Edgar Allan Poe:His Life and Works

Poe’s Reputation

“Edgar Allan Poe: father of the detective story, the pre-eminent literary critic of his time, supreme artist of the short story, world-reknowned poet, and the undisputed master of the macabre.” --John Astin

“ Poe is the prince of American literature” --Victor Hugo

“ Poe, the marvelous lord of rhythmic expression.” --Oscar Wilde

Poe’s Importance Awareness of the discontinuity between the

Old and the New World Deep commitment to the past Inability to find his рlасе in the traditional and

conservative society of the Old South Sense of lоnеlу individualism Acute criticism of contemporary culture Foresaw some of the nightmares of today

Poe’s Acceptance Admired by the French Symbolists: Charles

Baudelaire Stephane Mallarme, Paul Valery Poe's American contemporaries: "two-fifths

sheer fudge" (James Russell Lowell, А Fable for Critics)

“Jingle mаn" (Emerson) “An enthusiasm for Рое is the mark of а

decidedly primitive state of reflection" (Неnrу James)

Poe’s Work Recreates а place beyond аnу particular locality

оr nationality, а world of its own Often assumed to bе the first distinctive writer to

have соmе out of the Old South The Southern qualities of his fiction:

- high formalism of style

- idealization of women

- scorn for democracy and progress

-uneasiness about the age of the machine

Poe’s Romanticism

Deep and intense Took the special form of explorations of а

world of dream and of nightmare rather than explorations of American daylight scene

Not nourished bу the contemplation of nature Interested in the particular examples of

breakdown, frustration, and horror that his contemporary culture produced.

Poe’s Genres

Criticism--gained a national reputation as a virulently sarcastic critic, a literary hatchet man. Bulk of his writing consists of his criticism, Ambition to become a powerful critic.

Poetry--an experimental poet. Psychological fiction--wanted to produce the

greatest possible horrific effects on the reader. Detective Story--created this form with all its

major conventions complete.

Poe’s Early Years

Born January 19, 1809 in Boston as Edgar Poe, son of traveling actors.

Orphaned/abandoned very young

Raised by a foster family-- John and Frances Allan.

Baptized in 1812 as Edgar Allan Poe.

Poe’s Education

Attended two private schools in England (1816-1820)

Attended several private schools in America from 1821-1826

Attended University of Virginia from Feb. 1826 until Mar. 1827

Later attended West Point but was honorably discharged

Poe’s Works Inventor of short story Short Story Genres

Horror Detective Psychological Science fiction

Poems Literary Criticism

Originator of American literary criticism

Some of Poe’s Short Stories

“The Cask of Amontillado” (1846)

“The Tell-Tale Heart” (1842) “The Black Cat” (1842) “The Fall of the House of

Usher” (1839) “The Masque of the Red

Death” (1842) “The Murders in the Rue

Morgue” (1841)

Some of Poe’s Poems

“The Raven” (1845) “Annabel Lee” (1849) “Israfel” (1831) “Lenore” (1843) “Tamerlane” (1827)

Some Literary Tools

Works are Southern, Gothic, Romantic

Used such tools as Allusion Symbols Vocabulary

Vocabulary

Poe uses vocabulary to create setting, for rhetorical effect, rather than for information.

Modern horror films use music to create atmosphere; Poe used vocabulary.

Literary Term: Allusion

Reference to a famous historical or literary figure or event

Best sources are literature, history, Greek myth, and the Bible

Serves to explain or clarify or enhance whatever subject

Left to reader to make the association Understandable only to those with prior

knowledge

Poe and the Gothic

Poe did not want to write gothic stories; he started his career spoofing the Gothic.

He said that he wrote, “Tales of terror, not of Germany, but of the soul.”

He transformed tales of terror into psychological stories; he delved into the mysterious recesses of the human mind.

Gothic Elements

Supernatural horrors and atmosphere of unknown terror pervading action

High emotion, sentimentalism, also anger, surprise, and terror

Use of words indicating fear, mystery, etc.: apparition, devil, ghost, haunted, terror, fright, fainting

Grim Settings

Grim Settings

Landscapes often reflections of character’s mind.

Unusual buildings, extremes of nature, eccentric works of art

Very few of his stories clearly in America; most in Europe or “Poe Land.”

Gothic Plot Devices

Hidden evil Unspeakable, mysterious crimes: incest, parracide

Obsession with Death Ghosts, blood, body parts

Maniacal Laughter Deformity

Grotesque--people who don’t look right are capable of activity beyond the norm

Characteristics of Poe’s Detective Stories

Veiled clues before the reader. Writer/narrator strives to appear objective.

Preference for solving everything by the mind. Poe disturbed by what could not be solved by

reason.

Climax = narrator’s explanation of the crime.

Poe as a Literary Critic Based criticism on his own

writing style Early supporter of

Hawthorne Harshly criticized detractors Preferred short works Divorced morality from art Stressed unity of tone

Poe in 1845

Had published several collections of short stories and many poems.

Had been married for nine years to Virginia Poe.

Hoped to get own magazine.

Poe after 1845

Virginia died of tuberculosis in 1847.

Prose Poem “Eureka” published (1848)

Poe died on October 7, 1849 in Baltimore.

Buried in Westminster Burying Ground in Baltimore. Portrait made in 1848

Poe’s Mysterious Death

Found unconscious outside a saloon

Possible death by alcohol overdose although sober for six months before

death

Possible diabetic coma Possible heart attack Possible rabies Possible injuries from being

beaten

After Poe’s Death

Works of the Late Edgar Allan Poe, a four volume edition, is published by Rufus Griswold, Poe’s literary executor. Griswold disliked Poe and acted to harm Poe’s

reputation. Griswold destroyed letters, wrote misleading

statements, falsified manuscripts, and faked correspondence.

Poe’s reputation is damaged for generations.

Poe’s Public Image

Later scholarship has disproved Griswold's slanders and proved that Роe was not а moral monster but а man fighting for а place in а conservative and prejudiced society who was а competent editor and quite а successful journalist.