Gothic Romanticism: Hawthorne, Poe, Baudelaire 

1. In the story "The Fall of the House of Usher" Usher the main character and the owner of the house is very nervous throughout most of the story especially after they bury the 'dead' sister in a tomb inside of the house. The reason he is so scared and nervous is because he believes that his sister, Madeline, was a vampire. In the story it shows hints that allow the reader to come to that decision. One example of this is when Usher says "...and her struggles with the coppered archway of the vault" (13). When it says this it shows that she was strong enough to try to break the door to the vault. Also when they put her in the tomb she was supposed to be dead but if she is breaking through the tomb she has to be alive. this is also shown when the story says "...there did stand the lofty and enshrouded figure of the lady Madeline of Usher. There was blood upon her white robes, and the evidence of some bitter struggle..." (13). This all shows that with days of being kept in the tomb without air and food or water she was still alive with supernatural strength. These are just a few of some of the hints that show that Madeline was a vampire.
2. The stories "The Fall of the House of Usher", "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment", and "The Masque of the Red Death" all express a criticism of human nature. The first story "The Fall of the House Usher" criticizes human nature by having the narrator of the story  run away when Usher needed help after he was attacked. This is shown in directly in the story that humans would rather save themselves then risk their lives to help out others in need. In "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment' it criticizes humans by directly showing the geed of humans. In the story the story the characters  , Mr. Medbourne, Colonel Killigrew, Widow Wycherly, and Mr. Gascoigne all got a taste of the fountain and then beacuse they liked the after affects of it making them younger the wanted more. Then when the affects wore off they moved to Florida where the fountain of youth is located so they can drink it all the time. Then in "The Masque of the Red Death" it was shown directly the conceded personality of the Prince when he shut out everyone except a select few so they could be saved from the Red Death while the others died. All the writers have the same outlook on humans because they all show the bad things humans do like the selfishness angd the greed but they don't show the good things people have done.