Gothic Romanticism

In The Fall of the House of Usher one interpretation suggests that Usher's nervousness and weakness is due to Madaline Usher being a vampire. There are many quotes that could support this theory. For example DeBerenger writes,
"Having deposited our mournful burden upon tressels within this region of horror, we partially turned aside the yet unscrewed lid of the coffin, and looked upon the face of the tenant" (1).This quote is talking about Madaline Usher. The coffin helps support the idea of her being a vampire. It continues on to describe how she looked saying,
"The disease which had thus entombed the lady in the maturity of youth, had left, as usual in all maladies of a strictly cataleptical character, the mockery of a faint blush upon the bosom and the face, and that suspiciously lingering smile upon the lip which is so terrible in death" (Deberenger 1). This description describes the idea that in fact Madaline was a vampire, seeming as if she were just asleep. Another detail that supports Madaline being a vampire was how she was wearing a white bloody robe when she killed her brother. This is because vampires usually wear robes. The blood also can help support the fact that she had killed something/someone before she came to get her brother.

The Gothic Fiction writers express human nature in many ways, usually more indirectly through a character. For example in Dr. Heidegger's Experiment, there is a pessimistic view on human nature. The story basically argues of how people for the most part are fools. For example all the patients in the story basically want to become younger. They want it more and more and are always unsatisfied with what they have, never happy. In the Masque of red death, there is also this same theme. For example the story basically is about fools who believe they can avoid death. There is the same view on human nature in both pieces. They show that people are fools, each in their different story line, without stating it out right, it is still obvious.