Edgar Allan Poe

Meghan Woody

Mrs. Start

English 3 Period 7

13 March 2015

                                        Edgar Allan Poe

Poe was the father of the short stories, a shining fictional theorist, an unpredictable genius, and an expert of human obsession. From 1835 until his death, he was arguably the main protagonist in the story of the building of American Literature. The scope of his achievements and the dramatic character of Poe’s life have drawn readers and critics to him in droves.

        His full name was Edgar Allan Poe, but that wasn’t the name he was born with. His original name was Edgar Poe. He added Allan to his name because that was his foster family’s name. Poe was a winter child. He was born on January 19, 1809, in Boston, Massachusetts. He would not be there for long though due to events in his life.

        Poe’s parents Elizabeth Arnold Poe and David Poe Jr., were traveling actors. The family was very poor. By 1811, his father had deserted the family, leaving Elizabeth Poe alone with two-year-old Edgar, Henry his older brother and his baby sister Rosaline. That’s when things took a turn for the worse, Poe’s mother Elizabeth died of tuberculosis on December 8, 1811. It turns out David Poe had also died of tuberculosis, within days of his estranged wife.

Poe captured the imagination and interest of readers around the world with his short stories and poems. His creative talents led to the beginning of different genres, earning him the nickname "Father of the Detective Story" among other distinctions. His life become a bit of mystery itself. “And the lines between fact and fiction have been blurred substantially since his death  (Poets).” Poe was the son of actors who never really knew his parents. His father left the family when Poe and his siblings were very young, and his mother passed away when he was only two.  At that time Poe was separated from his siblings, he went to live with John and Frances Allan, a tobacco merchant and his wife, in Richmond, Virginia. “He and Frances seemed to form a bond, but he never quite meshed with John. Preferring poetry over profits, Poe reportedly wrote poems on the back of some of Allan's business papers  (A&E).” Money was a big issue between Poe and Allan. When Poe went to the University of Virginia in 1826, Allan didn’t give him enough to cover the full cost. Poe turned to gambling hoping to cover the rest of the cost, but he just ended up in debt. He returned home only to face another personal setback—his neighbor and fiancée Elmira Royster had become engaged to someone else. Angry and upset, Poe left the Allan’s.

        Poe had an interesting educational background. Johan Allan was giving Poe funds for school, but they were not enough for the school of choice which was originally University of Virginia. He then went to a military academy. The college was called the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. While at the Academy Poe did very well at his studies but was kicked out after only a year because of how poorly he handled his duties.

        Shortly after his mother’s death in 1829, Poe met his bride-to-be, Virginia Clemm, when she was seven years old, and he was twenty, their parents, his birth father and her mother, were siblings, and Poe had moved into the Clemm home right before his time at West Point was about to begin. Being so close in time to the death of his mother, some authors have debated that he transferred his feelings for his mother to his Aunt Maria, and then to his cousin. Nevertheless, it appears that Poe and Virginia quickly became friends, and she even helped him win over one of her neighbors, Mary Devereaux. It is reported that at one point, Virginia obtained “a lock of Devereaux’s hair to give to Poe  (Hutchisson).” When that didn’t turn out well, Poe’s loving eye turned to Virginia. By 1835, people had noticed his interest in Virginia. In fact, Virginia’s half-sister’s husband, Neilson Poe, had even offered to “take her in and have her educated in an attempt to prevent the girl’s marriage at such a young age (Hutchisson).” Mad and scared that he would lose the little girl, Poe offered to take in and provide for Virginia’s mother and the remainder of the family, in exchange for the marriage in August 1835. He and Virginia were married May 16, 1836. During his time being married, he had no children. After their marriage they lived in Richmond, Virginia and stayed there for the remainder of their marriage.

        The great poet Edgar Allan Poe had an individual that pushed and influenced his works.  This individual was Charles Dickens. Charles Dickens was a great and known writer which led to his future works. Poe pushed and expressed his poetry similarly to Charles Dickens. The genre which Poe wrote were typically thrillers, they also had a dark atmosphere towards them.

        The most interesting thing that happened to Edgar Allan Poe was his death. His death is the most interesting thing because nobody really knows how he died. People have assumptions and ideas, but really no one knows for sure. They only information people know is when Poe died.

        Poe had many great works, but is it difficult to decide what his best published works are. The two of his works that come to mind are The Raven and his short story The Tell Tale Hearts. They were published in 1843 and 1845. Both are great published works and great thrillers. Both titles above were not Poe’s only works, he had many more. Poe wrote over one hundred published works. Many not to well known, but they do exist. Poe did not do all the work on his own though. While he did all the writing himself, he also had publishers who assisted him in his published works. The two publishers that helped Poe publish his works were Joseph T. and Edwin Buckingham.

        As Poe grew older, he continued to write poems, short stories, etc. He made some major works in the time being. Continuing work in different forms, Poe tested his own style and writing in several essays, including The Philosophy of Composition, The Poetic Principle and The Rationale of Verse. He also produced another thrilling tale, The Cask of Amontillado, and poems such as Annabel Lee and The Bells. Also during this time he faced problems with his alcohol addiction. He was a suffering alcoholic and had problems controlling it. Although he tried many times to stop his alcoholism, but failed many times in the process of doing so. He moved to New York to see his friend and go to the bars to drink.