Edgar Allan Poe was a child whose life was riddled with pain from the beginning. By the age of two his father had already fled the house and his mother had died in a circus accident. Then suddenly his life made a change for the good he was adopted by a rich family who cared about him. Edgar’s death though still clouded, by shroudery was apparently caused by the alcohol that he had consumed that fateful night. Alcohol had always left an impression in his life through the good and the bad he was known to be an alcoholic.
Alcohol intoxication was clearly the cause of death for Edgar Allan Poe. Poe was found delirious off in a ditch almost a week after he had gone missing. There is proof that Poe was an alcoholic the letters that were found between
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Alcohol would be the major cause of this delirium mostly due to the fact that when a body is breaking down alcohol it is delusional and even can cause death if too much is consumed. Characteristics of alcohol include delirium hallucinations and loss of memory all of which Poe was showing near the time of his death. The muttering and the jitters are also other symptoms that branch out of excessive drinking of alcohol. The autopsy showed that he had brain inflammation and had died due to that. Brain inflammation though not tied in with alcohol could have been caused by the weather that Edgar was in. the chilly weather along with the rain, which he was unprotected from, may have caused the death of Edgar Allan Poe. A lot of the last moments that Edgar Allan Poe spent with the doctor were either filled with delirium or calmness a sign of the body attempting to break down all of the alcohol in the …show more content…
Edgar when he had left his house in Virginia was already showing symptoms of a fever he shook it off and decided to start his rip anyways. That was a fatal mistake. The alcohol that would be consumed later would deter his judgment capacity thus leaving him out in the cold and rain unprotected from the elements. This then would cause the brain inflation, which then led to his death. This point though arguable is quite a strong theory. With out any protection from the elements man would succumb to all of the viruses and diseases that would come from being out in the cold weather for extended periods of time with no exterior protection. And back in the period that Poe lived in the medical capacity would not be enough to compensate for the disease that he could have
Edgar Allan Poe was setting out for Baltimore. On October third a man named Joseph Walker had found Poe lying outside by Gunners hall, not normally dressed and unconscious. Poe was unaware of surroundings and was fatigue. Joseph had made contact with a doctor and had sent Poe to the hospital. Four days later Poe had died in the hospital. No scientist had figured out the true reason why Poe died, and we will never actually know because no one had an autopsy for Poe after his death. Many people believed he died of alcoholism, rabies, brain tumor, and the flu, but all of these add up to meningitis and encephalitis.
One of the most recent theories is that he had succumbed to a brain tumor before his death. After his death they dug up his grave to move the remains and in his skull something was moving around. Way before his death he was suffering a brain tumor but went dormant from their knowledge. Edgar could have simply died from the Flu. It could have turned into the pneumonia which then could have killed him. Poe visited a doctor while he was traveling and he said he felt sick
This last theory is based on the fact that on November 5, 1848, he tried his hand in committing suicide with an overdose of Laudanum; an opium substitute. Poe is not a stranger to substance abuse and is more often found in gambling debts. He was an introverted character that seemed to have close to a few friends. This explains why only seven people were at his
Alcohol is a big discussion in his death since he had so much trouble with it in his past. A couple of months before Poe's death he had become a member of the temperance movement, eschewing alcohol, which he had struggles with his whole entire life. Where poe was found was near a bar where Poe was actually seen at. Poe could have died of alcohol poisoning with doesn't explain his five day disappearance and his change of clothing. Since alcohol has been a big problem in his life Edgar could have just been tempted to drink after not having it for a while and just got of hand. The alcohol theory was propagated by Snodgrass after Poe's death. Snodgrass was a member of the temperance movement and gave lectures across the country. Snodgrass said that binge drinking caused the death of Edgar Allan Poe. Modern science has thrown out Snodgrass's theory because of the samples of Poe's hair. His hair showed levels of lead which indicated that Poe remainded faithful to his vow of sobriety up until his death. Also alcohol played a role in the cooping theory because the political gangs used liquor and violence to force them to vote for their candidates. Also in those days Alcohol was a reward for voting and since he was found near the bar that was holding voting that day he could have voed and received the alcohol that made him sick and
Edgar Allen Poe was a 19th century author and poet who was famous for many short stories such as “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Telltale Heart”. His most famous work being the poem, “The Raven”. In 1849, Poe mysteriously died in a hospital after acting strangely in a bar. Many sources agree that he died of some form of cerebral inflammation, but agreements stop on the topic of how it happened. Many different theories arise, such as disease from weather exposure, or alcohol poisoning. Later on, a new theory arised, stating that Poe died of rabies. The theory suggests that Poe suffered from a bite or scratch many months before, and symptoms began to show after he forgot about the injury. Edgar Allan Poe died of rabies, and can be proven by the recorded symptoms in the hospital, his behavior at the tavern and at the hospital, and evidence for the lack of a bite mark or memory of one.
Dementia is a disease that affects the brain’s function of thinking and behavior, and in some cases language and judgment. The disease was proven to interfere with the ability to control emotions and behavior, which explains Poe’s self-destructive mind that lead to his attempt of suicide preceding his wife, Virginia’s, death.(NINDS 1) Poe’s dementia was progressive, meaning that his condition worsened throughout his life. A combination of Poe’s drinking habits and a manic depression could have contributed to this. The slight differences in Poe’s writing demonstrate the progression of mental decline. For example, his writing progresses from his early writing’s appreciation of tragic mysteries of life to an almost pure obsession of death.(Merriman 1)
Substance abuse plays a role in more than one of Poe's works. In the black cat alcohol drives the narrator to rip out his cats eye with with a pen and then hang the cat in guilt of what he had done. The narrator was a kind hearted man who loved animals and would do nothing to hurt them until he started to drink. He became an angrier person, always getting enraged with the people and creatures around him and his personality changed for the worse. Substance abuse changed him and drove him to be a different person than he really was. After killing the cat he felt little to no remorse for the deed he had committed and went back to his drinking and partying.Eventually his drinking led him to kill his wife, substance abuse changed him into a cold hearted man who could rationalize killing his wife and getting away with it.
...Unfortunately, Poe wrote about what he could not seem to escape, the continuous death and loss of the people around him. The loneliness and sorrow Poe experienced through out his life was the driving force behind his work. The substance abuse came as a result of the emptiness and sorrow Poe felt, resulting in the self-destruction and eventual end to his own life. In spite of his own tragedies, he remains one of the most treasured and beloved writers' in American history. His haunting poems and stories will be read by numerous generations.
On September 28, 1849, Edgar Allan Poe arrived in Baltimore, Maryland to take a train to Philadelphia. What was supposed to be a brief stop over turned into an eternity. What caused the death of "the father of the detective story"? The possible scenarios surrounding the events that lead up to his death are the cause of many magazine articles, books, and even recent medical studies. Although no one really knows what happened to Edgar Alan Poe, there are over twenty different theories about what might have happened to him. I will discuss the four major theories of what Edgar Allan Poe's cause of death was.
Although there are several theories as to how Edgar Allan Poe died, I think he died from a practice called cooping which involved excessive alcohol ingestion as well. Cooping was a form of electoral fraud where victims are forced to wear disguises, do drugs and drink alcohol and then vote numerous times. Most of the theories involving Poe’s death have been discredited. The cooping theory is one of the most likely ones to have happened. In comparison to other theories, this one is considered likely to be true. There are just too many discrepancies in the other theories to be identified as true.
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
Edgar Allan Poe was a son of traveling actors that soon his father left the family behind. Which then his beautiful mother passed away in a theatrical room in Virginia.At the age of three he was a foster child.Which then he was brought into the Allan family which his parents were pleased with him.They really liked how he was athletic and was able to get great scholarships.Poe attended the University of Virginia but, soon he dropped out of huge gambling debts.Edgar Allan Poe’s final days has been a mystery since no one really knows how he died. Lots of people have been writing stories on how he possibly died but, we don’t know if they are true. His death has been a cliffhanger ever since people have been writing stories on how he must have
One of the main theories was the alcohol theory. This is the main theory that most people think about when you talk about the death of Edgar Allan Poe. . Edgar Allan Poe was a major drunk all his life and it got worse after his young wife Virginia had passed away. Another reason that Poe had always been in the bottle is that his wealthy guardian cut him off and he got stricken with poverty.
Throughout Edgar Allan Poe’s life, death was a frequent visitor to those he loved around him. When Poe was only 3 years old, his loving mother died of Tuberculosis. Because Poe’s father left when he was an infant, he was now an orphan and went to live with the Allan’s. His stepmother was very affectionate towards Edgar and was a very prominent figure in his life. However, years later she also died from Tuberculosis, leaving Poe lonely and forlorn. Also, later on, when Poe was 26, he married his cousin 13-year-old Virginia, whom he adored. But, his happiness did not last long, and Virginia also died of Tuberculosis, otherwise known as the Red Death, a few years later. After Virginia’s death, Poe turned to alcohol and became isolated and reckless. Due to Edgar Allan Poe’s loss of those he cared for throughout his life, Poe’s obsession with death is evident in his works of “The Tell-Tale Heart”, “The Black Cat”, and “The Fall of the House of Usher”, in which in all three death is used to produce guilt.
There are many times where the narrator describes his actions towards his loved ones while under the influence of alcohol. Since the narrator is trying to draw the attention to his consumption of alcohol, he tries to make sure that his actions trace back to it. In the short story, the narrator says "But my disease grew upon me -- for what disease is like Alcohol !..."(Poe 23) which shows his addiction for alcohol becoming stronger. The narrator's madness seems to be heightened by the alcohol. He begins to chan...