Edgar Allan Poe 's All The Senses, And The Symbolic Expression Of Emotion

The 19th century American poet, Edgar Allan Poe, had been plagued by grief from an early age. He was an amazing poet and author who just happened to have a darker story. Many who have studied this prestigious man feel that his works, though magnificent, were extremely dark. Some believe it was nothing more then a fancy for him to spin such gruesome tales. Others feel his work was manipulated by the misfortune of his past. These people have actually found evidence that agrees with this statement. The works of Edgar Allan Poe were inspired by the history and life style of the author. The evidence is evident, when people look back and examine the author, his life, and his writings closely.

Edgar Allan Poe’s mom died when he was young and his father left, so he was fostered by John and Frances Allen, but they did not officially adopt him. He had a good relationship with Frances but had a tense one with Frances’s husband John. Poe experienced a lot of death in his childhood. Harold Bloom states, “At age three, Poe witnessed his mother 's death, watching as she died coughing up blood from tuberculosis after a performance” (11). Poe was separated from his

Edgar Allen Poe, who was a famous American writer, critic, and editor, was known for his countless tales and poems relating to horror and mystery. His diverse imagination captured every single reader’s attention and gave them both a positive and a weary feeling at the end of each of his stories. Edgar Allen Poe is known as the “Father of the Detective Story” among several his other nicknames. The background of Edgar Allen Poe is what the reader needs to be able to understand since that is what ultimately made Edgar Allen Poe who he really is and what gave him that mysterious author reputation. Several of his stories can indicate to many readers an idea of his background and some of the struggles he faced while growing up.

The life of Edgar Allan Poe is not a tale of ease. Poe’s life was full of personal and fiscal disaster. These disasters help to mold some of the most ominous and intellectually challenging poetry ever written. For the short duration of Poe’s life, he was seen as a literary critic rather than an author. To the modern generation his unbeknown status seems bafflingly inconceivable, considering his now acclaimed publications. Edgar Allan Poe’s writing was very much dictated by his life. The mournful tone of Edgar Allan Poe’s life created his literature; death and all his friends narrated Poe’s life. Edgar Allan Poe shows his life’s constant despair through his poetry and short story writings.

Poe’s troubled childhood contributed to many difficult relationships with others. He did not get along with his foster father John Allan, as their strong personalities conflicted often, leading to general distrust between the two. Allan described Poe as lazy, ungrateful, “miserable, sulky, & ill-tempered” (Allan, John. Received by Henry Poe, 1 Nov. 1824.). Allan could not provide enough money to support Edgar at university, so Poe resorted to gambling, and ended up in debt. This enraged his foster father, and he refused to help Poe financially. Later on, Poe’s foster mother, Frances Allan, died, separating a connection between the two men. Poe’s gambling and drinking that led to his deliberate expulsion from West Point also angered his father. Later, Poe became engaged in more family issues and eventually his foster father disowned him. However, the breaking point of their relationship occured when Poe wrote to Sergeant Samuel Graves, stating that “Mr. A[llan] is not very often sober” (Poe, Edgar Allan. Received by Sergeant Samuel Graves, Richmond, 3 May 1830, Richmond.). Allan learned of this and sent an undocumented letter to Poe, who replied accusing his father of abuse:  “I wrote to you for some more money, and for books — You replied in terms of the utmost abuse — if I had been the vilest wretch on earth you could not have been more abusive than you were” (Poe, Edgar Allan. Received by John Allan, West Point Military Academy, 3 Jan. 1831, West Point Military Academy).

“Although dissolute in his personal life, when Poe touched pen to paper, he became a disciplined craftsman.” (Carnes 300). Edgar Allan Poe cemented his place in American literature by publishing countless poems and short stories, including “The Raven” and “Masque of the Red Death.” Poe effectively invented the detective fiction genre and perfected the horror story. His style, visionary as it was, was not with its influences. A life filled with tragedy, disappointment, alcoholism, and depression shaped Poe’s seemingly strange and taboo mind. Many of Poe’s writings were directly impacted by events in Poe’s life. In the Romantic period of the mid 1800’s, Edgar Allan Poe succeeded among American

Many people enjoy the detective and crime shows, but what they may not realize is that Edgar Allan Poe was the one to pioneer this genre. For the short stories, poems, and a few books he wrote, Edgar Allan Poe is a recognized American writer. He lived in the era of westward expansion, slavery laws beginning to become an issue, and most influential to Poe, Tuberculosis(TB) was a major issue. There was not yet a cure for people with TB, in fact, there wouldn’t be a known cure for another 100 years after his life. He lost many people during his life; his father left before Poe was 3 years old, his mother died from TB when Poe was three. He moved into a foster home, but stories tell that his foster father did not like him so he struggled to find the support he needed both as a child and as a broke college student. Although many myths state that Poe was a drunkard and incapable of love, he was married. His outsiderness in his foster home likely influenced his writing, as well as his irregularity and uniqueness, and his horrid memories of how TB had taken some of his closes family. Poe’s unique literary techniques enhance his macabre writing style.

Edgar Allan Poe is considered to be the father of the short story by many. Over the course of his life, he wrote hundreds of short stories and poems. His writing style is unique and influenced by the tragedies that occurred over the course of his life. In fact, he is most well known for writing morbid stories and gruesome, dismal poems. Indeed his writing habits were heavily influenced by his life. His life was full of depression, angst, and woe. Many of the people he cared for fell victim to deadly plagues and diseases. To cope with this pain, Edgar Allan Poe sought comfort in the bottom of a bottle. In his times of depression he would drink heavily and become sick for days at a time.

INTRODUCTION: The late and great Edgar Allan Poe was a poet, critic, and literary icon. Many of Allan's mystery and detective stories are alleged to be the first of its kind.No one can question Edgar’s literary talents because they were beyond his time and shifted the way people read stories and poems.Unfortunately, Edgar was still struggling to make a living despite his success as a writer, editor, critic, and former military writer.Edgar’s life was full of strife and misfortune.Edgar lost 3 loved ones due to tuberculosis, which affected him for the worst.Edgar’s unfortunate bouts only fueled his literary skills and further enhance his writing ability to the highest level at that time.Unfortunately, he mysteriously died the age of 40 which

This essay will discuss the themes in Poe’s writing that mirror his personal life and, in addition, the fear and supernatural motivators for his characters. First, I will discuss Poe’s background and explore how he became best known as a poet for his tales of mystery and macabre.

    Edgar Allan Poe once said, “With me, poetry has not been a purpose, but a passion.” When stressed, writing was his coping mechanism, and through observation, many grasp how much death encompassed Poe. Although not appreciated during his era, he revolutionized mystery with mesmerizing story plots that yield suspense, but also makes readers question his stability. Most importantly, unlike those famous during his lifetime who are now forgotten, Poe’s legacy will live on forever. Moreover, throughout life, Poe experienced catastrophe, and because of this, writing became his creative outlet.

Sadness, guilt, and fear are some of the most negative emotions that humanity can experience, however they are also the strongest. Edgar Allan Poe, a nineteenth century author and poet, is known primarily for his use of these emotions, as well as the results that may come from these emotions, such as substance abuse, depression, and death. However, the ability to write such elegant, sophisticated works that delve into the very dark recesses of the human mind reflects greatly upon the author himself. Repetitive themes found both in Poe’s stories and in his life deliver insight on the inspiration for this author’s stories. Poe uses themes of death, illness, and depression in order to reflect his own experiences within his writing.

In the earlier stages of his life, he and his siblings had to undergo the loss of both their parents. Their father, David Poe, had failed as an actor and a husband when he’d taken a turn for the worst, relying on alcohol which had encouraged his violent temper. He had deserted his wife and three children in July of 1811 and with this leaving their mother, now a widower, alone with two-year-old Edgar, his elder brother Henry, and his infant sister Rosalie. She struggled to feed her children for the next few months as she accepted any stage role offered to her just for a few bucks. Then on December 8, 1811, Elizabeth Poe died of tuberculous in Richmond, Virginia only 5 months after David had fled. The three children huddled close to their mother’s deceased body until they were soon to be taken away from each other.

Before discussing the topic proper, the reader must understand the writing style of Edgar Allan Poe. His father abandons the family leaving his mother to raise 3 children on her own. Both of the parents die leaving the children, at very young ages, homeless. A man named John Allan takes in Poe and raises him. However, after Allan’s firm fails he refuses to financially support Poe. Edgar Allan Poe begins to drink and fall into deep debt. His resolution is to gamble, but he ends up losing even more money. He loses around “$2000, around $30,000 in current value” (Baym 629). Being forced to drop out of his first year in college, he

As the United States became a flourishing nation in the 1800’s, American entertainment such as poetry and short stories began to unfold by up-and-coming writers. Among these artists of text, Edgar Allan Poe is without a doubt an incredibly prominent figure when discussing American literature. A celebrity after his critically acclaimed poem, “The Raven,” he was one of the earliest American authors to craft and perfect the short story. Furthermore, Poe is credited to contribute much to the horror and science-fiction genres, as well as being the inventor of the detective-fiction genre, as his novel The Murders in the Rue Morgue in 1841, predates the most famous character of the genre, Sherlock Holmes, in 1887 (Genesis: 1841). Under a constant struggle to make ends meet, he was among the first American authors to make a living strictly off his pieces of literature, which was not exactly a successful money-making career path (Graves). Which made matters even worse, several of his closest family members, relatives, and relationships all fell to tuberculosis, the final of which he attempted to take care of by himself, even though he was essentially penniless up to his mysterious death in 1849 (Hossick). With great success, however, it is important to analyze how this legendary writer came to be.