psychpoeanalysis

[psychpoeanalysis]

Words are never ‘only words’; they matter because they define the contours of what we can do.

Slavoj Žižek, First as Tragedy, Then as Farce (via intellectualpoaching)

[psychpoeanalysis]

Works Cited

Avants, B, et al. “Early Childhood Home Environment Predicts Frontal and Temporal Cortical Thickness in the Young Adult Brain.” Program Planner, Coe-Truman Technologies, Inc. , 17 Oct. 2012, www.abstractsonline.com/Plan/ViewAbstract.aspx?sKey=734b1ccd-cfcf-4394-a945-083ca58f8033&cKey=7b3e8587-f590-4d94-ae3f-e050d52e8488&mKey={70007181-01C9-4DE9-A0A2-EEBFA14CD9F1}.

Bressler, Charles E. Literary Criticism: an Introduction to Theory and Practice. Longman, 2011.

Freud, Sigmund. The Interpretation of Dreams, Third Edition. Trans. by A. A. Brill. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1913; Bartleby.com, 2010. www.bartleby.com/285/. [Date of Printout]

Martindale, Colin. “ ‘Archetype and Reality in 'The Fall of the House of Usher'," from Poe Studies, Vol. V, No. 1, June 1972, Pp. 9-11.” Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore - Works - Editions - The Collected Works of Edgar Allan Poe - Vol. III: Tales and Sketches (The Imp of the Perverse), Poe Studies, www.eapoe.org/pstudies/ps1970/p1972103.htm.

Mcleod, Saul. “Psychosexual Stages.” Simply Psychology, Simply Psychology, 5 Feb. 2017, www.simplypsychology.org/psychosexual.html.

Poe, Edgar A. The Fall of the House of Usher. 1839, www.ibiblio.org/ebooks/Poe/Usher.pdf.

Saunders MN. The physiology of boredom, depression and senile dementia. Medical Hypotheses. 1996: 46(5):463-6.

[psychpoeanalysis]

Dreams in “Fall of the House of Usher”

Freud’s, “The Interpretation of Dreams”

- According to Freud, “the only typical, that is, regular representation of the human person as a whole is in the form of a house” (1900). In this case, it is particularly fitting because, after the death of Madeline and Roderick, the estate literally crumbles to the ground- signifying the end of not only their lives but the entirety of the Usher legacy. The foundation of the house and the family’s psychological dispositions was built upon instability, inevitably ending in a particularly gruesome and troubling demise.

- In Freud’s “Interpretation of Dreams”, female genitals are symbolically represented by “objects which enclose a space capable of being filled by something” (1900). In this case, Roderick and Madeline’s sexual relationship is embodied by the pit in which the estate collapses into. Their incestuous relationship was indeed their final downfall, symbolizing the end of the family’s ability to produce children, psychological well-being, and ultimately, their lives.

2. Other Sources of Dream Interpretation

- One of the most commonly reported nightmares is the experience of being buried alive, which is Madeline’s demise in the story. Various sources suggest that this type of dream symbolizes two themes:

The weight of an oppressive unconscious burden

A lack of control 

- The story is dictated by instances of unconscious suffering and the subsequent manifestation of neuroses. In regards to a lack of control, this imagery signifies Madeline and Roderick’s acceptance of their own mental illnesses and self-imprisonment within the confines of their family home. Roderick, unconsciously riddled by the insecurity of losing his one and only companion, seeks to control her. His anxious insecurity is so deeply embedded and acute that he ultimately buries her alive in order to administer the utmost control over her (e.g. dictating and ending her very existence) as a means of preventing loss. The agency that comes with living, despite Madeline’s limited exhibition of it due to her dissociative and cataleptic state, is simply too much for Roderick to bear; he ends this fear (“the grim phantasm”) once in for all by ending her life.

3. Dreamlike Imagery and Language

- The language of “The Fall of the House of Usher” reads like an eerie nightmare. The narrator describes a picture hung in the house reminiscent of the mind’s strangest and most elaborate projections of unconscious imagery:

“A small picture presented the interior of an immensely long and rectangular vault or tunnel, with low walls, smooth, white, and without interruption or device. Certain accessory points of the design served well to convey the idea that this excavation lay at an exceeding depth below the surface of the earth. No outlet was observed in any portion of its vast extent, and no torch or other artificial source of light was discernible, yet a flood of intense rays rolled throughout, and bathed the whole in a ghastly and inappropriate splendor” (Poe 6).

- This picture, embodying the imagery of dreams, provides a great deal of insight into the psychological disposition of the home. Explicitly stating that the painting depicts a room existing far below the surface of the Earth, the image portrays the unconscious. The tunnel is long and winding, symbolizing a long, insipid life with limited reprieve or joy (hence the absence of artificial light); life is a boring chore. There is no relief in the mortal world, therefore, the only release from suffering is death; hence the inexplicable rays of light permeating the tunnel despite its position below the Earth’s surface.

- The words dream and reverie occur five times throughout the story, reinforcing the element of dissociative fantasy that dictates the setting and plot of the story.

[psychpoeanalysis]

Roderick Usher as a Case Study: Pathology

When the narrator meets with his friend for the first time in years, Roderick himself soon speaks of “a mental disorder which oppressed him” whilst exhibiting “nervous agitation” (Poe 2). This mental disorder is later described as a “morbid acuteness of the senses” that subjects him to the exclusive ingestion of insipid foods, garments of certain textures, the detestation of various scents (including flowers), light sensitivity, and many intensely painful aversions to sounds (with the interesting exception of his guitar) (Poe 5). Today, his undefined ailment has clinical significance. Hyperesthesia syndrome is the increase of sensitivity in the senses (such as sight, sound, touch or smell) to the extent that psychological distress is provoked. Ordinary stimuli instead provokes flight-or-fight responses in the individual, leading to psychological symptoms such as anxiety, panic attacks, or mood swings.

Another concept key to Roderick’s psychological portfolio is Freud’s idea of neurosis: the manifestation of behavioral or psychosomatic symptoms as a result of repression as well as conflict amongst the ego and the id. Neurotic symptoms emerge in a wide variety of behavioral, physical, and emotional patterns spanning anywhere from “a fear of heights to a pounding headache” (Bressler 130). Roderick’s symptoms are his hyperesthesia, anxiety (“I dread the events of the future”), learned helplessness (“I must perish in this deplorable folly”), hypochondria, agoraphobia, and sexual deviancy (his sexual relationship with his own sister, signifying a disturbance in psychosexual development). Certainly, he is troubled.

[psychpoeanalysis]

Roderick Usher as a Case Study: Environment

Across psychology, the role of environment serves as a major influence in development. From the very first sentence of “the Fall of the House of Usher”, it is evident that a great disturbance permeates the household:

“During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of the country… With the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit” (Poe 1).

The interior of the home is equally somber; the objects and structures within home include “somber tapestries”, “the ebon blackness of the floors”, “phantasmagoric armorial trophies”, and “gray walls and turrets” (Poe 3). The narrator also describes an atmosphere “[reeking] of decaying trees” as well as the recurring appearance of a “pestilent and mystic vapor, dull, sluggish, faintly discernable, and leaden-hued” (Poe 3). The house quite literally stinks of death and depression.

A twenty-year study revealed just how important a stimulating environment is for healthy psychological development. Cognitive stimulation from parents plays a major role in the development of various parts of the cortex (the layer of grey matter on the outside of the brain) for years to come. With adequate or enriched stimulation, the cortex becomes thinner and therefore more developed, especially in the lateral left temporal cortex: the region associated with semantic memory, language processing, and general knowledge (Fara, 2012). In adulthood, an absence of stimulation greatly increases the likelihood of an individual developing depression or depressive symptoms. Neurologically speaking, the “activation of the mind increases physiological responses in the brain by inducing the flow of oxygen, blood and nutrients. Without activating these mechanisms neurons will eventually begin to shrink, as will the brain” (Saunders, 1996).

Indeed, Roderick Usher’s family history and tradition is marked by desolation and solitude. Like a hermit, he has spent years imprisoned in the isolation of his dreary family estate without a single friend with the exception of his equally depressed and reclusive sister Madeline: “his sole companion for long years” (Poe 3). Madeline chronically succumbs to cataleptic trances, described as “a settled apathy, a gradual wasting away of the person”, to the bewilderment of physicians (Poe 6). There is also evidence to suggest that he and his sister, like ancient nobility, are the product of a legacy of incest. He and his sister share a diseased physical composition marked by the following qualities:

“Yet the character of his face had been at all times remarkable. A cadaverousness of complexion; an eye large, liquid, and luminous beyond comparison; lips somewhat thin and very pallid but of a surpassingly beautiful curve; a nose of a delicate Hebrew model, but with a breadth of nostril unusual in similar formations; a finely moulded chin, speaking, in its want of prominence, of a want of moral energy; hair of a more than web-like softness and tenuity;—these features, with an inordinate expansion above the regions of the temple, made up altogether a countenance not easily to be forgotten...The now ghastly pallor of the skin, and the now miraculous lustre of the eye, above all things startled and even awed me. The silken hair, too, had been suffered to grow all unheeded, and as, in its wild gossamer texture, it floated rather than fell about the face, I could not, even with effort, connect its Arabesque expression with any idea of simple humanity” (Poe 4).

Incest could certainly explain his family’s outstanding habituation of secrecy, isolation, and paranoia, as well as the pervasive physical and psychological maladies experienced by Roderick and Madeline alike. Biologically and environmentally, the siblings never stood a chance at achieving fulfilling lives.

[psychpoeanalysis]

The Freudian Significance of Dreams

Freud believed that dreams were a gateway to the unconscious mind. In this theory, the unconscious mind is the storehouse of repressed sexual desires, rage, guilt, and memories that are often too painful to surface in the conscious mind. Dreams are an expression of these phenomena in which the individual can enact these thoughts, feelings, and behavior without the pain conscious awareness brings. Thus, dreams become instances of “wish-fulfillment” as the ego’s natural defenses are lowered in the dream-state (Freud, 1900). Often, considering that the dream-state is the projection of the murky and mysterious unconscious mind, these thoughts and feelings are not so clear and appear through symbolism. The symbolism is then deciphered by the psychotherapist through the process of dream interpretation.  

Despite an individual’s best attempt at suppression, these difficult components are always present and will ultimately appear in their life; their dream is simply another window.

[psychpoeanalysis]

[psychpoeanalysis]

[psychpoeanalysis]

[psychpoeanalysis]

Psychosexual Development

According to Freud, five fixed psychosexual stages shape childhood psychological development: oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital. During each stage, a different part of the body is given significant attention from one’s sexual drive or libido. Because a great deal of psychoanalytic theory revolves around the discord of pleasure versus tension (especially pursuits of the id), we can recognize how a lack of fulfillment of these dimensions can result in conflict later in life.

Oral Stage

Beginning and ending in infancy, the oral stage of development is focused on the mouth. This includes the primordial act of breastfeeding, putting various objects into the mouth (one’s thumb, toys, etc.), and biting. It is at this stage in which the individual begins to associate oral actions with pleasure and begins to satiate the impulses of the id accordingly (McLeod, 2017). Later in life, this variant of pleasure takes on the form of kissing and oral sex. If one fails to achieve the proper completion of this stage, maladaptive coping mechanisms and preoccupations like smoking or nail-biting may surface later in life.

2. Anal Stage

The anal stage occurs from ages one to four in which the child is focused on the anus- particularly the pleasures of defecation. At this age, the child begins to obtain a sense of metacognition; they are aware that they have the agency to fulfil their own desires and impulses although they do not fully understand the gravitation of behavior and behavioral establishment. In this stage, for the child, it is merely a matter of cause-and-effect. Hence begins one of the first major conflicts amongst id, ego, and superego in which they child is introduced to restrictions on where they can and cannot defecate. This conflict, according to Freud, emerges in potty training.

Indeed this is one of the first scenarios in which the child experiences external authority in the presence of pleasure- an occurrence that will later shape the child’s own superego as well as their own relationship with authority. “Early or harsh potty training can lead to the child becoming an anal-retentive personality who hates mess, is obsessively tidy, punctual and respectful of authority” (McLeod. 2017). On the other hand, an overly relaxed approach to potty training will result in an anal-expulsive personality: a messy, disorganized, rebellious individual with a preponderance for over-sharing with others.  

3. Phallic Stage

Occurring in ages three to six, the child gains awareness of the presence of their own genitals as well as the sex differences of others, recognizing that genital stimulation is a source of pleasure. Think of a five-year-old nonchalantly sticking their hand in their pants in a public setting, perhaps in the supermarket with their mother.  Beyond eroticism, they are simply beginning to explore and understand their body. However, most children will be scolded for this action as it is not deemed socially acceptable, further introducing authority to the body (and most importantly in this theory, pleasure).

Aware of anatomical differences, “the conflict between erotic attraction, resentment, rivalry, jealousy and fear which Freud called the Oedipus complex (in boys) and the Electra complex (in girls)” is established (McLeod, 2017).  This conflict is resolved through the process of identification, the adoption of the parent of the mutual sex’s characteristics.

4. Latency Stage

From ages six to puberty, psychosexual development is hidden until the libido is activated in puberty. This sexual energy is instead directed (or sublimated) into schoolwork, interests, and friendships. Sexual energy is not within one’s conscious attention, although it potentially acts as a driving force for development and certain life achievements.

5. Genital Stage

The genital stage is the final stage of psychosexual development, spanning from puberty across adulthood. Instead of self-pleasure, the individual begins to engage with and desire sexual and romantic relationships with others. This is a time of significant social development considering the individual’s engagement with the sexual pleasure of others. Freud believed that conflict in this stage may result in perversions or other maladaptive responses (e.g. repression) later in life.

[psychpoeanalysis]

Tripartite Theory of Personality

Also known as the structural model, Freud asserts that the human psyche consists of three parts: the id, the ego, and the superego. These concepts are often represented through the iceberg model:

The id is defined as the “irrational, instinctual, unknown, and unconscious” part of the psyche which contains our secret desires and darkest fears (Bressler 127). The reckless id is driven by impulse and the pleasure principle: the seeking out of immediate gratifications, desires, and urges. Next, we have the superego, the “parental figure” of the psyche. As we can see by the iceberg model, it has both conscious and unconscious influences and manifestations. Like an internal censor, the superego inflicts punishment through guilt and fear, causing us to make moral decisions. Unlike the id, the superego serves to suppress the desires and instincts forbidden by society or ourselves.  Lastly, we have the ego- the “rational, logical, waking part of the mind” (although many of its activities are unconscious) (Bressler 127). The ego operates in harmony with the pleasure principle and the reality principle, recognizing the importance of both regulation and indulgence.

These three dynamic components establish the waking and hidden elements of our personality; Freud asserts that disbalance (or conflict) in these spheres results in psychological distress and dysfunction. A balance is only achieved through the ego’s proper moderation between reality and desire, the restriction (but not suffocation) of the id’s operation of the pleasure principle, and a healthy incorporation of the superego’s moral and ethical reasoning. 

With these concepts in mind, we can begin to understand the platform in which we assess the psychology of a character or the author himself. 

[psychpoeanalysis]

During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when 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.

[psychpoeanalysis]

The Fall of the House of Usher | Jean Epstein | 1928

Marguerite Gance