Edgar Allan Poe 2 Essay Research Paper

Edgar Allan Poe 2 Essay, Research Paper

Edgar Allan Poe

Many authors have made great contributions to the world of

literature. One of these is Edgar Allan Poe. Poe is known as the father of

the American short story, as well as the father of the detective story. But

who was Edgar Allan Poe. What was the man himself actually like.

These questions may be answered in part, but the whole truth of Edgar

Allan Poe s life can never be known for sure, and maybe this is exactly

how he wanted it. The brilliance of his work, however is indisputable, and

Edgar Allan Poe is known throughout the world for his works. By his use

of horror, humor, darkness, sarcasm, and the ridiculous he has been the

inspiration of many famous authors, and this surly will continue to for

many years to come.

Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston on January 19, 1809, to David

and Elizabeth Poe. He had one brother, William, born on January 30,

1807, and one sister, Rosalie, born on December 20, 1810. Shortly after

the birth of Rosalie, David Poe abandoned his young wife and children.

Suffering from tuberculosis, Mrs. Poe came to Richmond with her two

youngest children. The oldest boy, William, had been left with relatives

in Baltimore. Shortly after her arrival in Richmond, Elizabeth Poe died.

Edgar, known for being a handsome little boy, was taken in by Mr. and

Mrs. John Allan. Rosalie was taken by another family. Mrs. Allan soon

became very attached to Edgar and wanted to formally adopt him, but her

husband refused to take this step. It has been said that his disapproval of

actors and the acting profession (both of Poe s parents were in the theater)

was the reason for his not wanting to adopt Poe.

At the age of six, Edgar moved with his foster family to England,

where they lived for about five years. At this time, the Allans and Poe

returned to Richmond, where they remained until Poe went away to

college. The reckless activities of Poe while in college angered his foster

father so much that he refused to pay for any more of Poe s schooling.

Poe returned home for a short time and then enlisted in the army. Poe at

first did very well in the military and was promoted several times. He

began to become unhappy in the Army, and was eventually able to

persuade his foster father to give him money which with he was able to

purchase his way out of the military. Not long after leaving the Army, Poe

gained entrance to West Point. He decided he didn t like this style of

military life much sooner than before and misbehaved so badly that he

was thrown out of West Point. Unfortunately, this was around this same

time that Poe s foster mother died. Since she was the only one who was

able to bridge the huge gap between Poe and Mr. Allan, it was now that

almost all contact between the two ceased. When Mr. Allan died he left

no mention whatsoever of Poe in his will.

At this point in his life Poe decided to make a career of writing, and

publishes Al Aaraf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems in Baltimore in 1829.

In 1831 Poe submits several of his works to a contest. He doesn t win,

but they publish several of his stories without his name. He was finally

successful in winning a contest in 1833. He won $50.00 for his story,

MS. Found in a Bottle. After moving to Richmond, Poe became editor

of the Southern Literary Messenger. He remained here for about a year.

In 1836, Poe took his newlywed wife, Virginia, and his Aunt Clemm with

him to New York. (Virginia was his Aunt Clemm s daughter, so therefore

she was his cousin as well.) After a short time in New York, Poe again

moved his family, this time to Philadelphia. It was here in Philadelphia

that Poe started to become known for his literary work. He won several

prizes for his work and became the editor of certain papers. In 1846, Poe

moved his family back to New York. Here Poe s wife Virginia dies of

tuberculosis in 1847. The death of his wife was supposedly very hard on

Poe. After her death he moved back to Richmond for a short time. It

was near this time that he was finally beginning to be recognized and

applauded for his work. Sadly this lasted for a very brief time, because

Edgar Allan Poe s life ended in Baltimore on October 7, 1849.

One thing that can be said for certain about Edgar Allan Poe is that

almost nothing can be said for certain about Edgar Allan Poe. In the

researching of this paper I came across so many different accounts of his

life, so many discrepancies in dates, and so many different descriptions of

his personality that I began to get very confused, and began to despair of

ever being able to write a through and accurate account of his life and

work. Eventually I realized that no one could write a complete and factual

account of the life of Edgar Allan Poe. After I accepted this fact I was

able to continue in

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