一直以来,学界对爱伦·坡的惊悚小说《厄舍府的倒塌》中主人翁罗德里克之死因众说纷纭,没有定论。本文以生态位态势理论为视域,通过分析罗德里克的“态”和“势”的变化来揭示其死亡原因。通过分析日渐腐朽的厄舍府里内外不断恶化的生态环境,揭示罗德里克所呈现的人之自然“态”的日渐衰亡;罗德里克与仆人、朋友和其妹妹的社会关系反映了其社会“态”的逐渐扭曲和退化;罗德里克对自然环境改造之“势”几乎为零,并且在社会关系的维护上毫无建树,甚至表现出火葬双胞胎妹妹玛德琳的“恶”之“势”。罗德里克的衰亡之“态”和无为之“势”,“恶”之“势”最终导致了罗德里克的灭亡。文章从生态学的视角为罗德里克厄舍的死因的解释提供了一条新的路径。

As one of the most thrilling stories written by Adgar Allan Poe, The Fall of the House of Usher, still leaves the room for the critics to explore. In the study, the niche ecostate-ecorole theory is employed to explain the death of Roderick Usher. On the one hand, his ecostate is poisoned by the unfavorable environment around the House of Usher, and worsened by the lonely living atmosphere, which distorted him both physically and psychologically. On the other hand, his useless ecorole in his living surrounding and demonically burying his twin sister Miss Madeline adversely affected his ecostate. When his ecostate and ecorole was finished, his niche as a natural human ended. It is supposed that the ecolinguistical explanation provides a new angle for the analysis of the death of Roderick Usher.