Edgar Allan Poe's Short Prose Analysis

In this essay, I will be comparing the characterization of two narrators in Edgar Allan Poe’s work, which are “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “The Raven”. “The Fall of the House of Usher” was published in 1839, and years later “The Raven” was published in 1845. Poe shows that the two narrators fall into anxiety due to Gothic and mysterious elements.

Poe is known for the death of a beautiful woman, but in fact, he has presented various types of the female in his prose and verse. In actuality, influenced by his own experiences, and the time in which he lived, from the

As Edgar’s Time at The Literary Messenger came to a close, Poe began to publishing more works like Tales of the Grotesque Arabesque and then would continue to work in the presidential election (Padgett 57,63). Edgar would soon become “Struck by illness” (Tilton 58); this illness was caused simply by Poe’s over use of alcohol. Edgar Allen Poe would soon being a new job at Graham’s Magazine (Tilton 60). Throughout Poe’s time at Graham’s Magazine he spent time with the most influential writers and publishers of his life, Clinton Bradshaw and Howard Pinckney (Tilton 60). With such amazing inspiration Poe’s audience would respond more to what he was publishing. With the publication of “The Murders in Rue Morgue,” the first modern detective story, Poe would create a new level of fame for himself (Tilton 61). The year 1841 would be the one of the last periods of time when Poe is truly happy.

The dark and eerie tone of the murder story and its unusual setting contribute to the story’s theme of defense of one’s honor and avenging wrongdoing. The haughtiness and conceited attitudes of the two men create an extension of this theme in which Poe wants to show how far some men will go when they receive a blow to the ego. The story’s setting in the

The main themes of Edgar Allan Poe’s works are death, perversity, revenge and destruction. The settings he employed in the given short stories, especially in The Fall of the House of Usher and The Black Cat are Gothic. Therefore, naturally the mood of these stories would be dark and sepulchral. However, this is not a trivial employment undertaken to put the reader in a certain kind of zone.

This essay is about Edgar Allan Poe and how is often disturbing stories and poems were a direct reflection of the chaotic and sad filled life. Poe had many people in his life die around him and this was the reason for his fascination and some say obsession with “death.” Of course, Poe is most famous for writing many stories and mysteries that centered on murder, suicide, and overall macabre themes. Many people throughout time have been astonished by his many writings calling them “stories written by a genuine mad man.” When you do an Internet search of his name you often find the word lunatic attached to his name. However, this disturbing stories and death-obsessed poems are nothing when compared to his actual life, and the various experiences throughout it. Poe has ten people in his life that were close to him, very important figures that either died or exited his life without an explanation. These “losses” left Poe unable to manage his emotions, ultimately destroying them altogether, which resulted in him writing so many mysteries.

In Avi’s novel, The Man Who Was Poe, the reader learns all about the story’s focal antagonist, Edgar Allan Poe, under the alias of Dupin. Poe was a real man, who is one of the best-known American authors, with one of the most distinctive styles of writing. He is mostly recognized for is short stories that possess a gruesome plot and a hair-raising theme. In the novel, the style of Avi’s writing can easily be identified as an emulated version of the way Poe wrote. The way Avi used his writing to make the reader feel is also very similar to Poe. Both authors used descriptions and selective vocabulary in attempt to set the mood of the story and make the audience, who reads the story, feel a certain way. The elements of fiction play a big role in the style of the authors’ writing. The strategy, of usage, of setting, character, theme, plot, and mood, in Poe’s stories, and Avi’s novel, correspond to one another in many ways. Descriptions of Poe and the way he is depicted in the story also duplicated many of Poe’s real life characteristics. Poe’s style of writing is clearly a substantial influence on Avi, and is projected throughout the duration of his book with the usage of theme, setting and mood, along with the physical and mental characteristics of Poe himself.

Edgar Allan Poe has a distinctive and dark way of writing (Poe & Kennedy, pp.22). His mysterious style of writing appeals to passion and sentimentality. Poe’s most prominent works of fiction are gothic. His stories tend to have similar recurring theme of either death, lost love or both. Poe’s psychologically thrilling stories examining the depths of the humanoid psyche earned him much fame throughout his lifetime and after his death. And this distinctive style of writing made him possess his own style of wiring (Arbor, pp.71). There is a psychological concentration which is an important characteristic of Poe’s literatures, particularly the tales of horror that encompass his best and well-known works, such as The Black Cat and The Raven 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.

World famous poet, Edgar Allan Poe, once wrote in one of his poems, “From childhood’s hour I have not been. As others were, I have not seen. As others saw, I could not awaken. My heart to joy at the same tone. And all I loved, I loved alone.” In those lines, Poe demonstrates his love for being alone because his childhood was full of isolation, meaning that the writer grew used to the feeling. Since boyhood throughout his adult life, Edgar Allan Poe endured through a series of unfortunate events. From his parents dying, his animosity with his foster father, his consecutive poverty, to facing rejection from the public, the man’s life was as ominous as his fiction. This essay will discuss the reason behind the writing of one of Edgar Allan

When looking at a piece of literature through a psychological approach it is easy to apply Sigmund Freud’s theories of the id, ego, and superego, which focus on conscious and unconscious behavior. When analyzing many of Poe’s works, critics tend to look through a psychological lens. Specifically in Poe’s The Black Cat. Some critics believe that Poe’s alcoholism is reflected in the piece, but many, such as James W. Gargano “advised the tales readers to avoid the biographical pitfall of seeing Poe and the first-person narrator of The Black Cat as ‘identical literary twins’” (Piacentino 1). It is due to his childhood that Poe’s narrator in The Black Cat subconsciously places animals before humans, thus leading to him to murder his wife.

“From childhood’s hour I have not been As others were—I have not seen As others saw,” Poe has shown his readers that he has had one of the “most stormy life” (1-3, 10). Poe’s use of alliteration and “anaphora” in his poem “Alone” emphasizes the message Poe is trying to get across (Cummings). Also Poe’s use of a metaphor while in his poem “Alone” shows a great deal of how his childhood caused him to have a “most stormy life” (Cummings, 10). Poe’s different point of view strongly affected his “emotional life,” Poe hit’s a sensitive nerve when talking about his past and displays to his readers why “he sees things differently” (“Alone Poem Analysis”). Poe’s poem “Alone” had a strong sense of imagery “Alone” was Poe’s cry for help, “My sorrow—I could not awaken,” Poe is announcing that he can’t get escape from his sorrow and what “drives him to sorrow is something different” (6, “Alone Poem Analysis”). The sorrow and the “demon in my view—” led to “The mystery surrounding Poe's death” (22, Giordano). The strong metaphor of “demon” is talking about Poe’s personal demon, the reader might never know exactly what Poe was referring to because “this is the central mystery of his life” (22, “Alone Poem Analysis”). No one truly knows how Poe had died, the rumors still linger to this day. Poe’s reputation didn’t flourish until after his

Edgar Allen Poe is a fictional writer he wrote many weird and scary stories and poems, most of his poems mirrored bad things’ that happened in his childhood. In 1845, Poe wrote The Raven which is still one of his best known poems. It was first published in the New York paper. The Raven brought him fame in his lifetime but the fame didn’t bring him much joy. (D-1) Poe’s poems and stories usually had a symbolic meaning in them such as “The Raven” it stood for grief and sorrow that would never go away. He wasn’t just a poem and story writer he was also a critic. In 1838-1844 he edited Burtons Gentleman’s Magazines and in Grahams Magazine his criticism in these magazines and in the messenger was keen, direct, incisive and sometimes savage.(B-10) Some of Poes magazine stories were collected as tales of the grotesque and arabesque he also began writing the mystery tales that earned him