Literary notes about usher (AI summary)
In literature the word “usher” wears many hats. At times it functions as a formal title for individuals who guide or announce—be they court officials leading prisoners ([1], [2]) or attendants directing guests at social events ([3], [4], [5]). In other cases, “Usher” emerges as a name imbued with ominous or symbolic significance, as seen in Poe’s works where Roderick Usher becomes inseparable from the themes of decay and foreboding ([6], [7], [8], [9]). Moreover, the term extends metaphorically to herald transitions or the onset of new eras, evoking change or signaling an introduction ([10], [11]). Across such varied uses, “usher” enriches narrative layers, oscillating between the literal role of a guide and the emblematic marker of dramatic or thematic shifts.
- The court usher was told to bring in the prisoner, and Mitya made his appearance.
— from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - "These defendants are so sensitive, most of them," said the usher of the court.
— from The Trial by Franz Kafka - An usher offers his arm to each lady as she arrives, whether he knows her personally or not.
— from Etiquette by Emily Post - If the usher takes the checks at the head of the aisle, she follows the usher.
— from Etiquette by Emily Post - The head usher decides (or the groom has already told them) to which ushers are apportioned the center, and to which the side aisles.
— from Etiquette by Emily Post - I shall ever bear about me a memory of the many solemn hours I thus spent alone with the master of the House of Usher.
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 2 by Edgar Allan Poe - “You must not—you shall not behold this!” said I, shuddering, to Usher, as I led him, with a gentle violence, from the window to a seat.
— from The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe - Surely, man had never before so terribly altered, in so brief a period, as had Roderick Usher!
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 2 by Edgar Allan Poe - Its proprietor, Roderick Usher, had been one of my boon companions in boyhood; but many years had elapsed since our last meeting.
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 2 by Edgar Allan Poe - They, then, who are destined to die, need not be careful to inquire what death they are to die, but into what place death will usher them.
— from The City of God, Volume I by Bishop of Hippo Saint Augustine - But of all the clamorous visitations the welcomest in expectation is the sound that ushers in, or seems to usher in, a Valentine.
— from The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 2 by Charles Lamb and Mary Lamb
