The Life and Writings of Edgar Allan Poe

Many historians and literature enthusiasts have presumed his volatile love life as the source while others have credited it to his substance abuse. The influence of his one-of-a-kind writing is more than likely a combination of both theories; but the main factor is the death of many of his loved ones and the abuse which he endured. This, not surprisingly, darkened his perspective considerably. Before the age of three, Poe was already an orphan after his Mother dying and his Father walking out on them (Frank 56). Poe was too young to remember his Mother since her death occurred when he was very young, but later in his life he grew resentful for being raised as a foster child.

That wind was also associated with the words “chilling and killing”. Virginia died of Tuberculosis, so the similarities between her and Annabel Lee are uncanny. The death of Virginia affected Poe so much he wrote a poem dedicated to her. It is also known that his drinking problem got worse after her death. Edgar Allan Poe’s haunting poems and morbid stories will be read by countless generations of people from many different countries, a fact which would have undoubtedly provided some source of comfort for this troubled, talented yet tormented man.

His father, a heavy drinker, abandoned the family when Poe was a year old, and at two years of age, Poe witnessed his mother’s death of tuberculosis. He was haunted by his mother’s death; it was a topic that he often explored in his writings later in life. Poe was then separated from his two sibling and taken in by the Allans, from whom he took his second name, in Richmond, Virginia. Although, Poe had a good relationship with his foster mother, he had a turbulent relationship with his foster father, with whom he often argued (Giammarco, 2012). As a child, Poe attended school in England for five years, and he later returned to America to continue his schooling.

The literary style of Edgar Allan Poe is very dark and has many supernatural connotations. He showed this style in the stories that he wrote such as: The Raven, The Black Cat, and The Tell-Tale Heart. He also wrote many other stories that showed his dark style of writing; however I felt that these stories portrayed his style the best. Many sources think that the reason Poe had such a dark literary style was because of the events that occurred in his life. Some of these events included his father dying, and soon after that his mother died.

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.

He was able to twist his stories and poems around in a way that almost seemed real, and was definitely intriguing. An example of this could be found in the “Black Cat”(Harrison, 257). The character took the eyes out of the first cat and then killed it. After that he proceeded to "accidentally" kill his wife with an ax, and bury her in a wall. Another example of Poe's insanity demonstrated within his works was located in “The Tell Tale Heart” (Harrison, 555), where Edgar stalked a man and eventually killed him.

Once Poe had lost his wife Virginia to illnesses, his poems were noticeably growing darker and more gruesome, and her death “haunted Poe until the end of his life” (Erica). These are only a few hardships Poe faced throughout his life, and each one led him to become a more dramatic and disturbing person. Every suffering he faced was used as a prompt for his writings, and throughout his work he places his hurt and depression into each piece based off his own life. His famous poems are the results of his insanity based off his unfortunate life. Even though Poe lived a challenging and stressful life, his poems ... ... middle of paper ... ...clude the creepy setting of the story, the gruesome details, and the tragic death of a seemingly innocent man.

Perhaps one of the most influential was Edgar Allan Poe. Edgar Allan Poe’s life was not an easy one, which explains why poetry was so dark and disturbing. Poe’s father abandoned him when he was a baby, and his mother died of tuberculosis when he was only three years old. He was adopted by a couple named John and Frances Allan. Frances was very loving toward Poe, but sadly died of tuberculosis just before he went to college.

Elizabeth scored many lead actress roles, but still the two only had enough money to live poorly. They were too poor to care for their firstborn son, William Henry Poe, and had to send him off to his grandparents who were to care for him. On January 19, 1809, Edgar Poe was born. Edgar’s father was suffering heavily from alcoholism, and eventually left Elizabeth to care for her son alone. Elizabeth, however, was showing signs of tuberculosis and was pregnant with a third child.

Edgar Allan Poe’s writing are often serious, talking about dark things, and they usually seem to reflect his childhood,his love life, and his view of what life basically is. Edgar have written numerous poems and stories about death, but some in particular suggest that it was something that reflect upon his childhood. The reason why I said suggest was that we don’t know for sure because Poe never openly stated that, and proven this suggestion. One story, The Masque of the Red Death was about a sickness that was common and deadly during Poe’s life. It had claimed the life of his mother, and his foster mother.