- 上一篇：《巴黎圣母院》英文论文美与丑的对比
- 下一篇：德语外贸函电中常用的缩略语德语论文
The rooms in any part of the building are often irregular in shape: one is circular, another pentagonal; in another the corners “were rounded into niches.” In The Oval Portrait, the candlelight is unable to penetrate “the very many nooks which the bizarre architecture of the chateau rendered necessary”; and in Usher’s studio “the eye struggled in vain to reach the remoter angles of the chamber.” In The Masque of the Red Death there was an irregular disposition of the rooms of the suite.
3.1.4 Furnishes
As to furnishings, Poe apparently had difficulty or was not interested in visualizing what was suitable for the peculiar character of his rooms, since the furniture is described only in very general terms. That in Usher’s studio was “profuse, comfortless, antique and tattered.” In The Masque of the Red Death, “a profusion of golden ornaments was scattered about.” The description of the turret-room in Ligeia mentions “some few ottomans and golden candelabra, of Eastern figure.” In the cabinet in The Assignation, where Poe’s imagination is most unrestrained, the only pieces of furniture definitely mentioned are an ottoman and a table of “richly enameled and massive silver”, and the rest of the description concerns itself with an incredible confusion of sculpture and paintings, silver draperies and gold carpet, music, perfume and weird lighting. Beds are always curtained.
Beds are always curtained in gloomy magnificence. The one in The Oval Portrait has fringed curtains of black velvet. The bridal couch in Ligeia is “sculptured of solid ebony, with a pall-like canopy above.” Curtains rustle about the decorations of the guest’s bed in the House of Usher.
In such stories as The Fall of the House of Usher, Metzengerstein, and Berenice, in which the scenes are laid in ancestral halls, and the emphasis is on associations with antiquity, the walls are hung with somber tapestries and armorial trophies. Draperies are quite important in the descriptions, especially wall hangings, which usually are dark and descend in heavy folds. Extreme gloom is reflected, of course, in black hangings, as in The Pit and the Pendulum, The Masque of the Red Death, and Shadow. The romantic liking for decayed splendor appears in references to “decorations rich, yet tattered and antique.” A feeling of indefinite apprehension, of terror through invisible causes, is frequently obtained by having the hangings in motion.
Metzengerstein: “The rich although faded tapestries which swung gloomily upon the walls represented the shadowy and majestic forms of a thousand illustrious ancestors”; and as the Baron watches them, “buried in meditation”, it is more of a shock to him than to the reader when one of the figures in the design begins to change its expression and position. The Fall of the House of Usher: The “fantastic yet impressive superstitions” experienced by the guest are increased by “the bewildering influence . of the dark and tattered draperies, which, tortured into motion by the breath of a rising tempest, swayed fitfully to and fro upon the walls, and rustled uneasily about the decorations of the bed.” Ligeia: The monstrous patterns in the draperies of the tower room are made more terrifying “by the artificial introduction of a strong continual current of wind behind the draperies-giving a hideous and uneasy animation to the whole.” The Pit and the Pendulum: The appalling effect of the “sable draperies” in the judgment room is heightened by their “soft and nearly imperceptible waving.” The Masque of the Red Death: The hangings of the black chamber are not in motion, but the writhing upon them of the firelight from the corridor produces a similar effect. The Assignation: A variation of the idea is used to emphasize the voluptuous character of the apartment and the temperament of its owner: “Rich draperies in every part of room trembled to the vibration of low, melancholy music, whose origin was not to be discovered.” The Raven: “And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain Thrilled me-filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before.”