THE RETURN OF THE REPRESSED: A PSYCHOANALYTIC CLOSE READING OF EDGAR ALLAN POE’S “THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER”
THE RETURN OF THE REPRESSED: A PSYCHOANALYTIC CLOSE READING OF EDGAR ALLAN POE’S “THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER”

Summary/Abstract: This article examines Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” through a psychoanalytic framework, focusing on Freud’s theories of the divided psyche, repression, and repetition compulsion. Drawing on psychoanalytic criticism as outlined by Peter Barry, the study argues that Poe’s narrative represents psychological fragmentation not merely through depiction of madness, but through the collapse of boundaries between the conscious and unconscious experience. Roderick Usher’s fear, instability, and withdrawal from reality are interpreted as manifestations of unresolved psychic conflict. On the other hand, Madeline Usher is examined as a figure of repression whose return reflects the Freudian idea that suppressed material inevitably re-emerges. The article further argues that the House of Usher functions as an externalised representation of the fragmented psyche, containing the family’s unresolved conflicts until its eventual destruction. By reading the relationship between Roderick, Madeline, and the house as an interconnected psychological structure, this analysis demonstrates how Poe’s Gothic narrative anticipates psychoanalytic concerns with repression, instability, and the return of what has been excluded from consciousness.

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