Open AccessTHE IDEA OF THE BAD PLACE IN EDGAR ALLAN POE’S “THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER” AND IN STEPHEN KING’S “THE SHINING”
Author(s) -
Maria Anastasova
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
ezikov svât/ezikov svât
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2603-4026
pISSN - 1312-0484
DOI - 10.37708/ezs.swu.bg.v18i2.11
Subject(s) - context (archaeology) , architecture , atmosphere (unit) , isolation (microbiology) , art history , aesthetics , literature , art , history , philosophy , visual arts , physics , archaeology , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , thermodynamics
The article deals with the idea of the bad place as a characteristic feature of the horror genre. Its aimis to explore the function of two buildings that epitomize this idea in two literary works from different periods of Americanliterature: the Usher mansion from Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher (1839) and the Overlook Hotel fromStephen King’s The Shining (1977). The two architectural structures reveal various undercurrent meanings that lead to theconclusion that the haunted place in the gothic genre may serve purposes rather different than creating horrific atmosphere andtriggering emotions like fear and suspense. By binding their characters to a specific building the two authors not only trapthem and put them in isolation, but they also reveal certain psychological states or criticize the society. In Poe’s short story thecrumbling mansion is obviously a reflection of the unstable mind of the narrator as the author employs his usual method ofusing architecture to speak about psychology. In The Shining the hotel unleashes evil powers because of its sinful history. Thusa critical look at the society is provided. In both cases the architectural structures are destroyed in the end. However, althoughthe two buildings can be taken as symbols of evil, their identical fates may be interpreted differently in each context.