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EDGAR ALLAN POE. The Tormented Life of a Disturbed Genius. The Life of Edgar Allan Poe. Born in Boston in 1809 Edgar was the second of three children Both parents were actors Actors were looked down upon by society Despite that, his mother was well known and respected.
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EDGAR ALLAN POE The Tormented Life of a Disturbed Genius
The Life of Edgar Allan Poe • Born in Boston in 1809 • Edgar was the second of three children • Both parents were actors • Actors were looked down upon by society • Despite that, his mother was well known and respected
The Life of Edgar Allan Poe • David Poe abandoned his family when Edgar was 1 year old • Soon after, Eliza Poe, Edgar’s mother, contracted tuberculosis • She died a horrible, poverty-stricken death when Edgar was 2 years old • The Poe children were sent to different foster homes
The Life of Edgar Allan Poe • Edgar was taken in by John and Frances Allan of Richmond, Virginia • They were wealthy and childless • Frances was protective of Edgar • John tolerated Edgar, but treated him harshly
The Life of Edgar Allan Poe • Edgar was well-educated by the Allan’s • He displayed musical and athletic talents • He was cheerful and sensitive • The Allan’s exposed Edgar to a cultured society
The Life of Edgar Allan Poe • In his youth, he lived in England • Returning to Richmond, at the age of 15 he falls in love with an older woman • Tragically, she dies • At the age of 17 he enrolls in the University of Virginia
The Life of Edgar Allan Poe • Poe accumulates large gambling debts while at the University • He is very popular for his wild, imaginary tales • Frances Allan contracts tuberculosis • John Allan engages in a number of very public affairs
The Life of Edgar Allan Poe • In 1827, unable to pay his debts he leaves the university • He enlists in the army under an assumed name • He spends a brief time at West Point • In 1829 Frances Allan dies
The Life of Edgar Allan Poe • Poe’s relationship with his foster father deteriorates • When John Allan dies, he cuts Edgar out of his will
The Life of Edgar Allan Poe • On his own for the first time, he tries to support himself as a writer • His writing is too unusual for the common Romantic Period tastes • He moves back to Baltimore to live with his aunt, Maria Clemm
The Life of Edgar Allan Poe • He develops a close relationship with his cousin, Virginia • Eventually, he falls in love with and weds Virginia • He sees her somewhat as his sister, and his daughter in addition to his wife • He is 26 and she is barely 13 • This was somewhat unusual
The Life of Edgar Allan Poe • Virginia is ill throughout their marriage with tuberculosis • Poe struggles to find work and to support his wife through her illness • Overwhelmed by her illness and his financial difficulties, he turns to alcohol and drugs
The Life of Edgar Allan Poe • They live in complete poverty • He tries work as an editor, writer, and literary critic • He is known as “Tomahawk Man” as a critic and gains many enemies • In 1845 in publishes The Raven and earns less than $20
The Life of Edgar Allan Poe • In 1847 Virginia finally dies of her tuberculosis • Poe is left with mounting medical bills • He produces the poem, Annabel Lee, which idealizes the death of Virginia • In despair, he abuses drugs and alcohol • He attempts suicide
The Life of Edgar Allan Poe • Poe’s writing was not well accepted • He had many literary enemies through his job as a critic • He appeared self-destructive • He ran through a series of minor jobs
The Life of Edgar Allan Poe • To promote the sale of his stories he would give dramatic readings • He became associated with his subject matter • He continued to struggle with drug and alcohol abuse • He was found unconscious in the gutter of a Baltimore street in 1849
The Life of Edgar Allan Poe • Most of Poe’s work remained unpublished during his lifetime • Rufus Griswold, a fellow writer became his executor • In fact, Griswold sought to destroy Poe’s reputation
The Life of Edgar Allan Poe • Clearly, the tragic deaths of those close to Poe influenced his writing • Tuberculosis, or “Consumption” is characterized by profuse bleeding • His writing tone is often mournful and melancholic
The Literary Contributions of Poe • He refined the modern detective story • He defined the modern short story • He challenged to traditional Romantic approach to literature • He developed the Single Effect Technique
The Single Effect Technique • A short story must be brief • The reader should be able to read the story in one sitting • The author should be certain of the effect he/she wishes to create in the reader beforewriting
The Single Effect Technique • The author should begin by writing the climax of the story • The author should then develop the incidents that lead to the climax • The incidents should be arranged in order of increasing intensity
