Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart

Edgar Allen Poe has explored three different themes: His own life, the nameless narrator of “The Tell-Tale Heart”, and the literary criticism on “The Tell-Tale Heart.” Edgar Allen Poe began his life in Boston, MA on the 19th of January in the year 1809 (Kennedy). He was the 2nd son of David Poe, Jr., a famous actor, and the actress known as Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe. David, his father, deserted his family a year after Poe was born, and died the following year, in December (Kennedy).

Since his father left, David’s oldest son, Henry was left with some relatives that resided in Baltimore. Eliza, their mother, took care of Edgar and his younger sister, Rosalie, while continuing to be an actress. His mother eventually passed away from tuberculosis sometime after her final stage performance on October in 1811, she died on the 8th of December in Richmond, Virginia. Afterwards, Edgar found a home John Allan and his wife, Frances Valentine Allan. They were a childless couple, who raised Edgar as their very own, yet, they never decided to adopt him (Kennedy).

Poe wrote poems to nearby girls as a young child. One woman he cherished though, Jane Stith Stanard, a mother of his friend, died in 1824. Poe was known his athleticism, he often participated in races, and boxing (Kennedy). Allan insisted Poe to enroll into the University of Virginia in 1826. He studied modern and classical languages there. At the college, alcohol and gambling were common, as was fist fights (Kennedy). As Poe was 20 years of age, his future seemed brighter. Because of Allan, Poe had an appointment with West Point (Kennedy).

Poe loves to write about darker, morbid things that make the reader judge the protagonist’s actions, yet pity him for doing such a thi...

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... Heart: Overview." Reference Guide to Short Fiction. Ed. Noelle Watson. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 15 Jan. 2014.

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Stedman, Edmund Clarence. "Edgar Allan Poe." Scribner's Monthly 20 (May-Oct. 1880): 107-124. Rpt. in Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Ed. Jay Parini and Janet Mullane. Vol. 16. Detroit: Gale Research, 1987. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 15 Jan. 2014.

Ward, Alfred C. "Edgar Allan Poe: 'Tales of Mystery and Imagination'." Aspects of the Modern Short Story: English and American. University of London Press, 1924. 32-44. Rpt. in Short Stories for Students. Ed. Kathleen Wilson and Marie Lazzari. Vol. 4. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 15 Jan. 2014.