Edgar Allan Poe, who was born on January 19, 1809 in Boston, experienced an unstable childhood due to his orphanhood at the age of three. He was then sent to live with the Allans in Richmond, VA, where he remained until his marriage to his cousin Virginia Clemm at the age of thirteen. However, his relationship with the Allans was always turbulent and he was eventually disowned before getting married. As a result of his disjointed family life, Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories and poems evoke disturbing emotions. (Compton’s, pp. 401-02)
After leaving his broken foster home, Poe enlisted in the army under the name Edgar A. Perry in 1827. Hoping to impress Mr. Allan, Poe aimed to become an officer and received an honorable discharge. He then applied to West Point while staying with his widowed aunt, Ms. Maria Clemm in Baltimore. In 1830, Poe was accepted as a cadet, but after the death of his foster mother and Mr. Allan’s remarriage, he was excluded from the family will. Upon learning this, Poe purposely neglected his studies and was expelled from West Point after eight months. However, his writing career began shortly after winning a short story contest in 1833 and becoming a literary critic for “The Southern Literary Messenger”. Through these writing opportunities, Poe started earning a modest income, enabling him to marry Virginia Clemm in 1835.
(Compton’s, pp. 401-02)
Virginia, who was half Edgar’s age, was the only sense of family that Poe had ever known. In 1843, she became sick with tuberculosis, which caused Poe to fall into a deep depression characterized by excessive drinking and gambling. His publication of “The Raven” in 1845 reflected this unstable mental state and predicted Virginia’s death in 1847. (Compton’s, pp. 401-02)
It will embrace a holy maiden whom the angels call Lenore-
Embrace an uncommon and shining young woman whom the angels refer to as Lenore.
Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.” (Frazah, Homepage)
Similarly, the short stories and poems of this period also demonstrate disturbing emotions that stem from a desire to express the anger resulting from past events in the artist’s life.
Poe’s works exhibit both despair over the death of Virginia and the anguish of growing up without a loving family. Despite his efforts, his relationship with Mr. Allan turned out to be insincere following Mrs. Allan’s death. This realization shattered his belief in the semblance of family he had desperately clung to for so long. Poe yearned for his foster father’s approval for years before finally understanding the truth. His marriage to Virginia Clemm was an attempt to recreate a lost sense of family, but it only amplified his despair. Clearly, these experiences profoundly influenced Poe’s writing, resulting in themes of loneliness, desperation, and unpredictability that mirror his own turbulent nature.
“Leave my solitude undisturbed!- Remove the bust from above my door!
Remove your beak from my heart and your form from my door!
Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.” (Frazuh, Homepage)
The defining characteristic of Poe’s writing is its ability to evoke unsettling images and emotions that promote a feeling of isolation. Poe possesses the skill to mirror himself in every short story and poem he creates. The sorrow that haunted Poe his entire life forms the basis of all his writings. Without this driving force, Poe could have produced equally exquisite works, but they would not have conveyed the essence of his own life with such clarity. Instead, his writings leave behind a visual representation of the person he was.
Unable to locate.
