gloom and thus, any passerby or visitor who enters its vicinity is inevitably cast into a frightening “depression of soul” (ibid.). as the narrator grows closer to the house of usher, he reports a change that comes over him. he feels unnerved, depressed; he grapples “with the shadowy fancies that crowded upon” him as he ponders his imminent and regrettable visit to the ushers. the narrator has entered a different and unfamiliar world, a world of imagination, superstition and one that is permeated by supernatural essences. the narrator reveals that he has received an urgent letter from roderick usher, one of his “boon companions in boyhood” but with whom he has subsequently lost touch. the letters nature is alluded to as “wildly importunate” and expresses a “nervous agitation” of its author (ibid.: 200). roderick writes that he has been afflicted with an “acute bodily illnessa mental disorder which oppressed him” (ibid.). this quote is an example of poes inclusion of the melancholy element of the gothic motif. two vital elements have thus been established: the dark and gloomy setting with a cursed house and the madness of one of the characters. the source of rodericks mental illness is later suggested to be attributed to his incestuous love for his sister. interestingly, the intimation of the incestuous relationship between roderick and madeline usher is also alluded to quite early in the story. the narrator, giving readers a back story to the ushers, explains that he had learned, “the stem of the usher race, all time-honored as it washad put forth, at no period, any enduring branch; in other words, that the entire family lay in the direct line of descent, and had always, with very trifling and very temporary variation, so lain” (poe 2004: 200). here, the narrator is implying that the physical marriages of the ushers have primarily been with each other, that is, within the family, presumingly so as not to endanger or contaminate the royalty of their bloodline. as an extension, by defying the incest taboo, the ushers have added emphasis to their belief in the propagation of the superiority of the “usher race” (ibid.). in their familial sexual union, they preserve their sacred bloodline and race by not allowing others with unknown or dubious origins into their family. yet, what they do not know is that this kind of hereditary preference ultimately weakens the bloodline and endurance of their race. the powerful and distinguished pedigree of the ushers is ascertained in the story. the narrator notes that the ushers are an “ancient family” who has been displayed “through the long ages” in famous “works of exalted art” and participated in “repeated deeds of munificent yet unobtrusive charity,” as well as a passionate devotion to music (ibid.). here we begin to understand that not only are the ushers quite inbred, but also that they are an illustrious family depicted in revered pieces of art. they are also rich, so much so they have enough to spare for charities. further, their “passionate devotion” to music reveals that they are both educated and cultured (ibid.). the combination of factors indicated by the narrator: the family considers itself (and is considered by others as) royalty, they possess (or did possess) considerable wealth and their genetic inclination to create beautiful music, all suggest that the ushers would go to great lengths to preserve the bloodline and insist on its purity. had roderick or madeline married outside of the family, the usher bloodline would have been weakened by what would have been considered inferior or substandard genes, which would have ultimately lessened their power. in her article “the ambiguities of incest in lawrence durrells heraldic universe: a rankian interpretation,” sharon spencer writes that “an ordinary couple who defy the social taboo against their incestuous union are asserting their superiority, enacting a private myth in which they empower themselves to imagine that they have elevated to royal stature” (spencer 1987: 443). relating this idea to the ushers of past generations when the family was at its apex, the ushers likely choose incest to preserve their already established royalty. yet, madeline and roderick are the last of the great race of ushers, so their incestuous union is then perhaps more aligned with a preservation of what has already been lost. the ushers royalty has already begun to fade and decay, which their house, the “mansion of gloom” metaphorically represents (cf. poe 2004: 200). in the article, “royal incest and inclusive fitness,” authors pierre l. van den berghe and gene m. mesher note: “royal incest (mostly brother- sister; less commonly father daughter) represent the logical extreme of hypergyny. women in stratified societies maximize fitness by marrying up; the higher the status of a woman, the narrower her range of prospective husbands. this leads to a direct association between high status and inbreeding. royal incest is a fitness maximizing strategy if the following conditions are met: polygyny, patrilineal succession, and parental control of royal succession. under those conditions, the genetic risks of close inbreeding are more than accounted for” (1980: 300). this more scientific study of incest relates closely to “the fall of the house of usher,” as it has been established by the narrator that the preservation of the royal bloodline was a primary concern for the ushers. as the narrator notes, they were once a great family and the subject of high art which implies that they were well known beyond the small village where they resided. thus, if the ushers were the most successful and prominent family throughout their existence, who would then be suitable for the usher daughters to marry? if no suitable husband is available to marry on these terms, then the only suitable union would be with another usher. this is of course, presumably, from the parents point of view. alternatively, from the point of view of the roderick and madeline, it is possible that a different kind of motivation served as additional impetus to their union. the narrator discloses that the twins were sole companions for many years. the two likely grew up with extensive knowledge of their sacred lineage and were perhaps also brought up with nostalgia for the past successes of their ancestors. having pride in their tradition of intellectualism, wealth, and music talent, the two perhaps saw no more fitting suitor or partner to choose than each other. yet, their parents are now dead and the pressure to form a union unto themselves would have also expired along with their parents. thus, perhaps the ancestral pride installed in the twins created a sort of narcissism, a love for the usher race and an insistence in not forming a sexual union outside of its realm or house. narcissism is consistently associated with doubles and the twin or doppelganger motif, its most obvious extension being the twin that narcissus saw as he looked in the mirror. as spencer explains: “it is the ambivalence of the creative or productive individual when he or she must choose between the comforting reassurance of union with one cast in his/her own likeness (sameness) and the challenge offered by allying oneself with the other, the contrasting qualities (a condition characterized by difference). the former choice provides a soothing, womb-like ambiance that fosters peace, harmony, and unity, but if one remains there too long, the consequences are narcissistic stagnation and death” (1987: 445) . incest has a connection to narcissism, as someone who participates in an incestuous sexual relationship is extendedly having sex with a version of themselves. the “underlying nature of the incestuous bond: erotic energy is transferred from the narcissistic individual to the object most like himself, his sibling” (finney 1983: 243). “like the related theme of the doppelganger, incestuous narcissism is particularly prevalent in romantic and neo-romantic literature, where is appears as an image of isolation” (ibid.). as finney observes in the works of thomas mann, ludwig tieck, and wagner (yet ignores in poe), “narcissism in the guise of incest is a particularly effective expression of the individuals exclusion from society, since it adds to the solitude of self-love to the guilt of a sexual taboo” (ibid.). spencer goes on to explain that “difference creates situations that are characterized by tension, rivalry, challenge, and opposition, but also provide for stimulation, growth, and for real love, love of a being who is more than a reflection of the self, a being who is an authentic autonomous individual” (ibid.: 445). when roderick and madeline are left alone in the world as the “last of the ancient race of ushers,” (poe 2004: 204) they are freed from the “consequent undeviating transmission, of the patrimony with the name” (ibid.: 201). however, they still chose to stay in the house of usher and be together. while this is a logical inaction by the characters, they could have left the house of usher to find other partners, but did not. they instead chose each other as a manifestation of their narcissism. although the twins may have desired a union outside of the race of ushers, what they truly desire, more essentially, is a reflection of the desire for the self, which they find in each other, their twin. spencers explanation of the “womb-like ambiance” created by an incestuous union is certainly an interesting description in reference to madeline and roderick, as they are twins, and they did share the same womb at the same time (spencer 1987: 445). it is also reminiscent of the myth of twins isis and osiris, who, as the myth goes, fell in love in the womb. this myth also describes isis, the sister of osiris, being the life-giver and savior of her brother. after he is hacked to pieces by his jealous brother set, isis seeks and finds him, collects his parts, and gives him eternal life. the fact that madeline and roderick are twins adds emphasis to the idea that incest is an extension of the doppelganger motif. perhaps they too fell in love in the womb, but more relevantly, perhaps they perceived their union as a means of transcendence, a gateway to eternal life. the myth of isis and osiris associated with incest has a distinctly spiritual undertone. as spencer explains, “in its spiritual sense, brother-sister incest, whether acted out or not, can represent an ideology or faith that immortality can be obtained through the divine intervention of the sister” (1987: 439). zia hasan, in her article “a castle of sand: the theme of incest in tis pity shes a whore and the alexandria quartet,” writes: “in african burial rites it is the sister who brings the dead king back to life. in egypt, as well as in peru, the king who was considered a god took his sister to wife. but the motive was ritual and not sexual, for they symbolized the moon and the sun in their conjugation. the king marries his sister because he, as god the star, wandering on earth, is immortal and may therefore not propagate himself in the children of a strange woman, anymore than he is allowed to die a natural death” (hasan 2003: 2) this passage is most interesting when applied to “the fall of the house of usher,” as madeline is perhaps the sister who is responsible for propagating the dying race of ushers by having her brothers child. however, roderick perhaps realizes how inbred their bloodline has become since their race is in fact ancient and because of this, his child with madeline has the potential to have severe problems or deformities if born. extendedly, when the narrator first arrives at the usher house, roderick exclaims enigmatically, “i must perish in this deplorable folly. thus, thus, and not otherwise, shall i be lost. i dr