Following the Enlightenment period, feeling and emotion replaced reason as society realized that reason does not necessarily lead to truth. This response to the philosophical and political realm became what is known as the Romantic Era. There was a shift from the motto “I think, therefore I am,” to “I feel, therefore I am.” Romantic literature tended to emphasize emotionalism as genres such as gothic and horror emerged, and Edgar Allan Poe, one of the most well-known authors of this period, was a proponent of this tenet. During the Enlightenment, most literature had a technical influence and didactic tendencies, but Poe advocated for creating art for art’s sake, which is an idea that developed in the Romantic Era. Intellectual elements are not common in Poe’s writings, as his characters often make decisions based on feeling or intuition. The narrator, in Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher, visits the House of Usher, because he has received a letter from Roderick Usher. Usher asks the narrator to come stay with him for a while, because he is in ill health. The narrator notes that although the two were friends as young boys, he does not know Usher very well, but he chooses to visit with the purpose of lifting Usher’s spirits. This indicates that the narrator’s decision to visit is based on an emotional response from the letter instead of a logical reason. Roderick Usher is in a constant state of nervousness and always on edge, which causes some erratic behavior. The narrator observes that Usher, “gave evidence of nervous agitation," and, “to an anomalous species of terror I found him a bounden slave.” Usher appears to be haunted by his own fear. Many interpret that Roderick dies of fear as his twin sister rushes upon in the final scene. Both the narrator and usher have feelings and emotions that drive their actions, which is a common theme in the Romantic Era that Poe exemplifies in his writing. Poe believe