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Edgar Allan Poe(1809-1849)

Difficulty of Biographyn Difficult to differentiate

legend from fact in his lifen Some of the legends he

spread himselfn Claimed to be born in 1811

or 1813 so he would appear younger than he actually was when some of his poems were composed

n Exaggerated how long he was at UVA

n Fabricated an expedition to join the Greek struggle for liberty

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Rufus Griswoldn Well-known critic and

anthologizer of American literature

n Two days after Poe’s death, began a campaign of character assassination against Poe

n Rewrote Poe’s correspondence in order to alienate Poe’s friends

n Forgeries unexposed for many years, poisoning biographer’s impressions of Poe

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Actual Lifen Mother Elizabeth Arnold an

actressn Was a teenage widow

when she married David Poe, Jr. in 1806

n Edgar the second child, born in Boston in 1809

n A year late, David Poe deserts the family

n Elizabeth dies in 1811 at age 24

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The Allansn Poe taken in by John Allan,

a young Richmond merchant

n Went to good schools, partly in England

n Attended both the University of Virginia and West Point briefly

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John Allan

n Broke with the Allans, largely due to gambling debts

n Went to live with his father’s relatives in Baltimore

n Aunt Maria Poe Clemm

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Marriagen Secretly married Maria

Poe Clemm’s daughter Virginia in 1835 (his first cousin)

n Poe was 26; Virginia was 13

n Publicly married in 1836

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Careern Wrote stories, book

reviews, edited magazinesn Lived in New York and

Philadelphian Gaining literary acclaimn Publication of “The Raven”

in 1845 makes him a sensation

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Sad Endn Drinking steadily while

gaining literay famen Sometimes fired from jobs

for drinkingn Virginia died in 1847 of a

burst blood vessel in her throat (wasn’t yet 20)

n Poe died in Baltimore, after found wandering streets semi-conscious

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Mysteries Continuen MUCH speculation, even

today about cause of deathn Drunkenness?n Election scandal?n Mercury?n Rabies?

n Mysterious visitor to Poe’s grave (Poe Toaster)

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Famous for…n Horror/gothic tales

(although difficult to tell if he’s taking the genre seriously or spoofing it)

n Inventing the detective story in which the cool-headed, logical investigator reasons out the crime

n Psychological depth—locating the horror inside an individual rather than outside

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n Poetry that focused on sound and rhythm; that appealed to the beautiful

n Hated poetry of ideas, in which “meaning” was primary—thought this turned poetry into prose

n Disparages the “so called poetry of the so called transcendentalists” (p. 745)

n In return, Emerson called Poe a “jingle man”

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Dark Romantics

n Shared things in common with the Transcendentalists:n Valued intuition and emotion and imagination over logic and reasonn Saw symbols, spiritual truths in nature

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Dark Romanticsn Differed in significant

ways, though:n More pessimisticn Saw Individuals as

prone to self-destruction (rather than inherently possessing divinity and wisdom)

n Viewed nature as more sinister (though still a deeply spiritual force)

n Believed that attempts at social change often failed

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