Edgar Allen Poe

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Edgar Allen Poe

• (1809 1849)
• Lecture Notes
• Add to Narrator and Voice

2
Background

• Born in Boston, Massachusetts
• Foster child taken in by the Allen
  family (Richmond, VA)
• Father deserted the family
• Mother died before Poe was three years old
• Taken in by foster parents
• Foster parents begin to like Poe because of his
  scholarship and athletic ability
• Howeverlater, his foster parents became angry at
  his moodiness and irresponsibility with money

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Education

• Attended the University of Virginia
• Dropped out with heavy gambling debts
• Foster father refused to support him any longer
• The two split completely with no further contact
• Poe was left penniless

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Military

• Because he was unable to support himself, he
  enrolled in the U.S. Army as a private
• Using the name "Edgar A. Perry", he claimed he
  was 22 years old, even though he was 18.
• He chose to end his five year enlistment early,
  and revealed his circumstances and real name.
• The military told him he could only be discharged
  if he reconciled with his foster father
• Several months passed / pleas to his foster
  father were ignored

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Military

• His foster mother died in 1829 (Poe had been
  unaware of her sickness).
• Poe visited the day after her burial, wherein his
  foster father agreed to support Poe's attempt to
  be discharged in order to receive an appointment
  to the United States Military Academy at West
  Point.
• Poe was finally discharged on April 15, 1829

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Family

• Poe married his 13-year old cousin, Virginia
  Clemm
• 1837 moved to New York City and lived with her
  mother
• Poe called her mother (his aunt / mother-in-law)
  Muddy
• Drank excessively and was always in need of money

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Career

• Poe wrote regularly with increasing success
• Had many unusual poems and stories, which were
  mocked by conservative critics
• The Cask of Amontillado was published in 1846,
  during a time when Poe was enduring harsh insults
  from critics.
• This story, which deals with the idea of revenge,
  might have been Poes way of getting even with
  critics (and possibly his foster father).

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Tragedy

• Virginia became ill with tuberculosis, and later
  died.
• Almost 25 of Americans in the 19th century died
  from this disease.
• Poe completely broke down as a result of her
  death.
• Two years later, Poe was found on the streets of
  Baltimore delirious, "in great distress, and...
  in need of immediate assistance", according to
  the man who found him, Joseph W. Walker.
• He was taken to the Washington College Hospital,
  where he died.

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Tragedy

• Poe was never coherent long enough to explain how
  he came to be in his dire condition, and, oddly,
  was wearing clothes that were not his own.
• Poe is said to have repeatedly called out the
  name "Reynolds" on the night before his death,
  though it is unclear to whom he was referring.
• Some sources say Poe's final words were "Lord
  help my poor soul.
• All medical records, including his death
  certificate, have been lost.
• Newspapers at the time reported Poe's death as
  "congestion of the brain" or "cerebral
  inflammation"

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The Debate

• Poes death brought up many questions soon after
• Was his death a result of alcohol poisoning, or
  rabies?
• There are scholars that believe both stories, and
  have provided evidence to back up each side.
• Other items to consider tuberculosis?

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Other texts by Poe

• The Tell-Tale Heart
• The Black Cat
• The Masque of the Red Death
• The Pit and the Pendulum
• The Raven
• Eldorado
• Annabel Lee

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Reading Assignment

• Read Cask of Amontillado starting on pg. 173-179