...in his life, and had us believe that his life was always full of misery and tragedies? I think that the misunderstanding of Edgar Allen Poe came from the undermining hardship of his life. The artist blood ran in Edgar Poe’s veins, Edgar Poe’s parents were a traveling family they were both actors. His mother Elizabeth Hopkins and his father David Poe fell in love got married and gave birth to three children. Edgar Poe was the middle child and was born in 1809 in Boston Massachusetts. Edgar Poe family was becoming poor. His parents were struggling actors in which they traveled looking for work. Life back then had to be a struggle especially with three children and becoming poorer by the day. Now on top of all that suffering the family gets another blow, the father then decides to leave. The abandonment that this family was feeling must of have taken a toll on Elizabeth Hopkins Poe, not soon...
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...readers, the name of Edgar Allan Poe has become a byword for horror and fear. Moreover, the images and motifs created by the novelist had an immense influence on the following generations and works of other authors, so that they even became immersed into the popular culture. Poe’s memorable images and quotes became an integral part of the world’s cultural heritage, giving inspiration to the horror movie script writers and novelists. As a result, many fans of the horror genre don’t even rate Poe’s contribution at its true value, taking his efforts for granted. For nearly two centuries so far, Poe has been providing realistic images of morbidity, fear and the horror of life to everyone who is interested in the genre or makes parallels between fiction and certain moments in life. The biography of Edgar Allan Poe is full of mystery which can be explained by his own passion for exaggeration and fantasies, which confused biographers who were trying to learn about his life from his works or his own words. However, most biographers agree that Poe hardly knew his parents and when biographers claim that he was a spoiled child, they mean the family who adopted Edgar. Edgar was born in a family of young actors. His father was an alcohol addict, whose addiction went so far that he even was drunk on the stage. Once he left his wife and kids and nobody saw him ever again. Edgar’s mother fell ill and died when Poe was only a child. That’s how Edgar was adopted by the Allens, the family of successful...
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...readers, the name of Edgar Allan Poe has become a byword for horror and fear. Moreover, the images and motifs created by the novelist had an immense influence on the following generations and works of other authors, so that they even became immersed into the popular culture. Poe’s memorable images and quotes became an integral part of the world’s cultural heritage, giving inspiration to the horror movie script writers and novelists. As a result, many fans of the horror genre don’t even rate Poe’s contribution at its true value, taking his efforts for granted. For nearly two centuries so far, Poe has been providing realistic images of morbidity, fear and the horror of life to everyone who is interested in the genre or makes parallels between fiction and certain moments in life. The biography of Edgar Allan Poe is full of mystery which can be explained by his own passion for exaggeration and fantasies, which confused biographers who were trying to learn about his life from his works or his own words. However, most biographers agree that Poe hardly knew his parents and when biographers claim that he was a spoiled child, they mean the family who adopted Edgar. Edgar was born in a family of young actors. His father was an alcohol addict, whose addiction went so far that he even was drunk on the stage. Once he left his wife and kids and nobody saw him ever again. Edgar’s mother fell ill and died when Poe was only a child. That’s how Edgar was adopted by the Allens, the family of successful...
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...hear the name Edgar Allan Poe you automatically think of a dreary, scary story. This is not all Poe is known for. Poe has written love stories in his time such as Annabel Lee and the poem “For Annie.” Poe lived a poor lifestyle because writers did not make a great deal of money during his lifetime. Despite the fact that he was poor, Poe still managed to have a fulfilling love life. His foster family did not approved of him because he did not follow the family trade. Instead, he used women to satisfy his desire to be accepted. After Poe died a rivalry of his gave him a bad reputation which in the end only helped Poe’s work become much more famous. This enemy of Poe’s deemed him a drunk womanizer, which you will see is not true, and is only in retaliation because Poe’s harshly criticized this man’s work. Poe lived in the Romantic Era, thus inspiring the theme of many of his works. Romanticism was a movement in the late 18th century of the arts and literature. It was the theory, practice and style of romantic art, literature, and music. The Romantic Movement was based on moving away from the classical style...
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...Seeing Poe’s Struggle with Alcoholism through his Stories “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Black Cat” Jen Andalou Edgar Allen Poe’s stories “The Black Cat” and “The Cask of Amontillado” are among his most popular. Both of these stories can be read on several different levels causing everyone who reads them to come up with a totally different interpretations, yet none of the interpretations I have read seem satisfying. The two stories at first seem simple enough, with “The Black Cat” reading as a darker version of “The Telltale Heart”, this time with the conscience given a physical form, and “The Cask of Amontillado” as a chilling tale of revenge exacted told as a deathbed confession. Yet these simple interpretations leave too many questions. Many reviewers unfairly single Poe’s works out as coming directly from his subconscious, ignoring not only how carefully Poe chose his words and phrases but also the sources that inspired the stories (E A Poe Society, “Autobiography”). That being said, I think Poe did deliberately use his stories as a kind of self-therapy thus revealing at least a little about himself. A large constant in Poe’s life was his fight with alcohol, which made itself known in his writing in many ways. The main theme of Edgar Allen Poe’s stories “The Black Cat” and “The Cask of Amontillado” centers on the narrators’ attempts to wall off, or suppress, his alcoholism, with the narrator succeeding over alcoholism in “The Cask of Amontillado”...
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...Poe’s Dark Appeal There are few writers as adept at invoking feelings and images of darkness, dread, and depression in a reader as successfully as Edgar Allan Poe. Born in Boston in 1809 to impoverished actors David and Elizabeth Poe (Allen), Edgar’s entire existence seems to have been destined for struggle and loss. He was orphaned by age three, losing his mother to tuberculosis and his father by desertion (Allen). He was taken in by the Allan family, but during Edgar’s year-long stint at West Point in 1830—and subsequent expulsion—his relationship with his foster father suffered irreparable damage (“Biography”). His life soon became a mélange of depression, alcoholism, unemployment, and financial hardship (“Biography”). He died in 1949 while on a trip to Baltimore, under mysterious circumstances: theories of “congestion of the brain,” alcoholism, rabies, epilepsy, and carbon monoxide poisoning continue to swarm today (“Biography”). Having lived a life of constant struggle and turmoil, it is not surprising that his works are imbued with brooding and despondency, and that the common themes in his writings revolve around derangement and death. His short story “The Tell-Tale Heart” provides a perfect example of his fixation with madness, murder, and melancholy. It is this very fascination with all things grotesque, combined with his uncanny ability to weave multiple literary elements together to create a bizarre tapestry that appeals to readers, and what makes Edgar Allan Poe...
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...some would commit this atrocious act against their fellow man. Just like in Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood and Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Tell Tale Heart,” where both try to peer into the minds of murderers using symbolism and themes of madness; yet, the narrator's perspective and overall tone differ. Throughout both stories the authors explore themes of madness, be it focused on a main character or the narrator themself. In his book, In Cold Blood, Truman Capote explores sanity through Perry Smith, the man who famously murdered the Clutter family in their home in Holcomb, Kansas; all because him and his accomplice wanted access to the Clutter family’s safe. Perry was a happy child until his father started brutally beating his mother, who then took to drinking and promiscuity. Eventually she dragged her kids to San Francisco, where Perry was getting into trouble constantly. He blamed it on having "no rule or discipline, or anyone to show me right from wrong." (Capote 275) This lead to Perry’s...
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...Kansas Autobiography of Edgar Allen Poe Edgar Allen Poe is an American writer who had many famous poems such as “The Raven”. He was a short-story writer, critic, poet, and editor. Poe is famous for his stories and poems of mystery and horror. Poe was a foster child. His mother, Elizabeth Arnold, died when he was only two. His father David Poe had passed away and left his mother to care for three children Henry, Edgar, and Rosalie (Poets.org.). After this; Poe went to live with his grandparents. Poe was adopted by John and Frances Allan. John was detached and strict. His adoptive father John was a tobacco merchant and was very wealthy for his time. They lived in Richmond, Virginia. Poe’s adoptive parents changed his life and made him more reformed and intelligent. Poe was educated in private academies, excelling in Latin, in writing verse, and declamation. When Poe was only seventeen, he attended the University of Virginia. Poe was only given about a third of the money that he needed to pay for his college from John. Edgar began to play cards and gamble to make up for the money that John didn’t supply him with. Poe soon began drinking and he fell into a large amount of debt. He became so poor that he was forced to burn the furniture he owned for heat. Poe had to stop going to school due to the debt that had accumulated. When he left school he was poor, without...
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...Kayla Delury Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe’s writing is known throughout the world. He was born on January 19, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts. Poe had an awful childhood. His Dad, David Poe, abandoned the family soon after Poe was born. His Mom, Eliza Poe, died two years later because of tuberculosis. After his mother’s death, his infant sister and brother were separated. His brother was sent to live with their biological grandparents. Poe moved to Richmond, Virginia to live with John and Fannie Allan; his sister was taken in by another family in Richmond. Poe and John Allan’s relationship suffered greatly making Poe having to make some hard decisions for his future. Poe attended the University of Virginia in 1926. He started gambling and became in debt. However, John Allen refused to pay leading Poe to withdraw from the University. Poe’s best known works include such masterpieces as Annabel Lee, The Raven, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Mask of the Red Death, The Murders of the Rue Morgue, and many others. Each and every one of these titles, share one common trait that is more than obvious, they all deal with death. When these titles of the books take over the attention, it is only normal that the main part of Poe’s work should see to be known as nightmares. Poe married Virginia Clemm, his thirteen year old cousin in, 1936. When Virginia died in 1947, Poe became depressed and lost his motivation in writing. In 1849, Poe became engaged to marry the widowed Sarah...
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...by Poe during his days at West Point College. (Allen 233) The poem itself is a direct contrast to Poe's usual poetry, which usually deal with death and dark thoughts or other melancholy, Gothic ideas. Poe's idea of the death of beautiful woman being the most poetical of all topics is here, nowhere to be found. This proves that Poe, when so inclined, could indeed write about something other than opium induced nightmares and paranoid grieving men who are frightened to death by sarcastic, talkative, ravens. Besides "Israfel", Poe's other poetry, "To Helen", as well as "Annabel Lee" and others, are virtually unrecognizable to the everyday reader as being works by Edgar Allan Poe. His name is usually associated with his tales of horror and the macabre. His one poem, "The Raven", a work which deals with a mans steady decline into madness, is probably his most recognizable piece of poetry. A situation, which I feel is unfortunate, considering that the aforementioned are in most cases the equal to "The Raven." Scholars have bestowed upon Edgar Allan Poe, the mantle of "horror writer" a crown which does him a great injustice considering the great variety of works that he wrote and the passion which drove him during his writing. It is this passion that is evident in "Israfel." The Poem itself draws heavily on Arabian and Oriental literature, subjects which fascinated Poe.(Allen 249) Supernatural elements, which are strong in all of Poe's works and a basic concept of all the Romantics...
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...Prestigious Persistent Poe “...Poe treated criticism as a work of education” (Silverman 168). As within Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. on January 19,1809, Edgar Allen Poe was born; although shortly after his mother died when he was at age three and his father left early on (Edgar). His distraught with growing as a person created the “writer, poet, critic, and editor” where he marvelously took his placement naturally, and he “initiated the modern detective story”(Edgar). Edgar’s life was at an intense level as he battled through his own barriers growing, as he only a person like any other unique one roaming earth, and in the end died with no probable cause uncased. Edgar Allen Poe represented that doing what you loved only brought great learning, and no reason to disregard a critic because throughout times constructive criticism is the only way to be educated farther. “Despite worries, frustrations, and defeats following his resignation from Graham’s he worked hard at his writing and critiquing work, and he tried in different ways to advance his reputation” (Silverman 196). When using these...
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...Edgar Allen Poe thought of women as angelic figures and was an athletic little fellow. His father, David Poe Jr., had left him and his mother when he was just one year old. His mother, Elizabeth Poe, had died of tuberculosis when he was just 2 years old. Mr. and Mrs. John Allen adopted Edgar when he was three years old. Edgar Allen Poe thought women should be treated with respect and courtesy and while Mrs. Allen was on her death bed, Mr. John Allen was having affairs with other women right in his house. Mrs. Allen had died in 1829 when Edgar was eighteen years old and John Allen had abandoned Edgar. Edgar was a young genius and had listed in the army under the name of Edgar A. Perry in 1827. He did reasonably well and attained the rank of...
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...The Raven—by Edgar Allen Poe—is widely considered to be one of the greatest poems of all time. It features striking imagery, deep symbolism, near perfect rhythm, and rhyming structure and, of course, a soul wrenching story of lost love. It was first published in 1845 in The American Review, under the pseudonym Quarles. Part of what separates The Raven from other poems is the technique of internal rhyming, in which a line can rhyme with itself as well as with the next line. Although the rhyming meter isn’t exactly the same throughout, in general the poem is written in trochaic octameter: eight trochaic feet per line with the emphasis placed on the first syllable, or one stressed syllable followed by one unstressed syllable. For example, the first line of the poem is: “Once upon a midnight dreary, as I pondered weak and weary”. “Once” is stressed, while the first syllable of “upon” is not. The second syllable of “upon” is stressed, while “a” is not and so on and so forth, the sum total of which make eight pairs of stressed and unstressed syllables in that line. The greatest strengths of Poe’s masterpiece are its symbolism and allegorical capacities. In the poem, the raven for which the poem is named sits atop a bust of Pallas Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom. The raven’s perch symbolizes that it speaks from a position of wisdom, whereas the unnamed narrator argues against it. The raven speaks very little, in fact only saying one word repeated several times throughout the...
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...instance, within Edgar Allen Poe’s “Masque of the Red Death” symbolism is used heavily throughout this short story and are linked to some commonly known material. The “Masque of the Red Death” focuses on a chaotic theme of death and chaos. Poe uses symbolism to portray his theme through the seven chambers in the prince’s home and these rooms together are linked by colors and Biblical references. In “Masque of the Red Death”, Edgar Allen Poe uses symbolism to establish the chaotic theme represented through the seven chambers. First Poe had used symbolism within this short story to establish...
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...The Inevitability of the Red Death Edgar Allen Poe's “The Masque of the Red Death” is an extravagant allegory of the futility of trying to escape death. In the story, a prince named Prospero tries to avoid the Red Death through isolation and seclusion. He hides behind the impenetrable walls of his castle and turns his back on the rest of the world. But no walls can stop death because it is unavoidable and inevitable. Through the use of character, setting, point of view, and symbol, Poe reveals the theme that no one, regardless of status, wealth or power can stay the passing of time and the inevitable conclusion of life itself, death. Like many of Poe’s works, the number of characters in “Masque of the Red Death” is limited; however they all work to reveal the theme. Only three characters, Prince Prospero, the Thousand Friends and the Masked Figure are mentioned. The central figure of the story is Prince Prospero. The author describes him as “happy and dauntless and sagacious” (Poe, 386). His name is used to infer royalty, wealth and happiness, and suggests that the prince is untroubled by the plague and is confident of his survival and the survival of his one thousand friends. Prospero has been described by scholars as a “feelingless ruling prince” (Wheat, 51). This is due to his apparent lack of concern for the people of his land: “The external world could take care of itself” (Poe, 386). Prospero is a flat character as he remains confident in his survival up to...
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