Abstract: The Fall of the House of Usher is a Gothic horror fiction written by Edgar Allan Poe, which mainly tells the story of a twin brother and sister. The sister was seriously sick while the brother had mental disorders due to the repressed life. Later, the girl was buried alive by her brother out of some unknown reason. To everyone’s surprise, the girl came out from the coffin on a wet and windy night, and died together with her brother. Later the House of Usher collapsed. This study is to investigate the effects of environmental descriptions throughout this story, including setting the gloomy and horrible tone, creating the sense of complex beauty and reflecting the psychology of the character, and thus help readers know more of Poe’s literary skills.

Key words: The Fall of the House of Usher; Edgar Allan Poe; environmental descriptions

摘要：《厄舍府的倒塌》是埃德加.爱伦坡创作的一篇哥特式恐怖小说,主要讲述一对孪生兄妹的故事。妹妹疾病缠身,而哥哥因压抑的生活而精神失常。后来哥哥出于一种无法言明的原因将妹妹活埋,但令人讶异的是,在一个风雨交加的夜晚,妹妹破棺而出,抱着哥哥一同死去,厄舍古屋也随即倒塌。本文旨在通过研究以下三个方面即奠定阴郁恐怖的基调、创造复杂的美感和反映人物的心理来阐述小说中环境描写的作用，以帮助读者加深对爱伦坡文学造诣的了解。

关键词：厄舍府的倒塌；埃德加·爱伦坡；环境描写