Comparisons of Edgar Allen Poe's two gothic tales, "Ligeia" and "The Fall of the House of Usher," reveal a volume of similarities and some notable differences . Whether it's the characters, the language, the settings, the literary approach or even the plots, "Ligeia" and "Usher" have many striking connections that point to a common author. With the exception of themes and plots, the differences between stories can be quite subtle. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essay In “The Fall of the House of Usher,” the narrator visits an old friend who might be going crazy. Roderick Usher and the narrator prematurely bury Usher's sister. Eventually, when this misdeed is revealed, both siblings die. The narrator escapes in time to see the house collapse and slide into the lake. In “Ligeia,” a man marries a mysterious woman who inspires him. On her deathbed, she confesses that death will not hinder her deep devotion to him. He is distraught by her death but marries another woman although there is a lack of affection between them. After some mysterious events, the second wife falls ill and dies. After a night of waking and hesitation, the narrator finally reveals that the now reanimated corpse standing before him has the features of, and is in fact, his first wife, the deceased Lady Ligeia. Both stories are told in the first person and are told as a past event. “Usher” is narrated by Roderick’s visiting friend. “Ligeia” is also told in the first person from the perspective of Ligeia and Rowena’s husband. Each story has three characters. “Usher” has Roderick, Lady Madeline and the narrator. “Ligeia” has Ligeia, Rowena and the husband telling the story. Poe's descriptions of some characters are very similar. Roderick Usher is described as having “large, liquid, and luminous” eyes (Poe 2500) with “a nose of a delicate Hebrew pattern” (2500). Ligeia's eyes are "large and luminous" (2489), her nose is like the "graceful medallions of the Hebrews" (2488). Both are also made to look like another “race”. (2501)(2488).Poe uses his superb understanding of nuance and the connotative power of words to set the tone. Many of the same words (or forms thereof) appear in both stories: decadence, desolate, emaciated, melancholy, sorrow, perverse, ancient, horrible, corpse, and fantasy. Two phrases that appear in both stories but are not necessarily Gothic-inspired are stringed and lead-toned instruments. In “Usher,” the leaden hue describes the “steam” (2499) of the lake. In “Ligeia”, he describes the window of the bridal chamber. Roderick Usher favors “stringed instruments” and Ligeia’s eyes inspire feelings similar to those of “stringed instruments” (2489). The settings also have remarkable similarities. The setting of Usher House is bleak due to the "extraordinary disrepair" (2499) and "extensive disrepair" (2499) of the building. Usher is in a room with “dark tapestries” (2499) and a “vaulted, fretted ceiling” (2500). Ligeia's narrator encounters her in an "old ruined town near the Rhine" (2487) but after her death he settles in a "dark and dreary" abbey (2492) in the "wildest and least parts frequented by… England” (2492). The bridal chamber is described as having a "high, vaulted, and richly decorated ceiling" (2493) with a "heavy and massive-looking tapestry" (2493). Edgar Allen Poe uses a lot of foreshadowing in “The Fall of the House of Usher.” »: the title, melancholypresented by the house, the horrible "reshaped and inverted images" (2498) of the "black and sinister tarn" (2498), the "barely perceptible crack" (2499), the "slight redness" (2506) on the body of the late Lady Madeline. This foreshadowing is finally realized when Lady Magdalene turns out to be not (yet) dead and “the fissure widens rapidly…and the deep, damp tarn” (2510) swallows up the Usher house. The foreshadowing in "Ligeia" comes after the last whispered words of Ligeia herself: "Man does not deliver him entirely to the angels, nor to death, except through the weakness of his feeble will" (2492) (2489) (2487). A phrase, supposedly from Joseph Glanville, which is repeated three times in the story. Ligeia apparently overcomes a weak desire to return to her beloved. Both stories contain Poe's poetry, in comparable forms, presented as a creation of one of the characters. “The Haunted Palace” (2504) is Roderick Usher’s poetic tale of a monarch and his ruined castle; a strange reflection of the past and present state of House Usher. The poem is composed of six bytes with ababcdcd rhyme schemes. “The Conquering Worm” (2491) are the “verses composed by Ligeia herself a few days before” (2491) in which the death of man is a sad game for the angels. “The Conquering Worm” is five bytes long (allowing the third and fourth bytes to be combined), also with an ababcdcd rhyme scheme. Beyond the similarities in physical descriptions, "eyes" and "sight" play important roles in both stories. In “Usher,” the eyes become the windows to the soul. The eyes trace the progression of the deterioration of Roderick Usher's mentality. After Lady Madeline was entombed, “the brightness of her eye was extinguished” (2506). On the last strange night at the Usher House, “there was…a mad mirth in his eyes” (2507). As the sounds of the reanimated Madeline come closer and closer, he responds with “a wide, rigid opening of the eye” (2509). Even the House itself has its "empty eye-shaped windows" through which the world can see the House of Usher. This vision of the House is reflected in Roderick's poem "The Haunted Palace". At one time, the world could see “through two luminous windows” (2504) “spirits moving musically” (2504). Now, “through red-lit windows,” they see “forms that move…to a discordant melody” (2504-2505). Additionally, there is a sense of blindness or inability to see in “Usher.” The crack in the house requires “the eye of the searching observer…The eye…that struggles” (2500) to see the corners of Usher's room. Roderick’s eyes are “tortured by…a faint light” (2501). Even the narrator is overcome by a “stupor” when looking at Madeline. The eyes play a different role in “Ligeia”. Her husband sees divinity or mysticism in her eyes. He sees in her eyes revelations about the mysteries of life and science. When she fell ill, her “eyes shone less and less” or “blazed with too much, too glorious brilliance.” When she is gone, he cannot understand any of her scholarly activities without “the brightness of her eyes” (2490). With the loss of Ligeia's guidance, the narrator feels his "vision has grown dim" but consoles himself with "visions of Ligeia." Ultimately, it is "the full… the black… the wild eyes of… Ligeia" that the narrator uses to fully identify Lady Rowena's reanimated corpse. Questionable sanity is part of every story. Roderick Usher suffers from “excessive nervous agitation” (2500). His sister, Lady Madeline, suffers from “an established apathy” (2502). Lady Rowena is driven mad by a play which, according to.