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1 Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)
1!
Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)!
Difficulty of Biography!n Difficult to differentiate
legend from fact in his life!n Some of the legends he
spread himself!n Claimed to be born in 1811
or 1813 so he would appear younger than he actually was when some of his poems were composed!
n Exaggerated how long he was at UVA!
n Fabricated an expedition to join the Greek struggle for liberty!
2!
Rufus Griswold!n Well-known critic and
anthologizer of American literature !
n Two days after Poe’s death, began a campaign of character assassination against Poe!
n Rewrote Poe’s correspondence in order to alienate Poe’s friends!
n Forgeries unexposed for many years, poisoning biographer’s impressions of Poe!
3!
Actual Life!n Mother Elizabeth Arnold an
actress!n Was a teenage widow
when she married David Poe, Jr. in 1806!
n Edgar the second child, born in Boston in 1809!
n A year late, David Poe deserts the family!
n Elizabeth dies in 1811 at age 24!
4!
The Allans!n Poe taken in by John Allan,
a young Richmond merchant!
n Went to good schools, partly in England!
n Attended both the University of Virginia and West Point briefly!
5!
John Allan
n Broke with the Allans, largely due to gambling debts !
n Went to live with his father’s relatives in Baltimore!
n Aunt Maria Poe Clemm!
6!
Marriage!n Secretly married Maria
Poe Clemm’s daughter Virginia in 1835 (his first cousin)!
n Poe was 26; Virginia was 13!
n Publicly married in 1836!
7!
Career!n Wrote stories, book
reviews, edited magazines!n Lived in New York and
Philadelphia!n Gaining literary acclaim!n Publication of “The Raven”
in 1845 makes him a sensation!
8!
Sad End!n Drinking steadily while
gaining literay fame!n Sometimes fired from jobs
for drinking!n Virginia died in 1847 of a
burst blood vessel in her throat (wasn’t yet 20)!
n Poe died in Baltimore, after found wandering streets semi-conscious!
9!
Mysteries Continue!n MUCH speculation, even
today about cause of death!n Drunkenness?!n Election scandal?!n Mercury?!n Rabies?!
n Mysterious visitor to Poe’s grave (Poe Toaster)!
10!
Famous for…!n Horror/gothic tales
(although difficult to tell if he’s taking the genre seriously or spoofing it)!
n Inventing the detective story in which the cool-headed, logical investigator reasons out the crime!
n Psychological depth—locating the horror inside an individual rather than outside!
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n Poetry that focused on sound and rhythm; that appealed to the beautiful!
n Hated poetry of ideas, in which “meaning” was primary—thought this turned poetry into prose!
n Disparages the “so called poetry of the so called transcendentalists” (p. 745)!
n In return, Emerson called Poe a “jingle man”!
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