Similarities and Differences between Tone, Imagery, and Setting in Gothic Literature - Essay Example

Gothic Literature Gothic Literature Introduction A Rose for Emily is a short story ed by William Faulkner, which has received criticism over the years because of its Gothic style. Similarly, The Fall of the House of Usher authored by Edgar Allan Poe falls under the same category of gothic literature. The category of gothic literature denotes works that contained both horror and romanticism. Stories categorized under this genre exhibit a measure of terror. This is the case with the two short stories A Rose for Emily and The Fall of the House of Usher. This genre of literature has a close association with gothic architecture that emerges in the 18th century, and extended into the 19th century. This paper will focus on comparing the two short stories highlighting similarities and differences between tone, imagery, and setting. Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily focuses on the life of Emily. The story has five distinct sections, which describe a certain period of Emily’s life. The first section describes her death and the events that surrounded her burial. In this section, the reader understands that Emily had isolated herself from the society with nobody visiting her house for over 10 years. Moreover, the reader is introduced to the fading glory of Emily’s family. The once wealthy family has been going down over the years as the society embraces modernity. From the vivid descriptions of her house, it is evident that it belonged to the gothic architecture. Due to the fading glory of Emily’s family, a former mayor who knew her family well excused her from paying her tax dues. However, the old regime would soon pass away welcoming a new political system. The new system did not recognize Emily’s family, and sought to compel her to pay her taxes. Notably, this compulsion was unsuccessful (Faulkner & Polk, 2000). Section two of the story takes the reader back to 30 years before Emily’s death when she was compelled to pay taxes, but failed to give in to such compulsion. During that time, a strong odour had been emanating from Emily’s house until lime was sprinkled around the house. In this section, it is mentioned that Emily sought to refrain the society from burying her father by withholding the body. The third section of the story describes Emily and Homer’s relationship until she poisoned him. In section four, Faulkner describes how the society feared that Emily would commit suicide using the arsenic she had bought. The fifth section makes critical revelations because it describes how after Emily’s death, Homers body was found in the upper rooms of the house. It was at that time when the society realized that she had poisoned him (Zijiao, 2013). Poe’s story The Fall of the House of Usher focuses on Roderick as he suffers a measure of mystery requiring the company of the narrator. The story then introduces the reader to Roderick’s sister who suffers from a strange illness. Upon her death, Roderick chose to bury her in the underground chambers of the house. In an effort to ease away the pain and loneliness of Roderick the narrator reads him stories. One day as the narrator read the story Mad Trist, which belonged to the genre of medieval romance, he began to hear typical noises a those described in the story. Roderick admitted that he had been hearing the same noises for several days. At that point, his dead sister emerged and soon killed Roderick. From the brief synopses presented above, it is no doubt that the two stories belong to gothic literature. The tone in both stories is that of sadness and terror. Notably, death is common in both stories introducing grief as one of the defining aspects of the tone. For many readers, the stories are scary (Cook, 2012). The vivid description of the houses in both stories serves to enhance the tone. This is because the once outstanding buildings are described as facing slow destruction and aging. There is an immense imagery in both stories. For example, Faulkner’s story uses the house of Emily as a symbol. Notably, the changes occurring to the house represent the society’s transition to modernity. Moreover, the house is a representation of death. As the house ages and decays, it reflects the situation of Homer’s death, the death of Emily’s father, and eventually her death. Moreover, the house is a strong representation of the passing away of time. Without doubt, many years surrounded by numerous changes have elapsed as symbolized by the slow decay of the house. Worth noting is the fact that the house is also a representation of Emily’s isolation, desperation, and loneliness (Zijiao, 2013). Faulkner also uses Emily’s pocket watch as a symbol for time. This is evident when the representatives of the council visit Emily and they can hear the ticking of her watch beneath her clothes. Evidently, this illustrates the mystery surrounding time in the view of Emily. The strand of hair found lying next to Homer’s body is also an imagery representing the love that once thrived, but was eventually lost (Poe, 2004). Similarly, Poe uses the imagery of a house to symbolize the loneliness of Roderick. Since he was only surviving member of his family line, the slow destruction of the house represented the destruction of his family for generations living only a single member. It also represents death since it crumbled down after Roderick’s sister emerged from the dead and attacked him. Moreover, the house represents immense mysteries, which are evident in the illness suffered by Roderick’s sister, and the emergence of the dead from death (Poe, 2004). The setting of Poe’s story is evidently in a remote area and space. The description of the gothic building takes the reader back into the historical context of the gothic architecture. However, it is impossible to describe the specific time and place (Poe, 2004). The author emphasized the mood of the story and not its setting. On the other hand, Faulkner employs a similar emphasis on the transition to modernity. Although specific times are not mentioned in his story, the reader can understand the historical context as during a time when the society was embracing modernity. Conclusion Evidently, the two stories described above fall into the genre of gothic literature. This is because they are surrounded by terror and death, which were defining aspects of gothic literature. Both authors use imagery to enhance the meaning of their stories. Notably, the mood and tone in both stories is evident from the vivid descriptions of people and houses. Moreover, the authors make the setting of the stories an aspect for the reader to perceive without giving reference to any specific times. References Cook, J. A. (2012). Poe and the Apocalyptic Sublime: "The Fall of the House of Usher.". Papers On Language & Literature, 483-44. Faulkner, W., & Polk, N. (2000). A rose for Emily / William Faulkner ; contributing editor, Noel Polk. Fort Worth : Harcourt College Publishers, c2000. Poe, E. (2004). The Fall of the House of Usher [electronic resource] / by Edgar Allan Poe. Salt Lake City : Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, 2004. Zijiao, S. (2013). Transitivity Analysis of A Rose for Emily. Theory & Practice In Language Studies, 3(12), 2291-2295. doi:10.4304/tpls.3.12.2291-2295 Read More