Hero: A Romantic Viewpoint.

 In “The Fall of the House of Usher” Poe illustrates another type of Romantic hero, Roderick Usher.  Roderick, a mentally ill man, is beginning to resemble his equally gothic house.  In this short story, Roderick invites his childhood friend to visit him.  His friend, who is also the narrator, comes to lift Roderick’s spirits and discovers a strange and hallucinogenic man that cannot seem to shake his feelings of gloom.  Although Roderick fulfills the requirements of the Romantic hero, Poe creates a character in great contrast with that of Hawthorne’s Lord and Lady May or Irving’s Rip Van Winkle.  “A cadaverousness of complexion: an eye large, liquid, and luminous beyond comparison; lips somewhat thin and very pallid, but of a surpassingly beautiful curve; a nose of a delicate Hebrew model…,” “hair of a more than web-like softness,” and “ghastly pallor of the skin” are phrases the narrator uses to describe Roderick (720).  These physical descriptions of Roderick satisfy the gothic style of the Romantic hero.  Roderick encompasses the very meaning of haunted mental space: “He suffered much from a morbid acuteness of the senses; the most insipid food was almost endurable; he could wear only garments of certain texture; the odors of all flowers were oppressive; his eyes were tortured by even a faint light; and there were but peculiar sounds, and these from stringed instruments, which did not inspire him with horror (721).  In Roderick’s statement “…I dread the events of the future…” the common heroic thread is found –wanting to be anywhere, but in “the here and now” (721).  The narrator discovers that Roderick’s sister, Madeline, is ill and learns that at her death Roderick will become the last of the Ushers, hence his depressed disposition.   “Skilled physicians” were unable to diagnose the nature of Madeline’s illness; so the narrator found ways to distract his friend from his impending grief.  “One evening, having informed me abruptly that the lady Madeline was no more,” he and Roderick bury her (725).  The friend notices that Roderick is acting strangely, “as if listening to some imaginary sound” (727). This is another example of how the Romantic hero in a gothic setting can also be afflicted with “haunted mental spaces.”  This point in the story is also the turning point of the hero’s journey.  “Do I not distinguish that heavy and horrible beating of her heart?”(730). Roderick has taken the last turn in his quest of discovering that his worst nightmare has come true –they buried his sister alive and the noises he has been overcome with have been that of his sister’s struggle to escape.   Madeline dies while attacking Roderick, just as he dies from fear.  The story ends with the house and its companions crashing to the ground.  Roderick Usher, Poe’s Romantic hero, is haunted mentally and physically, is separate from the masses, and is continually dissatisfied with the “here and now.”

"A simple good natured fellow, of the name of Rip Van Winkle” (430).  Rip, the central character in Washington Irving’s “Rip Van Winkle”, exudes the qualities of a truly Romantic hero.  He is described as having a “meekness of spirit” (430).  This example proves an almost anti-meaning to the traditional hero, who is strong in courage.  Though he was not hardworking, “the children…would shout with joy whenever he approached…and not a dog would bark at him throughout the neighborhood.” (430).  Rip, like the common Romantic hero, was able to communicate with all kinds, even dogs.  Rip was described as a man who “… would never refuse to assist a neighbour in the roughest toil,” “…a foremost man at all country frolicks,” and “in a word, Rip was ready to attend anybody’s business but his own…”(430).  In his mind, he would rather be anywhere but where he is supposed to be.  He is constantly trying to escape the wrath of his wife.  “If left to himself, he would have whistled life away in perfect contentment…” (431).  This attitude was considered very heroic and Irving even goes as far as to transfer these attributes to Rip’s best friend and confidant, his dog Wolf.  His dog “was as courageous an animal as ever scoured the woods…” (431).  The dog’s only fear was Dame Van Winkle.  A connection with nature is also associated with Romanticism.  Hence, Rip’s sanction was found in nature and he would often “stroll away into the woods” (432).  One day in an attempt to escape from work, he wandered into the woods and fell asleep against a tree.  When he awoke, many years had passed and his whole life had changed.  In a search for himself, “he doubted his own identity, and whether he was himself or another man” (437).  This journey in finding himself is purely romantic.  Irving’s work exemplifies the heroic characteristics present in romantic literature.  Rip Van Winkle is the very essence of a Romantic hero: is childlike, has a deep connection with nature, is an escapist, is able to communicate with almost anyone or anything, and travels on a journey.

In conclusion, not all definitions of hero can be found in the dictionary.  Washington Irving, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgar Allen Poe offer three contrasting portraits of a Romantic hero.  Rip, Edith and Edgar, and Roderick may not fill Webster’s shoes of criteria, but their wardrobe is truly Romantic.