The Fall of the House of Usher and Behind a Mask

Fall of the House of Usher is such a deep story. There are a lot of hypotheticals that make the reader suspect that things aren’t quite what they seem to be in the Usher house. , “…the stem of the Usher race, all time-honored as it was, had put forth, at no period, any enduring branch; in other words, that the entire family lay in the direct line of the descent, and had always, with very trifling and very temporary variation, so lain.” When first reading this it seems that all in order and they are just the only ones left in a dying family but when adding the gothic element of incest, the interpretation is changed. The family comes from a single line which seems to suggest that all the Ushers are inbred. There are no other lines of the family other than the remaining branch which one could interpret as meaning that since there were incestuous relationships taking place no other branches could grow and prosper. Also mentioned is the lack of variation which could be taken to mean that for the most part the members of the Usher family don’t marry or have children with those outside the family. While there is no solid evidence to prove an incestuous relationship, it is only hinted at, but many scholars and Poe experts do agree that there is some sort of inappropriate relationship going on between the Usher twins.

Behind a Mask also lends itself to the idea that things aren’t quite what they seem. Jean is an interesting character with something different about her. The first part of the book ends with her revealing her true self. She is an older woman pretending to be a twenty year old. She is missing a tooth and looks aged; it’s hard to imagine that she could pass for twenty without the family knowing what was really going on. It also makes you wonder what will happen in the rest of the book; what is Jean Muir really up to? I really like that Alcott, who is known for sweet girly works has this dark side to her. She is really good at showing the dual nature of people (such as with Jean Muir) and how that while it seems crazy and creepy, it can also happen in real life.