Edgar Allan Poe: The Gothic Master!

No Great Artist Goes Unpunished

Poe’s family history was troubled David Poe drank heavily, and

abandoned Elizabeth Arnold (Edgar’s mother) shortly after his son’s birth in 1809

Elizabeth died in Richmond, VA while Edgar was only three years old

The now-orphaned Edgar was cared for by John and Frances Allan Poe uses their last name as his

middle name

Father Issues

Frances was kind to Edgar, but John never accepted him as a son John was extremely critical of Poe’s

desire to become a writer Edgar entered the University of

Virginia at the age of seventeen He studied well, but wanted more

money than John was willing to give him

Deep in Debt and Running Away

Edgar turned to gambling as an alternate source of income, but the habit left him with large debts John pulled Edgar out of school once he

found out (rather than help his ward pay his lenders) Edgar responded by running away, and

ended up in Boston on his own – now an “orphan” by choice

Lost in Boston Poe’s writing dreams took a hit

after the publication of his first poetry collection, “Tamerlane,” in 1827 The work sold poorly

Edgar joined the military after failing to find other work He did well enough for himself in

the military (promoted to sergeant major)

However, Poe didn’t enjoy his new lifestyle, and decided to ask John Allan for help

A Dying Wish

Frances begged John to help Edgar on her deathbed, and her husband relented With John’s assistance, Edgar entered the

U.S. Military Academy at West Point in late 1829 It would be the last time Allan ever helped his

foster son Edgar probably went to the Academy in order

to please John However, John remarried in 1830 with a woman

young enough to bear children (thus ensuring Poe would not be his heir), and Edgar left the Academy

Glimmers of Success within the Darkness

Poe was able to publish “El Aaraaf,” his second collection of poems, while waiting to enter West Point This collection was more successful

than “Tamerlane,” and earned Poe his first real praise as a poet

The book’s success helped provide a foundation for Poe to continue his work

A Very Strange Marriage

Poe moved to Baltimore, where his aunt, Maria Poe Clemm, took him in

He married Maria’s daughter, Virginia, in 1835 – despite the fact that Virginia was thirteen years old! Not only was Virginia much younger

than Poe – exactly half his age – but her health was poor, and she required a great deal of care

Writing to Survive

Poe worked as an editor at various magazines in order to support Virginia and Maria

He continued writing whenever he could, finishing a novel and a number of short stories and poems – including “The Fall of the House of Usher”

Darkness on a Page

Poe’s prose is often tense, simultaneously breathless, strangled, and claustrophobic - despite the presence of ornate descriptions and elaborate sentence constructions

Most of his narrators are terrified or distraught

Many of his characters suffer from illnesses of the body and mind, or carry terrible, haunting secrets – and characters often go insane or die!

Poe’s eerie settings, tragic stories, and obsession with loss, death, guilt, and grief often shocked and frightened his readers

Peering into the mind’s dark corners

However, Poe’s psychological thrillers weren’t meant to be exploitative

Instead, the author wanted to move beyond the sunny world of the optimists and the ordered world of the rationalists in order to explore a greater truth

He aimed to do this by pulling back the “curtain” that separates the ordinary from the supernatural, revealing the “truth” in the darkness that lies within the human mind

Drowning in a bottle

Poe’s writing flourished even as the writer suffered

The author produced a large number of original pieces despite a crippling drinking problem Although a few sips of

alcohol left him staggering, Poe drank constantly in order to escape a disturbing, tormented world

Never Enough

Despite the fact that he wrote fairly often, Poe’s work never left him with enough money to support Virginia or Maria comfortably Even “The Raven,”

arguably the author’s most famous work, didn’t provide him with the money he needed

The beginning of the End

Poe’s life fell apart when Virginia, his now-25-year-old wife, died of tuberculosis in 1847

He grew more and more unstable, eventually developing a brain lesion that signaled his impending death Desperate, Poe continued to seek romance,

looking for someone to finally “adopt” him It’s sad to realize that Poe spent his entire life

searching so hard for stability – financial, familial, emotional – only to never find it

The ugly End

Poe disappeared in Virginia in 1849 while on his way to meet with a woman he hoped to marry

He was found in a tavern a week later, soaking wet and delirious

Poe died four days later, regaining consciousness just long enough to pray, “Lord help my poor soul.”

The Legacy of a tortured soul

Poe’s influence on other writers has been tremendous, and continues to this day See Stephen King for a contemporary

example Arthur Conan Doyle was inspired to

create Sherlock Holmes after reading Poe’s works

Fyodor Dostoevsky, a famous Russian writer, was driven to examine the criminal mind – producing such landmarks as “Crime and Punishment”

Poe is the forefather of the detective story, with short stories such as “The Purloined Letter” providing others with a narrative framework for their own stories

In summary…

Poe, our most famous explorer of death, produced a body of work that will extend his legacy for centuries after his unfortunate death

He has experienced far more success in death than in life…and, in a strange way, that almost seems appropriate.

What is the only professional sports team named after a poem?