Edgar Allan Poe - Research Paper Example

Edgar Allan Poe (Merriman) “Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before - Edgar Allan Poe” (Edgar Allan Poe Quotes). Edgar Allan Poe was considered as one of the prominent personalities of America in the nineteenth century. He was basically a writer, poet, editor and literary critic. His contributions to American Romantic Movement were immense. Poe and his works influenced not only the literature works in the United States, but also around the world as well. Specialized fields, like cosmology and cryptography were greatly enhanced by the works of Poe. Till the era of Poe, most of the literature writers focused mainly on the traditional streams of literature like poetry, novel, drama, short story etc. However Poe has other ideas and he started many other streams in literature. Poe is considered to be the inventor of the detective-fiction genre. Moreover, he has given his contributions to the development of science fiction also. During the period of Poe, the earnings from literature writing were not so good even though people had interests in reading the literatures. Poe tried to find his livelihood from the earnings of writing alone and failed miserably. His life was miserable, most of the periods of his life time. He had a habit of changing his residences continuously and many of his residences were became museums today. This paper briefly analyses the life history and contributions of Edgar Allan Poe “Edgar Poe was born on 19 January 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts, as the son of actors Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins (1787-1811) and David Poe (1784-1810). He had a brother named William Henry and sister Rosalie” (Merriman). He lost both his father and mother at an early stage itself and became an orphan at the age of 2. After the death of his parents, Poe was taken in by John and Frances Allan, of Richmond, Virginia. But John and Frances Allan never legalized the adoption of Poe. In short, Poe never got any benefit from the adoption even though his custodians were rich. Since his adopted parents were merchants, he was forced to travel many countries during his childhood along with the Allans. In 1815 he went to England along with the merchant parents and attended a school in Chelsea till 1820. He returned to Richmond in 1820 after breaking his relationships with his foster father and studied Latin and Poetry in University of Virginia. He was forced to cease his college education only after one semester because of lack of money. Then he joined the American army and served there for two years. “Only after becoming an assistant editor at the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond, Virginia, in 1835 did Poe's literary talents start to blossom” (Edgar Allan Poe). Poe’s literature career started in 1827 when he published a collection of poems called Tamerlane and Other Poems. In the same year itself he published another collection of poems called “Dreams”—Oh! that my young life were a lasting dream! . “In 1829, Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems, was published. Poe moved to Baltimore to live with his aunt Maria Clemm, mother of Virginia Eliza Clemm who would become his wife at the age of thirteen” (Merriman). After the marriage, Poe decided to shift his residence to New York City in 1836. During this period he has published his only novel of his life time, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym. This novel marked the beginning of detective fictions. “In 1841, Poe began working for George Graham, who offered him $800 a year to work for him as an editor. While at Graham's, Poe was preparing his famous work, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," for publication” (Edgar Allan Poe). In January 1845, Poe published his poem The Raven and his wife died of tuberculosis, two years after the publication of The Raven. “Poe was devastated by her death and penned these words, "Deep in earth my love is lying and I must weep alone"” (Edgar Allan Poe) Even though, Poe contributed heavily to the poetry and short story writing fields of literature, his contributions to the detective fiction made him so popular now. He succeeded in incorporating science fictions and detective fictions together in order to develop a feeling of suspense and surprise in the minds of the readers. He was also successful in examining the depths of the human psyche even though he had no formal education in psychology. His life experiences made him capable of analyzing the complexities of human psyche. “We can see his darkly passionate sensibilities—a tormented and sometimes neurotic obsession with death and violence and overall appreciation for the beautiful yet tragic mysteries of life” (Merriman) After the death of his wife, Poe began to lose his struggle with drinking and drugs. He had several romances, including an affair with the poet Sarah Helen Whitman, who said: "His proud reserve, his profound melancholy, his unworldliness – may we not say his unearthliness of nature – made his character one very difficult of comprehension to the casual observer." In 1849 Poe become again engaged to Elmira Royster, who was at that time Mrs. Shelton. To Virginia he addressed the famous poem 'Annabel Lee' (1849) – its subject, Poe's favorite, is the death of a beautiful woman (Liukkonen & Pesonen) The crazy life styles and the failed marriages caused too much emotional problems to Poe. He suffered from chronic depression and madness, and even attempted an unsuccessful suicide attempt in 1848. He was a regular visitor of celebrations like wedding parties and birthday parties and drunk as much as he wanted. He had not much faith in religious beliefs and he found thrills in establishing relationships with new ladies whom he met during the celebration parties. When somebody asked his opinion about religion, once he said, “All religion, my friend, is simply evolved out of fraud, fear, greed, imagination, and poetry”(Edgar Allan Poe Quotes).It was quiet often that Poe disappeared from the main streams of life for a temporary period and nobody knows anything about his activities during this temporary period of missing. On September 26 1849, Poe left Richmond with an intention to reach New York. However, Poe never reached New York. “He was found in critical condition at Ryan's inn and taverna in Baltimore. Poe died in a hospital on October 7, 1849 and was buried at the Westminster Presbyterian burial yard” (Liukkonen & Pesonen). On October 7, 1849, Poe died in Baltimore at the age of 40. Like his detective stories, his death was also happened in suspicious atmosphere. Even now the reasons of his death are unknown to the world. There are many controversies associated with his death. Many speculations were formulated about his death. Alcohol addiction, brain congestion, cholera, drug addiction, heart disease, rabies, suicide, tuberculosis, etc are some of the major reasons attributed or suspected as the reasons of his death. “A contemporary of Poe's at the time remarked, "This death was almost a suicide, a suicide prepared for a long time"” (Edgar Allan Poe) To conclude, Edgar Allan Poe was a great literature writer who contributed heavily to the American as well as global literature. His contributions to the detective fiction and science fiction are invaluable. His pathetic life experiences made him a good assessor of human psyche even though he had little college education. His crazy life styles lead towards his death at the age of only 40. The reasons for his death are still controversial even though many people believe that alcoholism and drug addiction could be the major reasons. Woks Cited 1. “Edgar Allan Poe”. Web. 15 December 2010. 2. “Edgar Allan Poe Quotes”. Brainy Quotes. Web. 15 December 2010 3. Liukkonen, Petri & Pesonen, Ari. “Edgar Allan Poe.” 2008. Web. 15 December 2010. 4. Merriman. C.D. “Edgar Allan Poe.”2010. Web. 15 December 2010. Read More