We read two short stories by Edgar Allen Poe, "The Fall of the House of Usher" and, "Ligeia". Poe really brings out the grotesque part of the word Gothic. I was very disturbed by both of the outcomes of these stories. In "The Fall of the House of Usher", Roderick Usher berries his twin sister ALIVE. And in "Ligeia", mysteriously two of his wives die, and after his second wife has been laying in his bed, dead for days, the spirit of his first love, Ligeia, overtakes his dead wife's body! That is what I describe grotesque!
Poe also uses descriptive imagery to describe and set the scene of his gothic settings. He intently talks about the gloom, the moonlight, and the crack in the house of Usher, vacant eye like windows, and the decayed trees. He even refers to "a sickness of the heart" when describing the house. With these descriptions you feel apart of the eery-ness that Poe unveils.
In "Ligeia" he also uses imagery to set the gothic scene. In this short story, he focuses on light and dark imagery. When he is with Ligeia, his one true love, everything is in a light shade, and when he is with his second wife, whom he married for her status in society, everything is in a shade of darkness. His context, symbols, and use of words really makes the reader feel apart of the grotesque story.
I too was pretty disturbed by these stories but not in the least bit surprised that I was. I feel like I have read a lot of Edgar Allen Poe stories throughout my life in literature classes and most his stories are full of these "grotesque" elements that you describe.
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