Poe is a very complicated author. His literary works are perplexed, disturbing, and even grotesque. His frequent illnesses may have provoked his engrossment in such things. In 1842 Dr. John W. Francis diagnosed Poe with sympathetic heart trouble as well as brain congestion. He also noted Poe's inability to withstand stimulants such as drugs and alcohol (Phillips 1508). These factors may have motivated him to write The Tell-Tale-Heart, The Cask of Amontillado, and The Black Cat. All of these stories are written in or around 1843, shortly after Poe became afflicted. His writing helped him to cope with his troubles and explore new territory in literature. Poe's interest in the supernatural, retribution, and perverse cause them to be included in his burial motifs; therefore sustaining his interest. There is a common thread laced through each subject, but there is variation in degrees of the impact. The supernatural is the phenomena of the unexplained. With this comes an aura of mystery and arousal of fear. Death in itself is the supreme mystery. No living human being can be certain of what happens to the soul when one dies. It is because of this uncertainty that death is feared by many. These types of perplexing questions cause a reader to come to a point of indifference within one of Poe's burial motifs. One is uncertain of how the events can unfold, because a greater force dictates them. Reincarnation in The Black Cat is a supernatural force at work. There is some sort of orthodox witchcraft-taking place. The whole story revolves around the cat, Pluto, coming back to avenge its death. One can not be sure how Pluto's rebirth takes place, but it is certain that something of a greater force has taken hold. The cat's appearance is altered when the narrator comes across it the second time. There is a white spot on the chest "by slow degrees, degrees nearly imperceptible…it had, at length, assumed a rigorous distinct outline…of the GALLOWS" (Poe 4). Foretelling the narrator's fate a confinement tool appears on the cat's chest. This also foreshadows the cat's confinement in the tomb. It reappears like a disease to take vengeance on a man that has committed horrid crimes. "I was answered by a voice within the tomb! --By a cry, at first muffled and broken, like the sobbing of a child, and quickly swelling into one long, loud and continuous scream, utterly anomalous an... ... middle of paper ... ... successful in incorporating the supernatural, perverse, and retribution into his work. He maintains his interest as well as the reader's by including subjects that are not prevalent. It is shocking, disturbing, and challenging to read. Some of Poe's literature has obvious relations to his own life, and how he coped with the problems that faced him. Having problems in ones life can escalate the soul to accomplish great things. Poe's lifestyle is very much a part of style. Works Cited Mankowitz, Wolf. The Extraordinary Mr. Poe and his Times. New York: Summit Books, 1978. Phillips, Mary E. Edgar Allan Poe-The Man, Volume II. Chicago, IL: The John C. Winston Co, 1912. Poe, Edgar Allan. The Black Cat. Online. Personal Computer. Simpatico. Internet. 18 March 1999. Available http://www.gothic.net/poe/works/black_cat.txt Poe, Edgar Allan. The Cask of Amontillado. Online. Personal Computer. Simpatico. Internet. 18 March 1999. Available http://www.literature.org/Works/Edgar-Allan-Poe/amontillado.html Poe, Edgar Allan. The Tell-Tale-Heart. Online. Personal Computer. Simpatico. Internet. 18 March 1999. Available http://www.gothic.net/poe/works/tell-tale_heart.txt
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 Allen Poe was one of the great writers of this world. He created several poems and short stories of a dark and dreary setting. His imagination was incredible. Edgar Allen Poe did not have a normal life. Bad luck and heart ach seemed to follow him until his death. His writing style was very different than other writers' style. His most famous pieces of work will be remembered for many generations to come.
Poe lived in poverty all of his life, never seeing enough money from his writings to allow him to live comfortably, and never seeing his writing arrive at the famed status that it has today. Poe drank heavily throughout his life due to all of the downfalls he suffered. In between these drinking binges Poe had spurts of creativity, this is when he wrote his best material (E. A. Poe Society of Baltimore Inc. "Poe, Drugs and Alcohol" 1). Poe's sad and troubled life gave him the material he needed to create stories and poems that would capture his audience. Though Poe lived a hard life and was criticized by many for being evil and demonic, his stories and poems are still with us today as some of the greatest American literature ever published. Edgar Allan Poe's life experiences including the untimely death of his parents, his use of drugs and alcohol, the many other deaths in his life, and his unhealthy relationships with women influenced his tales and poems now famed for being dark and horrific in tone.
Cervo, Nathan. "Poe's The Cask Of Amontillado." Explicator 51.3 (1993): 155. Literary Reference Center. Web. 8 Apr. 2014.
Fisher, Benjamin F. The Cambridge Introduction to Edgar Allan Poe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. Print.
“Poe, Edgar Allan.” Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica online library edition, Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 2013 Web. 13 Nov. 2013.
Wilbur, Richard. "The House of Poe." The Recognition of Edgar Allan Poe. Ed. Eric W. Carlson. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1966.
Poe, Edgar Allan. The Collected Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe. New York: The Modern Library 1992
As short fiction has become a more accepted genre in literary circles, Edgar Allan Poe’s stories become more popular. He’s story passed on and on, and he now consider to be the father of the short story by many. His stories were strong and powerful, one called them mystery. Not only his story, but also his life.
Hoffman, Daniel. Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe. 1972. Reprint, Baton Rouge and London: Louisiana State UP, 1998.
Edgar Allan Poe is considered to be the father of the short story by many. Over the course of his life, he wrote hundreds of short stories and poems. His writing style is unique and influenced by the tragedies that occurred over the course of his life. In fact, he is most well known for writing morbid stories and gruesome, dismal poems. Indeed his writing habits were heavily influenced by his life. His life was full of depression, angst, and woe. Many of the people he cared for fell victim to deadly plagues and diseases. To cope with this pain, Edgar Allan Poe sought comfort in the bottom of a bottle. In his times of depression he would drink heavily and become sick for days at a time. In between his fits of alcoholism and depression, he wrote. When he wrote, he wrote well. Edgar Allan Poe led a life full of tragedy and troubled times. Although he kept an air of dignity and pride around him, he often felt very lonely and depressed. This feeling of desperation greatly influenced his unique and often morbid writing style.
Poe, Edgar Allan. Edgar AllanPoe: Poetry and Tales. Ed. Patrick F. Quinn. New York: Literary Classics of the United States, 1984.
“’Villains!’ I shrieked, ‘dissemble no more! I admit the deed! –tear up the planks! here, here! - It is the beating of his hideous heart!’”(Poe). Edgar Allan Poe, a brilliant writer and poet, is well known for his creation of the horror short story and mystery novel. He has written suspenseful short-stories such as “The Raven” and “The Tell-Tale Heart” where in both stories it has the reader on edge till the very end. For example, “The Tell-Tale Heart” is about the main character taking care of an older man and begins to despise the old man’s bad eye. In the end the main character kills the old man and places his body under the floor boards and ends up turning himself in due to his own insanity and hallucinations. So to understand how Poe was able to write such masterpieces the reader must understand the life he lived and where his inspiration came from. He had a very rough life from losing his parents at a young age to having to drop out of college later in life. Poe also had a drinking problem, which ran in the family. So Poe’s peculiar life gives an insight to why and how he was able to write such intense, horror stories.
Poe, Edgar Allan. “That Cask of Amontillado.” Ibiblio. U of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, N.d.
Edgar Allan Poe is one American author whose name is known to almost everyone. Edgar is known for his elegant poems and for being a tough critic of refined tastes, but also for being the first master of the short story form, especially tales of mystery. He has a talent of having an extraordinary hold upon the readers imagination and not letting lose. Many advents of Edgar’s life has probably led to the strange, but successful and renowned pieces of American literature.