About Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was a legendary writer who changed literature for the better, despite struggling through a difficult life, he managed to write some of the best literary pieces of his time, some still renowned to this today. Although he wrote during the Romanticism movement, his work did not begin to be fully appreciated until the latter part of the 19th century, and he was recognized even later in the United States. Although the direct influence of his writing is unclear, his passion for literature was a prominent piece of all different stages of his life.
The story of the this literary luminary began almost as sad as it ended. In Boston during 1809, Poe was born to parents who were both actors, so it was seemingly destined that he would become a storyteller of some sort (Prida). In 1810 his father left and by 1811 his mother had passed away, leading Poe to be taken in to the home of his assumed godfather and his wife, John and Frances Allen (“Edgar”). The Allens lived in and around England, Scotland, and London and so Poe went to a boarding school near London and was able to learn French as well as begin his writing career (Prida). The Allens moved back to the United States in 1920 and Poe was able to continue his schooling at the University of Virginia (Sova). This is where Poe’s unfortunate tendencies first started to have effects on his life. After his first year of enrollment at this school, John Allen demanded that Edgar withdraw from the school due to the fact that he had been gambling and drinking instead of going to class, not to mention he acquired quite a bit of gambling debt (Prida). This conflicted added to the already strained relationship of Poe and his unofficially adopted father (Prida). Nearly a year after he left school Poe self-published his first work of literature called Tamerlane and Other Poems, which is a short collection of poems (‘Edgar”). However, shortly after, “Poverty forced him to join the army under the name of Edgar A. Perry, but, on the death of Poe’s foster mother, John Allan purchased his release from the army and helped him get an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point” (“Edgar”). During that same year, Poe published his another collection of poems, which were called Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems. Less than a year later Poe was happily kicked out of West Point for missing tons of role calls and classes (Prida). Poe then released his third set of poems, titled no other than, Poems, “which contained an early version of the later classic, ‘To Helen’” (Prida). This lead into the start to his career in literary jobs.
Poe’s struggle with poverty did not stop him from seeking out and working in jobs that primarily involved writing. His first true writing job was at Philadelphia Saturday Courier only a year after moved into the household of his future wife and 13-year-old second cousin Virginia Clemm (Prida). After winning a writing contest, “Poe gained his first professional post in 1835, as assistant editor at the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond.” (Prida). Edgar manager to get temporarily fired from this post from drinking on the job, and, “drinking was in fact to be the bane of his life” (“Edgar”).
Between his struggle with finding work and the ever present worry for his wife’s health, Poe’s drinking habits began to worsen and worsen. Once, he had the chance to have a meeting with members of the John tyler administration, however on the day of the meeting he was sick, presumably hungover, and that opportunity was gone forever (Prida). After the death of Virginia Poe’s alcoholism reached dangerous new levels, although he released a surprising amount of work between the time of her death and the time of his (Sova). Poe died of an then unknown cause, which is now thought to be either drinking or heart failure, in Baltimore in the year 1849 (“Edgar”). Despite his massive success in the literary category, Poe’s alcoholism caused a massive damper on his life.
Poe wrote during the time period of literary Romanticism, which had a few defining characteristics, some of which were omnipresent through his writings (Magistrale). Some of these main qualities include, but are not limited to, focuses on nature, emotion, beauty, imagination, rejection of industrialization, free thinking, and supernatural unknowns (Richards). An example of supernatural exploration was included in one of his early poems, mentioned earlier, titled Al Aaraaf, which is about possible happenings in the afterlife (Poe). Another instance of Literary Romanticism is Poe’s writing was in one his earlier works that later became a classic titled “To Helen.” In this poem Poe writes primary of the pure beauty of the woman named Helen (Poe). These are just a few of his many literary pieces that include the characteristics of Romanticism
Arguably one of Poe’s greatest impacts on literature was his creation of the first detective story. In series of stories that quickly became novel length, “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” “The Mystery of Marie Roget,” and “The Purloined Letter” all followed C. Auguste Dupin, who was a French detective fabricated by Poe himself (“Detective”). In each of these tales Poe introduced the four main components of a basic detective story which are: “(1) the seemingly perfect crime; (2) the wrongly accused suspect at whom circumstantial evidence points; (3) the bungling of dim-witted police; (4) the greater powers of observation and superior mind of the detective; and (5) the startling and unexpected denouement, in which the detective reveals how the identity of the culprit was ascertained” (“Detective”). Although he may not of known it at the time, Poe created a whole new sub-genre of literature by writing those stories.
A Truly amazing author, Poe had shaped writing for the better, despite his awful life, he has given many reader the true join of reading his works.
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