Edgar Allen Poe2 Edgar Allen Poe: A Brilliant Writer Edgar Allen Poe was one of the most brilliant writers of the nineteenth century. His short stories and poems consist of horror, mortality, romantic struggle, and psychological concept. Poe’s tales labeled him as a master in his study of instability of self-control, the restrain of emotion, and access of feeling (Abby 348). His literary works were based on his personal background; therefore, many have similar characteristics. Poe was a manic depressant, and frequently wrote while under the influence of morphine and alcohol. Poe gives an example of his influenced writing in the story Ligeia. The story portrays Ligeia and her husband as opium addicts (Bonaparte, 236). Perhaps his abnormal behavior could explain why he used such great detail in form of writing. In most of Poe’s short stories the point of view is first person and often the narrator is nameless. Each narrator is unique, some are sane, others are unclear, and several approach a fine line that separates sanity from insanity (Rose). For example, the narration in The Black Cat is spoken through confusion and influenced by alcohol, yet The Fall House of Usher is told through the mind of a paranoid schizophrenic. Both stories are by nameless narrators. His focused on death in many of his short stories and poems. Poe’s theory of death and dying are more detailed than anything else. From the start to finish of his career he was casual to stop any action, which could be remaining over the grave, the shadowing of the moon, and the emblems of mortality and massacre (Davidson, 114). Often Poe wrote on how one’s death can effect someone’s emotions and mental stability. His perception on romance were bizarre and sometimes confusion. Some critics believe he expressed romance through his favorite theme, the death of a beautiful woman (Grafx). For example, The Raven portrayed a man mourning over his lost wife, Lenore. Other critics believe his thoughts on romance are based on the women that were involved in his lifetime. For instances, To Helen 1831, could define the relationship between Poe and his foster mother (Davidson, 32).
Faculty of Arts and Humanities Department of European Languages and Literature Rana Al-Ghalib 1700871 Short Story LANE – 615 Final Paper Schizophrenia and Poe Outline Abstract Schizophrenia Schizophrenia in The Life and Work of Poe Schizophrenia Represented in The Fall of The House of Usher Conclusion Abstract Edgar Alan Poe is one of the major contributors to the literary canon. He was allegedly suffering from a mental disorder. His own psyche was said to be an inspiration for many of his works.
Edgar Allen Poe is often thought of as being one of the most depressed and morbid American writers of all time. His fascination with death can be seen in his short stories, such as “The Masque of the Red Death”, and his poetry, such as “Spirits of the Dead”. His tragic life left him with depression, a drinking problem, a suicide attempt, and eventually, an untimely death. Though one could argue that Poe’s depression was due to his unfortunate life, his behaviors and drinking problems, coupled with his argumentative nature and lack of self control point to a personality that is high in neuroticism and low in agreeableness and conscientiousness.
...riences in form of divine beauty, I believe the main limitation was his experiences through intuition because translating intuition into intellect cannot be complete. However, his sentimentalism and the ability to display the same situations and points from completely opposite emotional contexts remains one of his best qualities as a poet. It is still difficult to say if Poe was influenced by his emotions completely, or if his emotions were out of control, or if he could observe all experiences objectively. My personal impression is that Poe was an objective observer who could view the same object, person, situation, or experience from several viewpoints and express his impressions and insights through poetry. Although his alcoholism points out emotional difficulties in life, when it comes to poetry, Poe could completely control and express all emotions objectively.
Edgar Allen Poe was born on January 19, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts. His mother and father where both actors, David and Elizabeth Arnold. They had financial difficulties, which soon caused the father to abandon the family. Poe's mother soon had another child; however, she was having physical conditions causing her death on December 8, 1811. Becoming orphans, both Poe and his sister were split up in family friend’s houses. Poe went to live with the Allan's. As Poe grew up he started having problems with his John Allan, his foster father, which caused future problems. Poe's first step to start a career was attending the University of Virginia in 1826. "Allan failed to provide Poe with enough money for necessities such as furniture and books and Poe soon ran up a tremendous gambling debt and began drinking, despite his very low tolerance for alcohol" (Loveday 2). After a time he moved to Boston, "The Great Literature Capital." What was helping Poe start of his career, where the big hopes of one day becoming a writer despite the harsh life he had since he was little. Poe's work has had an impact on literature. Throughout his most famous pieces of literature, "The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Raven," and "The Cast of Amontillado," we see common factors that influenced these types of works through his plots and characters. "Madness, alienation, and mankind's long love affair with morbidity were the his subjects, and he didn't mind admitting to being more to being more than half in love with easeful death, to mangle a line from his favorite poet, Tennyson," (Allen 2).
Poe is renowned for his authorship of tales dealing with morbid psychology. Critiquing his work, Edmund Clarence Stedman says of Poe: "His strength is unquestionable in those clever pieces of ratiocination...and especially in those with elements of terror and morbid psychology added". Stedman goes on to say, "His artistic contempt for metaphysics is seen even in those tales which appear most transcendental. Th...
"Lord help my poor soul."(Neurotic Poets)The departing words of the 40-year-old American author, Edgar Allan Poe, on Sunday October 7, 1849. In Massachusetts on the 19th day of January in the year 1809, Edgar Poe was born to actress Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe and actor David Poe Junior, making him an older brother to Rosalie Poe, and a younger one to William Henry Leonard Poe. Poe may, perchance, have been named after a character in the play that his parents were performing that year. He was never formally adopted, however, Edgar Poe was renamed Edgar Allan Poe when the John Allan family took him in after his mother deceased and his father forsook the family. The purpose of this paper is to examine the disheartening life of such an amazing poet, critic, editor and author and show how influential his success even after death can inspire us to try our hardest despite the circumstances.
Some of his writings were much more personal for Poe such as “The Raven” and “The Fall of the House of Usher.” Even through both poems, reflect his personal life in some way “The Raven” portrays his own personal experiences. The death of his wife was one of the most influential deaths he had to deal with. Her death led to a period of hard drinking and staying up all hours to watch over her grave, sometimes even sleeping on her grave to be closer to her. During this period of hopelessness led to the writing of “The Raven.” The poem “The Raven” is about a man and his sorrow over the death of Lenore. The raven, which may symbolize the devil, forever hunting him and a living reminder of the death of his wife. In the poem, he shows the world of his pain of having his wife taken away from him and compares death to the raven. This shows us how the raven reminds him of what he suffered after the death of his wife. The Raven” gives us an idea of what Poe was dealing with during this time of depression. Poe knew this direct and individual experience well, unlike his other works. “The Raven” was a more personal experience to Poe because it talked about something that touched him deeply and affected his. “The Raven” was a poem about his own actual life. In this way “The Raven” is a prime example of the true Poe and how his life affected his
Poe lived in poverty all of his life, never seeing enough money from his writings to allow him to live comfortably, and never seeing his writing arrive at the famed status that it has today. Poe drank heavily throughout his life due to all of the downfalls he suffered. In between these drinking binges Poe had spurts of creativity, this is when he wrote his best material (E. A. Poe Society of Baltimore Inc. "Poe, Drugs and Alcohol" 1). Poe's sad and troubled life gave him the material he needed to create stories and poems that would capture his audience. Though Poe lived a hard life and was criticized by many for being evil and demonic, his stories and poems are still with us today as some of the greatest American literature ever published. Edgar Allan Poe's life experiences including the untimely death of his parents, his use of drugs and alcohol, the many other deaths in his life, and his unhealthy relationships with women influenced his tales and poems now famed for being dark and horrific in tone.
The life of Edgar Allan Poe, was stuffed with tragedies that all affected his art. From the very start of his writing career, he adored writing poems for the ladies in his life. When he reached adulthood and came to the realization of how harsh life could be, his writing grew to be darker and more disturbing, possibly as a result of his intense experimenting with opium and alcohol. His stories continue to be some of the most frightening stories ever composed, because of this, some have considered this to be the reason behind these themes. Many historians and literature enthusiasts have presumed his volatile love life as the source while others have credited it to his substance abuse. The influence of his one-of-a-kind writing is more than likely a combination of both theories; but the main factor is the death of many of his loved ones and the abuse which he endured. This, not surprisingly, darkened his perspective considerably.
Edgar Allan Poe’s haunting poems and morbid stories will be read by countless generations of people from many different countries, a fact which would have undoubtedly provided some source of comfort for this troubled, talented yet tormented man. His dark past continued to torture him until his own death. These torturous feelings were shown in many of his works. A tragic past, consisting of a lack of true parents and the death of his wife, made Edgar Allan Poe the famous writer he is today, but it also led to his demise and unpopularity.
“Men have called me mad; but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest of intelligence,” Edgar Allan Poe. Poe is famous in the writing world and has written many amazing stories throughout his gloomy life. At a young age his parents died and he struggled with the abuse of drugs and alcohol. A great amount of work he created involves a character that suffers with a psychological problem or mental illness. Two famous stories that categorize Poe’s psychological perspective would be “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “The Tell-Tale Heart.” Both of these stories contain many similarities and differences of Poe’s psychological viewpoint.
Edgar Allan Poe remains today one of the most unique figures in American literary history. Critics have likened him to both Leonardo Da Vinci and the "Jingle Man" ; either the keystone of American literature or simply a writer of fashionable entertainment. As a person and a writer, Poe is also a collection of contradictions. One thing is for certain, few people have left a more lasting impression in the minds of readers than Poe. Subsequent authors have never been able to improve upon the style which Poe created and mastered. Poe's tales have transcended generations of American readers and lasted through many shifts in literary thinking. One of the few things that is as strange and unique as Poe's writings is the man himself. Poe created his unique, strange, and unsettling tales by testing the limits of the soul , walking the line between higher understanding and insanity.
Edgar Allan Poe does practice literature within the definitive use of the intrinsic and variety of qualities that possess the many and perpetually updated definitions assigned to the word ‘literature’. Poe is an artist of words. He uses aesthetic, creative works of fiction to tell stories of drama and often horror. Poe’s’ literary genius is translated most commonly through his ingenious poetry and short stories. Consequently, it is his tendency to lace parts of his own personal life and views into his storytelling that causes critics to downplay the true art of the work by Poe.
Though an innumerable amount of interpretations of any given text might be drawn from a variety of perspectives, a structuralist analysis of two of Poe’s works help place their symbols within a theme related to myth and heroism.
Edgar Allan Poe is one American author whose name is known to almost everyone. Edgar is known for his elegant poems and for being a tough critic of refined tastes, but also for being the first master of the short story form, especially tales of mystery. He has a talent of having an extraordinary hold upon the readers imagination and not letting lose. Many advents of Edgar’s life has probably led to the strange, but successful and renowned pieces of American literature.