Annabel Lee Research Paper

Personal tragedy was something 19th century writer Edgar Allan Poe always faced throughout childhood and adulthood--the recurrent loss of women in his life often set a stimulus for his writing. In Poe’s stories, women frequently suffer from deadly diseases or quite often, consumption and are simply victims of tragic fates. One of the first times Poe mentions a woman in his writing is in one of his most famous poems, “Annabel Lee.” The poem tells of the death of a man’s, the narrator, beloved wife. The narrator creates a memoir for his lover after death. “The angels, not half so happy in heaven, Went envying her and me-Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know, In this kingdom by the sea) That the wind came out of the cloud by night, Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.” (Annabel Lee).

The angels send a chill, whether that is a fatal disease or wind, which eventually kills Annabel Lee. The narrator blames the death of Annabel Lee to the angels that disapproved of his lover out of jealousy. The narrator’s devotion to Annabel Lee continues even after her fate. He makes an emphasis on how deep love is stronger than death itself--how immortal love will never die out. In various ways, Annabel Lee is a perfect representation of Poe’s real-life wife, Virginia Clemm, who died of tuberculosis. The “chill” that devastated Annabel Lee is the same death that sadly struck Virginia. The unconditional love between the narrator and Annabel is the very symbol of the love between Poe and Virginia--their love is so strong that it could easily pass through the barriers of