EDGAR ALLAN POE

Introduction
Edgar Allan Poe (January 19th, 1809-October 7th, 1849)
is one of the most remarkable authors of all time.
Based in Boston, this character is rather mysterious
and interesting. There are several theories and stories
about his life, one of them is the reason why he, as a
person, is considered so dark. He was the first author
to try to make a professional living as a writer and
poet. He was the master of macabre, pioneer of
science fiction and father of the detective story.
Belonging to the Gothic movement and the
Romanticism, he had a peculiar style of writing based
on duality, that was implicit in his literature. Among his
many masterpieces we must include The Raven
(1945)and The Black Cat (1943), two of his most famous short stories that perfectly
reflects the feelings of someone that had been through rough times during his life.
Through which he could express his deepest feelings and his scariest thoughts,
contributing to getting to know better this mighty character.

Biography
Edgar Allan Poe was born in January 1809 in Boston and he was the second child of
two actors. His father abandoned the family and his mother died when he was only 2
years old. Orphaned, he was taken by a Foster family and separated by his two siblings.
They moved to England in 1815. In 1820 they moved back to Virginia, where, in 1826,
he enrolled at the University of Virginia to study Ancient and Modern Languages.

At that time, he was engaged with Sara Elmira Royster, but finally she married another
man. Next, he went to Boston where he couldn’t support himself financially, so he
decided to enlist in the United State Army under a different surname (Perry). During
that year, he wrote and published his first book Tamerlane and other Poems (1827).
Promoted as Artificer, he served for 2 years at the US Army. Eventually, his
commanding officer decided to get him discharged only if he was willing to contact his
foster father. Poe came back to Baltimore and enrolled in a Military Academy but
dropped out after 8 months. During that time, he continued to write poems and short
stories.
He started to write for a living, something that none had ever done or considered since
that moment. This was really rough for him, especially with prose which he was really
interested in. Then he married his cousin Virginia, who was 13 years old. After his
marriage he had a prolific period of his life, working for different newspaper and
magazines, and published his first book Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque (1840),
which in that moment didn’t have success. He also tried to begin his own journal, but it
didn’t work out because of the lack of money.
He published The Raven (1845) in the Evening Mirror, where he was working at that
time, and since then his name become to be known. He then moved to New York and
he befriended a group of Jesuits at a college nearby. After his wife's death because of
tuberculosis he was so devastated that he couldn’t write again. The press even thought
that he was going to die soon, and they were right since he died two years after on
October 7th, 1849.

He was found in a delirious state on October 3rd in Baltimore. The cause of his death
remains a mystery, creating a large list of theories about what really happened to him.
They found him dressed up in clothes that were not his and after days of delirium, he
managed to call out for someone called “Reynolds”, but that’s all we got.

The more interesting as well as possible theory of his death is about a form of electoral
fraud, called “cooping”, where people were obligated to vote a candidate in the
election different times. To do so, the victims were dressed up differently each time
they were going to vote, and, in the most extreme cases, they were threatened with
violence and even murder.

Another relevant theory is that Poe was killed by the brothers of Elmira Shelton, his
millionaire wife, because they were against the marriage. The theory tells that Poe
tried to hide in Philadelphia before returning to Richmond to marry Elmira; eventually,
the Shelton Brothers found him in Baltimore, got him drunk and beat him to death.

Rufus Griswold wrote a biographical article called Memoir of the Author (1850). Drove
by the will of destroying Poe’s image and legacy, he created the image of an alcoholic
and drug addict man that we associate with him.

Historical context
Poe was not the only monumental character of his times; many other famous figures
such as Charles Dickens, Margaret Fuller and William Barraud accomplished a vast
amount of successes. As well as figures, there was an abundance of historical events
taking place during Poe’s era. From the years 1809 to 1849, there was a great span of
events that took place within nation’s government. The war of 1812 took place, in
1814 the White House was burned, and in 1831 there was a huge slave rebellion.
These are only a few of many examples of historical places and people that took place
around Poe’s time. Edgar Allan Poe was a great influence of the time, but not the only
major occurrence.
The first half of the nineteenth century was an expansive and troubled time for
America. Conformity and materialism was on the rise. Calvinism had given way to a
more moderate Protestantism. Waves of European and Irish immigrants created a
sense of alarm amongst many citizens and xenophobia led to the burning of many
catholic churches and schools . This time too saw the continuation of some of the most
egregious national sins: slavery (of blacks) and genocide (of the eastern Indian tribes).
Poe’s reactions to such ferment surfaced in his reviews or usually coded by satire in his
fiction.
In terms of the literary expectations of the period, American writers found themselves
in an odd situation. On the one hand, they were taxed with the creation of a new
quintessentially American literature. On the other they were expected to follow the
styles and norms established in British and classical literature. Indeed, educated
Americans were more familiar with European literature and history than with early
American writers. In addition to these contradictory expectations, most writers of the
time found it necessary to comment upon the fundamental flaws of the society in
which they lived.
Early criticism of Poe proposes that Poe did not comment upon his society in his work.
In fact, Poe is depicted as having no connection to the world around him. After the
turn of the century, scholars began to realize that Poe was aware of and did actually
write about the major issues of the day. Most of these writings came in essays, letters
and critical reviews of his contemporaries’ works. His fiction is more removed from the
real-world affairs of his times. However, the influences of social mores and political
and intellectual ideas can be seen in many of his short stories.
Poe was of course fascinated with time concepts, whether time past (“Tamerlane” or
“The Pit and the Pendulum”), time present (“The Sleeper” or “Eldorado,”) and time
future (“The Colloquy of Monos and Una” or “MellontaTauta”).

EDGAR ALLAN POE HISTORICAL CONTEXT TIMELINE:

1809:
▪ Edgar Allan Poe born in Boston to actors David and Eliza Poe, 19 January.

● Abraham Lincoln born.

● Alfred Tennyson born.
● James Madison president (1809-17)
1811:
▪ Eliza Poe, on theatrical tour, dies in Richmond. Edgar is taken in by John and
Frances Allan.
 ● Richmond Theater burns; Gilbert Hunt, a slave, saves a dozen lives.
● Harriet Beecher Stowe born.
1812:
● Charles Dickens born.
1815:
▪ In England with the Allans (1815-20). Attends school in London and suburban
Stoke-Newington.

● Napoleon defeated at Waterloo.

1817:
● James Monroe president (1817-25).
1819:

● University of Virginia founded.

● Walt Withman born.

1821:
▪ Continues schooling in Richmond (1821-25).
▪ Shows aptitude for Latin, poetry, acting and swimming.

● Liberia estabilished by the American Colonization Society.

1823:
● Monroe doctrine.

1824:
● Lord Byron dies.
1825:
▪ Secretly enganged to Sarah Elmira Royster.

● Erie Canal opens.

● John Quincy Adams president (1825-29).
1826:

▪ Student at the University of Virginia.

▪ Excels in ancient and modern languages.
▪ Incurs gambling debts.
 ● Thomas Jefferson dies.
● James Fenimore Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans.
1827:
▪ Quarrels with John Allans.
▪ Leaves for Boston.
▪ Enlists in U.S. Army as “Edgar A. Perry”.
▪ Publishes Tamerlane and Other Poems in Boston.

● Ludwig van Beethoven diez.

1828:
● Jules Verne born.
● Construction began in Baltimore & Ohio, first American railroad.
1829:
▪ Frances Allan dies.
▪ Poe transferred to Fortress Monroe, Virginia.
▪ Promoted to Sergeant Major.
▪ Discharged from the army in March.
▪ Al Aaraaf, Timerlane, and Minor Poems.

● Andrew Jackson president (1829-37).

1830:
● Emily Dickinson born.
1831:

▪ Expelled from West Point in February.

▪ Lives in Baltimore with aunt Maria Clemm, and her daughter, Virginia.
▪ Poems: second edition contains “To Helen”.

● Nat Turner’s insurrection.

1833:

▪ “Ms. Found in a Bottle” (short story) wins literary prize; is published in

Baltimore Saturday Visitor.

● Knickerbocker magazine begins publication.

● Edwin Booth born.
1834:
▪ John Allan dies.
 ● Southern Literary Messenger begins publication.
● Cyrus McCormick’s reaper.
● James Abbot McNeill Whistler born.
1835:
▪ “Hans Pfaal” (first modern science fiction story) published in Richmond’s
Southern Literary Messenger, March issue.
▪ Moves to Richmond in mid-summer to join Messenger editorial staff.
▪ Courts cousin, Virginia Clemm.
▪ Brings Virginia and her mother to Richmond.

● Augustus Baldwin Longstreet, Georgia Scenes.

● William Gilmore Simms, The Yemasse.
● Samuel L. Clemens born.
● John Marshall dies.
1836:
▪ Marries Virginia Clemm (age 13) in Richmond.
▪ Increases Messenger circulation.
● Battle of the Alamo.
1837:
▪ Resigns from Messenger.
▪ Moves to NY.

● Victoria becomes Queen of England.

● Baltimore Sun begins publication
● Martin van Buren president (1837-41).
● Panic of 1837.
1838:

▪ Moves to Philadelphia.
▪ The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym (novel).
1839:
▪ Becomes assistant editor of Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine in June.
▪ The Conchologist’s First Book (scientific textbook).

● John D. Rockefeller born.

● Charles Darwin, Journal… of H.M.S Beagle.
1840:
 ▪ Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque (2 vols.) includes “The Fall of the House
of Usher”.
▪ Quarrels with editor of Burton’s, leaves in May.
1841:
▪ Becomes editor of Graham’s Magazine in February.
▪ “Murders in the Rue Morgue” (first modern detective story).

● Brook Farm established.

● William Henry Harrison president (march-april 1841).
● John Tyler (1841-45).
1842:
▪ Publishes stories: “The Pit and the Pendulum”, “The Masque of the Red Death”,
“The Mistery of Marie Rogêt”.
▪ Interviews Charles Dickens in march.

● Potato famine in Ireland.

1843:
▪ Publishes stories: “The Tell-Tale Heart”, “The Gold Bug”, “The Black Cat”.
▪ Publishes critical essay: “The Rationale of Verse”.

● First telegraph line.

● Elizabeth Barret Browning, Poems.
● Henry James Born.

1844:
▪ Moves to NY City.
▪ Lectures on “The Poets and Poetry of America”.
▪ “The Balloon Hoax” (satirical story).
1845:
▪ Publishes “The Raven” in the New York Evening Mirror, January.
▪ Publishes Tales in July.
▪ Publishes The Raven and Other Poems in November.

● Mexican war (1845-46).

● Texas and Florida become U.S. states.
● U.S. Naval Academy opens.
● James Knox Polk president (1845-49).
1846:

▪ Moves to Fordham, NY.

▪ “The Cask of Amontillado” (story).
▪ “The Philosophy of Composition” (critical essay).
▪ Several Poe stories translated, critically acclaimed in France.

● Smithsonian Institution founded.

● Herman Melville, Typee.
1847:
▪ Virginia Clemm Poe dies.
▪ Poe falls ill.
▪ Completes “Ulalume” (poem).

● Mormons establish Salt Lake City.

● Henrick Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline.
1848:

▪ Eureka (philosophical essay).

▪ Reads “The poetic Principle” (critical essay) to audience of 1,800.
▪ Writes “The Bells” (poem).

● Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto.

● James Russell Lowell, A Fable for Critics.
● Seneca Falls, New York Women’s Rights Convention.

1849:

▪ In Richmond to lecture and see friends in mid-summer.

▪ Enganged to widow Sarah Elmira (Royster) Shelton, former fiancée.
▪ Leaves Richmond for New York.
▪ Found delirious in Baltimore.
▪ Dies, 7 october.
▪ Poems appear posthumously: “The Bells”, “Annabel Lee”, “El Dorado”.
▪ California Gold Rush.
▪ Zachary Taylor president (1849-50).

Influences
Edgar Allan Poe was a rather literate character. From his early steps as a writer, in his
first stories, the influence of Boccaccio and Chaucer were noticed. From Boccaccio we
must highlight that he was fond of Greek mythology, which Poe absorbed and
introduced in his stories. On the other hand, Chaucer was the author of the Canterbury
Tales, which was quite original and amusing due to its variety in stories and characters.
The wide range and the diversity of Chaucer made him very versatile when writing
stories, giving each character a well-based personality, and original plots for each
story. He was also keen on the German Romanticist literature, as well as in the
pioneers of his country, who usually praised, instead of criticised, unlike some other
authors. He valued originality and wasn’t so critic on amateur writers. He also admired
some British authors, among which were Daniel Dafoe (writer of Robinson Crusoe and
pioneer in writing novels) and William Godwin (whose wife wrote Frankenstein). He
sometimes was inspired by Edinburgh Blackwood’s Magazine, whose most unusual
stories were usually satirized by him.
On what poetry is concerned, he was mostly influenced by Lord Byron, clearly reflected
in his masterpieces. As well as Byron, he was doted of an autodestructive behaviour
(consumption of drugs in excess), an incredible talent for telling stories, a great
amount of passion, frustration for impossible relationships (due to death, mostly, in
Poe’s case), a dark past and a real preference for evasion and exile. They were both
very charismatic and, even in some cases, bipolar. Byron was a rather acidic and mean
person, who always put himself in favour of those in need, while Poe was quite critic
but really loved the ones who were worth for him.
Posteriorly to his death his literature was shipped to France, thanks to Charles
Budelaire, whose transcriptions made his masterpieces available in France, and
therefore in Europe, resulting in Poe being even more famous than in the USA. Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle (author of Sherlock Holmes) and other writers of black novel
praise him, as he practically invented the black novel genre. He was also praised by
figures such as Jules Verne, Charles Budelaire, and Henry James.

Edgar Allan Poe’s genre and characteristics

Poe was an author who wrote a lot of short stories, poems, and tales. Most of them
belong to the Gothic genre, a mixture of fiction and horror. He believed in the power
of imagination and many of his works are related to his own dreams and thoughts.
There are different characteristics in his works which are directly related to his own
character. In the first place, the duality, which will be explained in the following
sentences. On one hand, he could be a charming person who knew how to express the
sweetness of feelings that can be noticed in many of his texts, especially those which
were focused in and dedicated to women. However, on the other hand, imagination
played a major role in his literature during his career, (remarkable characteristic in
“The Raven”) which it helped him to evade himself from the reality. This duality is
showed through many of his masterpieces where the beauty of the lyrics and
psychological issues are mixed in one, and reflect, more than once, the personality of
the author.
In addition, something recurrent on his works was the theme of death, not only for
what it means by itself, but also what it causes in the mind of people: the idea and
consequences of the death. He liked to deal with the most macabre aspect of this
subject as rotten corpses, and make people feel nervous only by thinking about it.
Apart from this, Poe paid especial attention to details in his works. As a result, people
usually felt impressed when reading Poe’s works as he loved to add to the story some
facts that people didn’t expect, resulting in the feeling that there was always more to
his work than it seemed.
Finally, it must be pointed out that Poe not only was a writer and poet, but also a critic.
In consequence, all his works have a well-defined structure and metre. He even had his
own rules for short stories in which the action had to happen in one day and one place.

Analysis of The Raven (1845)

The Raven is a poem written by the famous writer Edgar Allan Poe, which was first
published in January 1845. It is an incredible melancholy poem, which shown the sadly
reality of one man whose heart was totally broken when his lover died. With all this,
Poe is able to create a short story that can controls the feelings and emotions of his
reading, creating an atmosphere of a lonely and “dreary” continuity situation, in which
you suffer as the narrator is doing, suffering an incredible pain because his memories
of his beloved deceased wife. This capacity to make the lectors feels as if they were the
protagonist of his poem is called “Unity of Effect”. Poe wrote about this in his essay,
The Philosophy of Composition.
The poem begins describing the context (deisis tempo-espacial) of the story, “Once
upon a midnight dreary”. It is a continuous dilemma between the desire to forget and
desire to remember, questioning himself indirectly. This is because Poe was afraid of
the death and the oblivion, mainly due to the close of the death of his wife, who was
ill.
The narrator of The Raven is a young student, this is not mentioned in the poem but it
is written in The Philosophy of Composition also. He is reading one book about the
forgotten traditions, with it is related to the black magic and the occultism. Besides,
the poem is located in the December’s month, known as the month in which the forces
of darkness are more alive. The Poe’s choice of choose a raven to be the antagonist of
this poem is really significant. First of all, this animal is considered the messenger of
the Greek god Pluto (earlier named Hades), so it is connected to the Underworld,
where maybe holds the soul of his wife. Setting the action in “the Night’s Plutonian”.
As well the raven appears in the Norse mythology, being Hugin and Munin the animals
(ravens) of the god Odin. Both raven’s names have meaning: “thought” and “memory”.
This is related with the fact that the protagonist is a student. Besides, there is an
allusion to Pallas Athena, the Greek goddess of the knowledge. In her bust the raven
settle, and hold a conversation with the narrator in which he always asks for questions
knowing the raven’s answer, “Nevermore”, doing this in a self-deprecating way. In
consequence, the narrator starts to feel weak and tired, disconsolate and regretful,
being hysteric till the madness. He has a dilemma between the desired of remember
and the desire of forget Lenore. Poe felt an incredible sadness and fear to the close
death of his wife, trying to accept that “nevermore”, that his wife will never come
back.