The Dark Literature of Edgar Allen Poe Poe often used depressed tones and imagery to create a dark kind of feeling to his work. The death of Edgar Allen Poe’s young wife put a bitter resentment in the writer. He felt like he was cursed and that the heavens stole his joy and claimed that the angel envied their happiness. Poe was accused of rumors and scandals his whole life, afflicted with depression, pinned down by phobias and horrific fantasies, and his writing reflects the madness in every lover’s heart. (Harris 60) In many of Edgar Allen Poe’s writings, he used gothic elements to express his pain and revealed the darker side of human nature. Poe’s writing style is very dark and complex. He would use words such as venturesome instead of adventurous. He enjoyed adding complexity into his writings. Poe believed that a style that disclaims advantages would be anything but simple. He was not always convinced that simplicity was a desirable aesthetic and did not believe that you could find elegance in it. He still liked reading simple writings and appreciated all styles from the viewpoint of a writer. The death of Poe’s wife put resentment in Poe’s heart. In “Annabel Lee,” he writes of a love so deep that even “the angels not half as happy in heaven went envying her and me.” (Pollin 288) The only way he knew how to ease his pain was to put it into words. Annabel Lee became the expression of his very soul. Poe wrote that everything in the natural world reminded him of his
An example of when Poe gives a gloomy feeling to the reader would be “(When the rest of Heaven was blue)/ Of a demon in my view--” (Poe 21-22). This could be considered dark because Poe is showing that while others saw the good in life, all he saw was the evil. With the use of poetic devices, Poe is also able to make the theme of his poem apparent.
“Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dreamed before” (Edgar Allan Poe). Darkness and sadness are strong characteristics of Edgar Allan Poe’s writing. The tragedies during his life, such as the death of his biological and adoptive moms, followed by the death of his young wife Virginia were important factors which formed his gothic style. Poe is known for his drinking problems and use of drugs. Those habits had a big influence in his life and in his works.
Edgar Allan Poe and Stephen King are famous for their works in horror. Who are these authors and why do they write these horrifying tales? Edgar Allan Poe’s life and literary works are more ominous than Stephen King’s life and literary work.
In the history of literature, there have always been different themes and genres of writing. But few have been as different or unique as that of the “gothic” literature. Of all the gothic authors of history, few writing has captured the mind and plunged it into the depths of fear as that of Edgar Allen Poe. Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado,” is a story that shows us how deadly being prideful can be. Themes of dishonour, revenge and questionable justice all come together in this story. In this essay, I will discuss how the setting, irony and the lack of certain details all contribute to the gothic theme and the spine-tingling effect of the story.
Edgar Allen Poe is most often recognized, and certainly most famous, for his poem “The Raven” as well as other decidedly dark and often gothic poems and stories, stories such as “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Telltale Heart” “The Cask of Amontillado.” He also wrote many others mostly involving rather macabre, dark topics and characters as well as heavy themes such as insanity, madness, incest, murder and revenge. While this reputation is certainly well earned there is another side of Poe that is not quite so obvious. Poe was also a master of humor, especially in the use of parody and satire. One might ask how is it that a writer with such an inclination towards the darker side of humanity can
Edgar Allen Poe is an individual who fancied the darkness that is so evident in the gothic literature that he is known for. Edgar had a less than ideal child hood, with his father leaving his family unit and his mother dying while he was only 3 years old (Poe’s Life). As a result he was separated from his two other siblings who went to live with different families. It is thought that because of the tumultuous relationship Poe developed with his foster father John Allen, that he was inspired to focus on darker writing styles. In fact, John disdained Edgar’s entertaining the idea of being a poet rather than enlisting in the tobacco industry that had made him so wealthy (Poe’s Life).
Edgar Allan Poe has always been known for his depressing and sad writings. I have no doubt that these feelings would follow him into the present day. Poe didn’t have a good family life growing up. His parents were both absent in his childhood, and he was separated from his brother and sister to go off and live with John and Frances Valentine Allan. Poe was always a very talented poet growing up, but his literary passions were not supported by the household he lived in. Being suppressed as a child probably didn’t help his mental health nor did it help to cope with day-to-day life. As a young adult, Poe went to the University of Virginia but he could not afford to pay the
The next popular theme Poe uses in his writing is romance. This is very general for all gothic writers. This theme was actually a movement called “The Romantic movement” (Foster). This first began around the end of the 18th century in Western Europe (Foster). This was characterized by the “emphasis on emotion, passion, and the natural world” (Foster). This writing style was known in the United Stated because of the works that Poe did. One of his most famous works was a poem called “Annabelle Lee”. The poem was about his wife who died of tuberculosis. She was only thirteen when she and Edgar got married. In the poem the speaker argues about how the angels were jealous of a happy couple, “The envious Angels, he insists, caused the wind to chill his bride and seize her life”. He then goes on to describe how the love the couple share is everlasting and unbreakable. The reader depicts images of purity, innocence
Furthermore, Poe shows that he longs for the reader to be with Annabel, because she was adored and loved by all. This diction gives the poem a romantic feel, which is outside of its gloomy morbid tone, showing his true love for his deceased. This shows that Poe wants the reader to feel a different side of the poem, most of the tone of the poem is dark and extremely morbid, but by saying this he adds a bit of relief to the readers, showing them that it’s not all bad. The most dramatic illustration of this poem is when Poe uses the lines in the poem that suggest imagery such as “For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams of the beautiful Annabel Lee” “and the starts never rise, but I feel the bright eyes” This imagery shows the reader what Annabel Lee was like, it glamorizes her showing the reader that she was an incredibly amazing and beautiful person. The diction in Annabel Lee cannot be any more applauding; by doing this he sets the tone for the whole poem, which makes the poem so wonderful in the first place.
In Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Black Cat,” “The Raven,” “Annabel Lee,” and “The Fall of the House of Usher,” the audience gets an insight into the author’s uniquely pessimistic view on life. For example, in Edgar Allen Poe’s short story “The Tell-Tale Heart,” Poe describes the madness and grief of a man following through his plan to execute a beloved old man, whom he befriended. The main character’s methodical procedure for conducting his murderous plot creates an atmosphere that augments anxiousness. Poe’s use of symbolism, melancholic themes, and motifs is meant to bring forth senses of distress or despair in some cases, as well as comfort in other cases for audiences to sympathize with.
Emotions are tricky to manage. No matter the self-control one could have, emotions can always squeeze their way to the top and cloud judgment. This is no different for the man named Edgar Allen Poe, but he was able to use words as a way to express and deal with those everlasting emotions and feelings. Annabel Lee best expresses Poe’s feelings about the death of his wife because it gives a clearer meaning as to how he was conveying his devastation; Poe writes about the “childlike” love he had experienced, to the “angels and demons” and finally, about his love’s “tomb” by the sea to, unlike Ulalume: A Ballad, describes their love, to where she died and finally, how Poe dealt with the loss of losing his wife.
Some believe that Poe was a strange, dark and depressing writer. In some ways he was. But there is a reason behind it; Poe had a very unfortunate upbringing. The main problems were that his biological father left the family, his mother died when he was young, and he was not close to his adoptive family. Poe’s lack of familial relationships with his father’s greatly affected his writing.
Edgar Allan Poe was a prominent writer during the era of Romanticism, but Poe’s poems focused primarily on the Dark Romanticism, developed under Romanticism. The era of Romanticism was commonly described as showing raw emotion, but there was still a conflict in the story. The purpose of Romanticism was for the writer to feel free; there were no rules when it came to this form of writing. Dark Romanticism was looking at the gothic side of stories rather than the heroism stories, which focused more on death, and the flaws of humans. Dark Romanticism also focused on the evil aspect of writings rather than the heroic part to stories. Edgar Allan Poe’s poems are shown more in this type of writing rather than the typical Romantic writings. When looking more into Dark Romanticism readers are able to see how Poe could have connected his personal turmoil to his poems. The University of Delaware’s library says, “Suffering for offenses against God, man and Nature, the hero-villains wander the earth, alone and misunderstood. Their personal torment in a vast universe is emphasized by desolate settings of icebound seas, jagged mountains and bottomless abysses: imagery that would inspire artistic, literary, and musical compositions,” (Dark Romanticism). This quote shows readers that writers during the Dark Romanticism era used their own sufferings in order to make the stories seem more dramatic and almost human. Looking into the poems “Annabel Lee” and “The Raven”, readers are able to see
Edgar Allen Poe is known for writing incredible, but oftentimes disturbing poems that center around various themes and topics. His poem “Annabel Lee” discusses the affection he has for a particular woman and goes on to discuss certain events at the ocean where she inevitably dies. Poe changes the mood of the poem quite effectively as he begins by happily discussing his affection, and ending by describing the death of the woman he loves and expressing his sadness for her death. He is able to do this by using symbolism throughout the poem, in addition to alliteration and vivid imagery that appeals to his readers.
Annabel Lee does a better job of showing Poe’s feelings of grief towards the death of his wife. “the angels, not half so happy in heaven, went envying her and me--“. Poe is trying to put the blame on someone for the death of his wife Annabel Lee. “That the wind came out of the cloud by night,