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Edgar Allan Poe was an American poet, critic, and writer who has highly influenced the horror, romanticism, detective, and science fiction genres in today’s writing. Poe’s pieces have inspired people like Arthur Conan Doyle who was the author of the famous Sherlock Holmes stories. Though he inspired many writers after death, he was a literary outcast during his lifetime. Edgar Allan Poe was not very famous during his lifetime, however he became a legacy and inspiration after his death.
Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts on 19 January, 1809 to two touring actors, Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe and David Poe Jr., and was later living with his foster father, John Allan, when his parents died in 1811. Poe’s mother was an American actress who later died of tuberculosis. Poe’s father was an American actor who walked out on Edgar and his mother when he was younger, but died in 1811. Edgar Allan Poe was only 3 years old when both of his parents died.
“His father deserted the family. After his mother died in 1811, Poe became a ward of John Allan, a wealthy Richmond merchant.” Ljungquist, Kent. “Poe, Edgar Allan.” John Allan never officially adopted Poe and later in life prevented him from taking on various opportunities. “The Allan family lived in the United Kingdom from 1815 to 1820 before returning to Richmond.” Ljungquist, Kent. “Poe, Edgar Allan.” Edgar Allan Poe’s parents died when he was 3 years old, leaving him as an orphan until John Allan took him in. Poe’s family lived in the United Kingdom until returning to Richmond, Virginia in 1820.
Edgar Allan Poe went to the University of Virginia before being forced to withdrawal due to financial instability, joined the U.S.
Army before receiving honorable discharge due to neglection of his duties and disobedience of orders, and finally attended U.S. Military Academy at West Point but had to withdrawal due to lack of financial stability and lack of consent from his foster father, John Allan. “As a boy, Poe attended the best schools available, and was admitted to the University of Virginia at Charlottesville in 1825. While there he distinguished himself academically but was forced to leave after less than a year because of bad debts and inadequate financial support from Allan.” “Edgar Allan Poe.” World Literature Criticism, Ed. James P. Draper, Vol. 4, page 2749. “In 1829, Poe was honorably discharged from the army, having attained the rank of regimental sergeant major.” “Edgar Allan Poe” World Literature Criticism, Ed. James P. Draper, Vol. 4, page 2750. “Poe was then admitted to the United States Military Academy at West Point. However, because Allan would neither provide his foster son with sufficient funds to maintain himself as a cadet nor give the consent necessary to resign from the Academy, Poe gained a dismissal by ignoring his duties and violating regulations.” “Edgar Allan Poe” World Literature Criticism, Ed. James P. Draper, Vol. 4, page 2750. Edgar Allan Poe went to various schools and enlisted in the military. These were unsuccessful because of lack of financial support and lack of consent.
Edgar Allan Poe wrote short stories and poems and was married twice. “The poem, “The Raven” (1845) made him famous. Two more collections, Tales and The Raven and Other Poems, appeared in 1845.” Ljungquist, Kent. “Poe, Edgar Allan.” Edgar Allan Poe was married to his first cousin,Virginia Poe, until she died in 1847 from tuberculosis after being sick for 5 years. “Virginia Poe died of tuberculosis in 1847, after 5 years of illness.” Ljungquist, Kent. “Poe, Edgar Allan.” Two years after the passing of his beloved, Poe remarried to a recently widowed woman named Sarah Elmira Royster Shelton. “In 1849, Poe became engaged to marry the widowed Sarah Elmira Royster Shelton, his boyhood sweetheart.” Ljungquist, Kent. “Poe, Edgar Allan.” Poe disappeared the day of their wedding and showed up in Baltimore where he would die just a few, short days later. Edgar Allan Poe was married twice, went through some hardship, and is now known as a legacy and an inspiration.
Edgar Allan Poe plays a large role in the evolution of genres such as, horror, romanticism, detective, and science fiction; some disliked him due to the style in which he wrote. “During his lifetime, Poe made many enemies through his challenge to moralistic limits on literature, his confrontation with the New England literary establishment, and his biting critical style.” Ljungquist, Kent. “Poe, Edgar Allan.” Even Poe’s readers could see his stories had a twisted meaning behind them. “Some readers too easily identified Poe with the mentally disturbed narrators of his tales, a belief reinforced by Rufus Griswold, Poe’s literary executor.” Ljungquist, Kent. “Poe, Edgar Allan.” Rufus Griswold made sure to attempt to ruin Poe’s reputation as a writer by publishing a malevolent obituary (1849) and a memoir (1850). “Griswold wrote a malicious obituary (1849) and a memoir (1850) of Poe that combined half-truths and outright falsehoods about Poe’s personal habits and conduct. Griswold portrayed Poe as envious, conceited, arrogant, and bad-tempered. Griswold’s portrait severely damaged Poe’s reputation and delayed a serious consideration of the writer’s place in American literature. But Poe’s later rediscovery by the French poets Charles Baudelaire, Stephane Mallarme, and Paul Valery helped restore his reputation.” Ljungquist, Kent. “Poe, Edgar Allan.” Edgar Allan Poe, though disliked by some, was, no doubt, a talented writer, poet, and critic.
Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, poet, and critic who received an education at various schools, was married twice, and was, at one point, enlisted in the U.S. Army. On the day of his wedding, Poe stopped in Baltimore, Maryland. On the 3rd of October, he was found barely conscious and delirious outside of a tavern. He was taken to Washington College Hospital where his death followed four short days later. The doctors listed his cause of death as “congestion of the brain,” though the precise circumstances of his death have never been fully explained. Edgar Allan Poe inspired authors like Arthur Conan Doyle and many genres such as horror, romanticism, detective, and science fiction.
Edgar Allan Poe, though he inspired many writers after death, was a literary outcast during his lifetime. Poe had a career as a writer, was married twice, was enlisted in the army at one point, and died a mysterious death.
Edgar Allan Poe died as he lived; a mystery to all.
Edgar Allan Poe: in Of The Most Mysterious Writers. (2024, Feb 29). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/edgar-allan-poe-in-of-the-most-mysterious-writers-essay
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