Edgar Allan Poe
Literary critism is extremely essential in the understanding of literature works. Critism on Edgar Allan Poe varies with poems, short stories, and other literary works. Harold Bloom has published two books maybe even more on the critism and interpretation of Edgar Allan Poe’s works. In both of these books there are other authors and critics, explaing and evaluating Poe’s works. Some critical view points are on his poems, others are on his short stories, and some are just on his style of writing. Since Edgar Allan Poe has published many poems and short stories over a period of time it is no wonder why there is so much critism on his works.
In Daniel Hoffman’s book “ Poe Poe Poe Poe” , he tells a story about a professor who is to lecture about Poe’s poetry. Before the professor begins to read one of Poe’s poems, he states “ No poet in the English tongue who is still read with reverence has committed such gaffes against the genius of our language, nor has written lines of comparable banality.” ( Hoffman, p. 20 ). This explains how other poets respect and admire the poems written by Edgar Allan Poe . There is not just admiration and respect for Poe’s poems, there is also negative critism. A critic named John Neal stated
If Edgar Allan Poe of Baltimore whose lines
About “ Heaven” , though he professes to r-
Egard them as all together superior to any thing in the whole range of American poetry,
Save two or three trifles referred to, are non- sense, rather exquisite nonsense- would but do himself justice (he) might make a beautiful and perhaps a magnificent poem. (Neal, p. 35).
This is not exactly negative critisim, but it is not recognizing Poe as a magnificent poet as most other people do. Shoshana Felman does not give her own opinion of Poe, but tells how the rest of society sees him. She states the Poe is both highly acclaimed, and violently disclaimed as a poet. She also says that he is the most controversial, and thoroughly misunderstood figure in the American literary scene.
Not only are Poe’s poems controversial and misunderstood, but so are his short stories or “ tales “. Not everybody finds them controversial though, some people admire them and find “ genius “ in them. D.H. Lawrence sees Poe more as a scientist than an artist. D.H.
Edgar Allan Poe was inarguably one of the most well known American poets. His criticisms, stories, and poems far out lived the man, but not his reputation. Even today any search of the poet Edgar Allan Poe will bring up facts that are dark, disputable, disgusting, and at times tragic. Mr. Poe wrote words of love, despair, anger, and mystery. He wrote what he knew best and he left behind a legacy that is unique, riveting, and thought provoking, even today. The question is did Edgar Allan Poe deserve the scathing final review that was his obituary? Are his beautiful and disturbing words the ravings of a mad man? It is generally accepted that he suffered from alcoholism and that was the reason of his death. However, his reputation was such that
... it he said; "He has created a universe, given it psychological laws without denying the existence of the moral law, and peopled it with characters appropriate to such a universe. Putting overt mortality out of bounds helps to give him uniqueness. Even though Poe is often looked upon as a gifted psychopath who is describing with consummate artistry his personal instabilities and abnormalities, the fact remains that his superiority is more than a matter of art. There is a violent realism in his macabre writings unequaled by the Americans who worked in the same genre."
Walker, I. M., ed. Edgar Allen Poe: A Critical Heritage. New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1986.
Edgar Allan Poe is one of America's most influential writers. His stories and poems have touched the lives of countless people. His works, however, are influenced by his own life. The events of his life led him down the dark road of depression and morbidity.
Poe is renowned for his authorship of tales dealing with morbid psychology. Critiquing his work, Edmund Clarence Stedman says of Poe: "His strength is unquestionable in those clever pieces of ratiocination...and especially in those with elements of terror and morbid psychology added". Stedman goes on to say, "His artistic contempt for metaphysics is seen even in those tales which appear most transcendental. Th...
... though, he was not loved nor recognized much for his talents during his lifetime. It wasn’t until he died and his literature rival begin dishing dirt on him, that people started recognizing Poe and his talents. Throughout Poe’s life, it seemed like writing was his way of letting out some of the pain that life had brought down upon him; a way to keep himself sane it almost seemed. It reflects his difficult childhood, his devastating love life, and his depressing views on life. That concludes Edgar Allan Poe and his literature.
Howarth, W. L. (1971). Twentieth century interpretations of Poe's tales; a collection of critical essays.. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.
Edgar Allen Poe is known as the pioneer of the American short story, as well as a brilliant artist in poetry. His works are often tragic, or have a dark theme. Two often overlooked facets of Poe as a writer, however, are the political aspect of his works, and how far ahead he was of his time, with some material being applicable to present day situations, as exemplified by Sonnet to Science, The City in the Sea, and The Masque of the Red Death.
Thomson, Gary Richard, and Poe Edgar. The selected writings of Edgar Allan Poe. New York: Norton & Company, 2004
Edgar Allan Poe born on January 19, 1809, was known as the creator of the modern detective story and innovator of the science fiction genre. Although, people identify him because of his horror stories as well as his haunting lyric poetry, there was a different side of him other than a gruesome, mysterious individual prowling in the shadows of moonlit cemeteries. Poe’s childhood was very tragic and affected his adult life when growing up. Poe was the second son of actors David and Elizabeth Poe. Shortly after Poe was born, his father abandoned the family in 1810 and the following death of his twenty-four year old mother in 1811, left Poe an orphan at the young age of three. Poe was adopted by a guy named john, who was a strict unemotional tobacco merchant and his wife Frances Allan, a week women with health issues. His original grandparents only took in his brother William Henry instead of Poe. He was educated with his father’s aid, in private schools, excelling in latin, writing verse, and declamation. Regardless of his education Poe was looed down upon and was considered an outsider by the upper class of Richmond society. It maybe because his foster parents never legally adopted Poe and also regarding his family background. In Poe’s time adulthood did not support actors in high manners, which this could have been attributed to his reputation. Poe childhood shaped him to be one of the most Famous creative poet there is.
Edgar Allan Poe was a 19th century American poet, author, and critic. Poe is often described as a rebel against society and art-for-art's sake supporter who experimented in making his poems without didacticism and devoid of any meaning, but he is also respected as a genius in terms of his commitment to art and his ability to experiment with various forms of expressions (Fromm 304). In my opinion, Poe was not a rebel because he remained true to himself. Although he was influenced by traditional artists, he adapted this tradition to his personal being. Although he might have been perceived as a rebel against society because of his innovative views on the world, human beings, and poetry, I believe his work remains popular and influential today because he remained true to his style and personality. However, I agree that he was dedicated to art for art's sake because his main intention was to express himself through his work. Poe did not bother with popular styles and techniques, but he was a master poet when it comes to adapting to different styles to convey his emotions appropriately. Overall, Poe's poetry displays sentimentalism because he puts all emphasis on emotions and no emphasis on logic, but it is not limited to optimism because he displays both positive and negative emotions, and he displays them often together using both extremes in a single poem.
D. H. Lawrence wrote an essay that extensively describes Edgar Allen Poe’s writing style. Lawrence looks at Poe’s work as a scientific and mechanical way of writing. The tales Poe writes are not really tales at all. The only reason they are even considered as tales is because they are a concatenation of cause and effect. Lawrence saw Edgar’s stories as more than just a tales. They are love stories. Poe does not write looking at the human part of someone’s life. The characters are looked at as inanimate objects with human qualities, rather than the characters being human with inorganic qualities.
In "The House of Poe", Richard Wilbur elucidates his criticisms of Poe 's work. He firstly comments on a critic 's purpose, then how Poe 's stories are all allegories. He then addresses the possible opposition to his argument, and then begins his discussion of the common themes in Poe 's writing and provides examples from his stories. This dissertation will analyze Wilbur 's criticism by cross referencing Poe 's work and how it exemplifies Wilbur 's assessment. There is a great deal of evidence to support Wilbur 's theories, but a close examination of each one will determine how legitimate his argument really is.
Ingram, John Henry. Edgar Allan Poe: His Life, Letters, and Opinions. New York: AMS Press, Inc., 1965.
Edgar Allan Poe led a strange and unusually hard life, but through his experiences he produced many outstanding and wonderful works which have with out a doubt contributed to American Literature in several different areas. His stories are treasured by an immense readership. Although, Poe was quiet popular for his gothic tales, he was also well known for being and accomplished humorist, which is seen in many of his short stories. Poe was credited for singlehandedly inventing the detective story. No other played a more crucial role in shaping and developing the aesthetic theory, in the nineteenth-century, than Edgar Allan Poe. Thus, Poe remains a permanent fixture of our literary culture.