An Analysis of Allan Poe’s Effect Aesthetics and Its Illustration in “The Fall of the House of Usher”
Chao Wang, Lei Xing, Bao Liu

Abstract
By thinking over each word before writing, Edgar Allan Poe finally built the horrible house of “Usher” which was well-known in the world. Poe’s novel creating theory is unity of effect. According to Poe, the writer should weigh his dictions and plan the plot carefully to form a certain effect he has expected. Even the theme should be subordinate to the writer's deliberate construction of such an effect. All the novels of Poe followed this principle. The Fall of the House of Usher, one of Poe’s masterpieces, is the best model to study the practical use of effect aesthetics. Each description of scenes and depiction of characters are closely related, all of which contribute to the expected effect. This paper attempts to analyze the theory by Poe’s characterization of setting, character, and mental description and discuss what kinds of specific words Poe used in the story to create such a horrible atmosphere. Readers can not only understand how the unity of effect is applied in his story, but also feel the artistic charm in “The Fall of the House of Usher”.

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