Biography of Edgar Allan Poe Many authors' literary works are often influenced by their own personal life experiences. Among these authors is Edgar Allan Poe, one of the most inventive writers of prose and poetry in the nineteenth century. The juxtaposition of Poe's life and work is most evident in the morbid personalities and melancholy themes of his literary compositions, similar to those of his life. Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 19, 1809. His mother, Elizabeth Arnold Poe, had been widowed at eighteen, and two years after his birth she died of tuberculosis at the age of twenty-four. Poe's paternal grandfather had been a wealthy man, but his father, David Poe, had left the family to become an actor, and Edgar was left with nothing. When his mother died, John Allan, a Richmond tobacco merchant, at the urging of his wife, Frances Allan, adopted Edgar. She was devoted to Edgar, and in his childhood he enjoyed a security that was never to be his again after he left home. In 1815 John Allan took the family to England in the hope of furthering his business. During the next five years Edgar attended various schools, the most significant of which was the Manor House School at Stoke Newington. The gothic atmosphere of this school provided him with many details he was later to make use of in his fiction. He wrote about his impressions of the London school in a story called "William Wilson". (Meyers, 1992, p.12). During the fall of 1823, when Edgar was fourteen years old, his classmate Robert Stanard introduced Poe to his mother, Jane Stanard, who was a beautiful and compassionate young woman. Edgar became devoted to her. He called her Helen, which to his ears sounded far more... ... middle of paper ... ...7, 1849, at 5:00am. (Meyers, 1992, p.254-255). Edgar Allan Poe's deplorable life was filled with unfortunate calamity, endless tragedies, and pathetic misery, which inevitably led to his pessimistic view on life and obsession with death. His personal mind frame is automatically conveyed in his essays, which for him was a primary form of expression. Thus, a strong emphasis on somber despondency has proven to be a thematic element of his literary career. Bibliography: Works Cited Krutch, Joseph Wood. Edgar Allan Poe. New York: Alfred A. Knopp, 1926. May, Charles E. Edgar Allan Poe; A Study of the Short Fiction. Boston: Twayne's Publishing, 1991. Meyers, Jeffrey. Edgar Allan Poe; His Life and Legacy. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1992. Poe, Edgar A. The Complete Tales of Mystery and Imagination. New York: Octopus Books Inc., 1981.
Paragraph B: After his mother’s death, Edgar went to live with a foster family and his siblings went to other families. His foster father was John Allen, a Scottish tobacco merchant living in Richmond, Virginia. Edgar took on the Allen’s last name as his middle name and became known then as Edgar Allen Poe. The family traveled to England in 1815 where Edgar began his schooling. He attended schools in Irvine, Scotland, Chelsea ...
Edgar Allan Poe is the most morbid of all American authors. Poe made his impact in Gothic fiction, especially for the tales of the macabre of which he is so renowned for. “How can so strange & so fine a genius & so sad a life, be exprest [sic] & comprest in on line — would it not be best to say of Poe in a reverential spirit simply Requiescat in Pace [?]” — (Alfred Lord Tennyson’s reply to the Poe Memorial committee, February 18, 1876). Poe’s own life story sheds light on the darkness of his writings.
Edgar Allan Poe was born at 33 Hollis Street, Boston, Mass., on January 19, 1809, the son of poverty stricken actors, David, and Elizabeth (born Arnold) Poe. His parents were then filling an engagement in a Boston theatre, and the appearances of both, together with their sojourns in various places during their wandering careers, are to be plainly traced in the play bills of the time.
Edgar Allen Poe was a man beleaguered with personal tragedy and besieged by the more unpleasant experiences of life. His certainty that fate had dealt him a bad hand served to fuel his rage, his alcoholism and his entire mission of self-destruction. However it also served to inspire him to write some of the most thought provoking and emotionally provocative poetry in the history of literature.
Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of actress Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe and actor David Poe, Jr. His father abandoned the family in 1810, and his mother died of tuberculosis when he was only two, so Poe was taken into the home of John Allan, a successful tobacco merchant in Richmond, Virginia. Although his middle name is often misspelled as "Allen," it is actually "Allan" after this family. After attending the Misses Duborg boarding school in London and Manor School in Stoke Newington, London, England, Poe moved back to Richmond, Virginia, with the Allans in 1820. Poe registered at the University of Virginia in 1826, but only stayed there for one year. He was estranged from his foster father at some point in this period over gambling debts Poe had acquired while trying to get more spending money, and so Poe enlisted in the United States Army as a private using the name Edgar A. Perry on May 26, 1827. That same year, he released his first book, Tamarlane and Other Poems. After serving for two years and attaining the rank of Sergeant-major, Poe was discharged. In 1829, Poe's foster mother Frances Allan died and he published his second book, Al Aaraf. As per his foster mother's deathwish, Poe reconciled with his foster father, who coordinated an appointment for him to the United States Military Academy at West Point. His time at West Point was ill-fated, however, as Poe supposedly deliberately disobeyed orders and was dismissed. After that, his foster father repudiated him until his death in March 27, 1834.
Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 19, 1809. He was born to two poor actors, David Poe and Elizabeth Arnold Poe. David Poe was born to a good Baltimore family. He was known as a heavy drinker, and soon after Edgar was born, left his mother and Edgar’s two other siblings. Elizabeth was thought to be charming and talented, but she died an early death. She died of tuberculosis at the age of twenty-four. Edgar was only three years old. The death of his mother ruined Edgar for the rest of his life. Edgar’s brother, WIlliam Henry Leonard Poe, also came to be a poet, but he had a n early demise. His sister, Rosalie Poe, grew up to teach penmanship. Edgar and his siblings were separated from each other after the death of their parents).Shortly after, Edgar was taken in by John and Frances Allan. John was a successful tobacco merchant. Edgar moved to England with the Allans and went to school in England from 1815 to 1820. Edgar and David did not see eye to eye at all. John wanted Edgar to be a businessman and a Virginian gentleman, but Edgar aspired to become a writer. By the time Edgar began college at the University of Virginia in 1826, he barely communicated or received support from the Allans. Edgar was a wonderful student but a terrible gambler. He soon accumulated a considerable amount of debt because John sent him to university with a measly amount of money. He did not have enough for expenses which led him to gambling. He was so poor and desperate that he burned his furniture to keep warm. Humiliated, he returned home to Richmond to discover that his fiancée, Elmira Royster, was engaged to another man. His stay at the Allan mansion was cut very short because of the increasing tension b...
Edgar Poe was born on January 19, 1809 to parents David Poe Jr. and Eliza Poe in Boston Massachusetts. He was the second of three children, his brother William was a poet but died at an early age and his sister Rosalie taught penmanship at a Richmond girl’s school. Before the age of three both of Edgars parents died and the siblings were all sent of to live with different adopted families. John Allan and Frances Valentine Allan adopted Poe. They lived in Richmond Virginia where John was a prosperous tobacco merchant. When Poe turned six the Allan’s moved to England where they stayed for five years. While in England Poe went to good schools and took Latin, French, math, and history classes.
On January 19, 1809, Edgar Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts. His mother, Elizabeth Arnold Poe, a beautiful English actress, died on December 8, 1811, in Richmond, Virginia. Poe believed he inherited his talent for reciting verse primarily from his mother. He perceived her in a nearly angelic light, and his many attempts to find a woman that could equate to her memory are etched into his poet...
Edgar Allen Poe was born in Boston Massachusetts back in 1809 on January 19th. Even as a child Poe’s life was full of death and sorrow having had both of his parents dying when he was only three years old and the later losses he would face, Poe was born into a family as the second child of three with a set of traveling actors as parents and had two other siblings William Poe his older brother and Rosalie Poe his younger sister who after their parents death were split into different families.Poe himself was moved to Richmond, Virginia with John Allan and his wife Frances Valentine Allan where he grew up being forced into the life of Virginia gentlemen and to be involved in business. For Poe business was never intriguing it was actually the opposite there were a few (early poetic verses found written in a young Poe’s handwriting on the backs of Allan’s ledger sheets reveal how little interest Poe had in the tobacco business) Instead of Allan’ idea for Poe’s life Poe himself wanted to be a poet like Lord Byron who had been a childhood hero to him. In this way Poe could have succeeded even at an early age, by the age of thirteen Poe had written so many poems that he could have made a book, but he was refused by Allan after Poe’s headmaster had advised against it. (In 1826 Poe left his home in Richmond and went to the University of Virginia where he excelled in his study’s but came across the problem of not having even a third of what he needed to attend the school for the year.
Edgar Allan Poe is a Boston born native to Massachusetts. An orphan by age two, Poe was separated from his two siblings, William Henry and Rosalie, and sent to live with John and Fanny Allan. Poe’s young life was ordinary. At the age of 6, Poe and the Allan family moved to England for John’s expanding business. Poe was separated from his new family to attend schools in Scotland and Chelsea, England. He was unhappy and bitter about being abandoned in his later years. The Allan’s business failed and their debt increased to an unimaginable level. The Allan family and Poe returned to America in 1820. After the death of John Allan’s uncle, the inheritance was able to soothe their debt. As a teen, Poe attended Clarke Academy which is where he began his love of poetry and literature. Poe went on to excel in athletics and academics, all the while never being legally adopted by his guardians. Poe attended the University of Virginia in Charleston and ran into his own debt. His relationship with John became increasingly difficult and eventually came to physical confrontation after the death of Fanny, Poe’s beloved maternal figure. Poe left in 1827 to join the army. In 1830 he began at West Point Military Academy, only to be court martialed a year later. Upon leaving West Point, Poe left to live with his extended family in Baltimore Maryland. This family consisted of his aunt Maria, and two cousins Henry and Virginia. During his time of staying with his aunt “Muddy” and his two cousins, Poe lost his old guardian John Allan and also his oldest brother Henry. In 1835 he began working for the Southern Literary Messenger. His first short story, "Metzengerstein" was published in 1836. In May of that year, Poe and his 14 year old cousin Virginia Cl...
Edgar Allan Poe was a romantic, satanic poet and short story writer. His writings affected the literature world in a powerful manner. He was as well inspired by earlier writers such as most writers are. Such writers as Shakespeare and many other medieval and romantic writers. Poe was just one of many inspired writers during the romantic period of time. Poe’s stories and poems were inspired by his childhood and rather mysterious life as well. Also, his stories spoke of the several times he fell in love.
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.
Best known for his poems and short fiction, Edgar Allan Poe deserves more credit than any other writer for the transformation of the short story into a respected literary work. He virtually created the detective story and perfected the psychological thriller. He also produced some of the most influential literary criticism of his time. Although he contributed so much to the writing world, little is known about the Poe himself. Historians have been trying for years to piece together the life of this literary genius. In almost every biographical publication Poe’s life is divided into three sections: his early life, his career, and his death.
Edger Allan Poe is one of the most influential authors of his time. Well known for his short story's The Raven and A Tell-Tale Heart, Poe also wrote poems that reflected his struggles through out his life. Poe was born in 1809, Thomas Jefferson was president. Lots of events occurred during Poe’s life with the beginning of the war of 1812, to the writing of “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley, and “The Vampyre” written by John Polidori. Slavery was banned in England in 1833 and a year later, The Spanish Inquisition ends in 1834 .During Poe’s short life of forty years; writers such as James Fenimore Cooper, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Charles Dickens published works. There was an influx of great writers during his time. Worldly influences such as wars, lack of proper health for illness such as tuberculosis and the popularity of stories with horror and monsters most certainly influence how Poe wrote. The biggest influence on Poe’s writing was his personal life; gambling, drinking, loss of love, and lack of money, greatly influenced what he wrote.
Many of Poe's writings reflected his life, be it happy or sad. Poe had a very difficult life, different from many others. All the women in his life seemed to die. Many died of Tuberculosis. Those who didn't die of Tuberculosis still seemed to die. These deaths played a major effect on Poe's writing style. Men were often the "bad guys" in Poe's literature, and nearly every story Poe wrote was about death. Many times there were obscure circumstances surrounding the deaths in the stories.