I need to compare the relationship between the narrator and Annabel Lee in "Annabel Lee" to the relationship between Roderick and Madeline Usher in "the Fall of the House of Usher". Please help! I also need to know what Poe is trying to express through these relationships. I have some ideas-- love and loss, etc. But i need to expand on them! Any ideas would be appreciated! Thanks.

-- Anonymous, December 08, 2001

Answers

In Annabel Lee the Narrator once had an amorous relationship with the character. Though he loved her dearly she was taken away from him and he was destroyed after that. Unlike Roderick Usher he did not die though. He was dead or paralyzed emotionally. In Fall of the House of Usher Roderick died from fear when Madeline collapsed into his arms. A common misinterpretation is that he died because he no longer had Madeline. As it said in the beginning of the story, he was not afraid of death but moreso afraid of being scared to death.

-- Anonymous, September 20, 2002