English Literature: Edgar Allan Poe: How his life Influenced his work

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Edgar Allan Poe: How his life Influenced his work

Edgar Allan has been recognized as one of the morbid authors who existed. His opinion has been portrayed in different forms. He has been recognized as the most familiar author in American literature (Halliburton 43). He overcame perpetual bankruptcy, living off molasses and bread as a daily meal, an occasional beggar in the streets to a famous author who acquired financial security (Halliburton 43). After a few months, a number of his poetries got published.

             Edgar Allan published his very first story in 1832. He mastered the art of supernaturalism in his books that have involved the occurrences of life beyond death (Parks 41). After the publishing of one book, it was reported that the author had been under the influence of alcohol, though the allegations have not been proved according to McGann (63). The most certain fact is that Edgar Allan experienced a traumatic moment growing up (Mcgann 64). These are some of the factors that are believed by critics to have influenced his writings. His parents passed on when he was three years forcing him to go and live with a man named John Allan (Walker 23). The man was a tobacco worker. Though, his siblings were separated from him and went to live with other relatives.

While growing up, Poe did not receive the intended support, for instance, he was given insufficient funds by Allan. The funds were not enough to enable him to get to college (Calson 6). Moreover, John Allan never accepted Poe as his legal heir. These are just but a few problems that Poe experienced both at home and away. According to one critic, Halliburton, Poe’s traumatic love experience with a woman was when Elmira Royster, his fiancée, became engaged to another man while he was in college (49). Poe is described in his biographies as a man who had many sadder love experiences with women. This was followed by tragic deaths that took place in his life. His foster mother passed on in 1829 this was followed by the tragic death of his wife of eleven years after contracting tuberculosis.

These traumatic experiences led to his addiction to the bottle. He would be drunk for the most part of his youthful year. This went to the point of him sinking into hysteria (Parks 41). Even though he had these problems associating with him, he still viewed the world differently, this made him an intellect with incredible abilities (Parks 41). He had the ability to view the world differently. One critic indicates that Edgar Poe’s life was not only weird and abnormal in his adult life, but it was also just like that in his childhood. He would visit graveyards during the dark to check on one of his best friends who had been buried there (Parks 46). Such examples make me believe that Poe’s life was extremely emotional. These emotions have formed a significant part of his artistic prowess.

Poe has been described as a very good writer due to his artistic ability to involve the dark, mystery, and a special personality in his work. Poe has managed to successfully incorporate characters with psychological problems into many of his stories with the intention to create stories that are not only unique but thrilling (Walker 23). He involves unique writing styles that involve fascinating themes and mystery stories that have influenced many other authors and also movie writers. I believe that the tragic life of Edgar Poe absolutely made a significant impact on his writings. He has been noted to have a special like in writing about death, mortality, and dead women as themes in his stories.

His stories “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Fall of the House of Usher” are some of the stories that reflect his psychological life. The characters in these stories indicate the suffering of psychological problems and mental problems. This has been related to some of Poe's characters which may not be described as a psychological mess but have had undeniable states of mental questioning. Edgar Poe who experienced dissatisfactions in life, found it secure to unleash his insecurities in characters who experienced addictions to drugs and women as well. He also escaped reality by writing about cases of emotional instability and mental disturbances in many ways. This describes how his depressive past influenced his artistic intellect.

In one of his literary writings, "The Fall of the House of Usher" Poe involves love and death as a means to address the darkness and eeriness of the characters. The character, Usher, is described as fearful, insecure, anxious, and a man full of paranoia. Usher is not only sick but also has an ill sister named Madeline, who suffers from catalepsy. Usher himself is diagnosed with hypochondria. Usher ends up burying his beloved sister and copes with the pain of her death. Poe's tragic death with the woman she loved most recurs again in some of his short stories such as "Eleanora" and "Ligeia" which talk about women who die. Some other poems include "Anabelle” and "The Sleeper" which are also about the woman who died when he was in love. He also indicates how he still loves them even in the afterlife.

Conclusion

The above study explains how the early life of Edgar Poe influenced his writings. The detailed research indicates some of the problems he experienced from heartbreaks to death that changed the direction of his life throughout his artistic works. Moreover, the literary intelligence in Poe's books has been described in relation to the themes that he selected in relation to his significant past

Works Cited

Carlson, Eric W. "Triangulating Edgar A. Poe." The Edgar Allan Poe Review 8.2 (2007): 6-16.

Halliburton, David. Edgar Allen Poe: A Phenomenological View. Princeton University Press, 2015.p.42-60

McGann, Jerome. The Poet Edgar Allan Poe. Harvard University Press, 2014.p.63

Parks, Edd Winfield. Edgar Allan Poe as Literary Critic. University of Georgia Press, 2010.p.41

Poe, Edgar Allan. Great Short Works of Edgar Allan Poe. Springer Science & Business Media, 2009.p.29

Walker, Ian. Edgar Allen Poe. Routledge, 2013.p.23