What do the three characters in the house of Usher represent? I know that one is to be the imagination, the narrator is the practical, but I don't know which of the twins is the imagination and what the other one represents. Thank you for your help.

-- Anonymous, September 10, 2000

Answers

This is what I can tell you about the three characters in the story. Lady Magdeline is the twin sister of Roderick Usher . She never speaks a word. The narrator arrives and she takes to bed and goes into a catotonic state. He helps bury her and put her away in a vault. Later she reappears and he flees. She is ghostlike and kind of mental. Some may say she wants revenge on Roderick. Roderick is the head of the house. He is a prominent man, but insanity altered his appearance. His state worsens throughout the story, and he becomes restless to the oint where he is unstable especially after the burial of his sister. The narrator has good sense and tries to help his boyhood friend. But he is superstitioud and fear overcomes him. The appearance of Lady Magdeline runs him out of the house. All three of them suffer from some sort of insanity, yet they each handle it in their own way. I hope this information can help you out some.

-- Anonymous, September 12, 2000

Crystal,

While I concur with Mandy's response, I thought perhaps you may wish to consider a summary with a little more detail. It is a copy of a response to a similar question earlier on this forum. I will send it by e-mail and I hope you find it useful.

Regards,

-- Anonymous, September 13, 2000