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Edgar Allan Poe was a predominate and highly influential figure in world literature. Much of Poe's notability is based on his ingenious and profound short stories, poems, and critical theories. The innovative way that he wrote established a pretense of how the short form in both poetry and fiction should be, which is one reason they regard Poe in literary histories and handbooks as the architect of the modern short story (Quinn 93). It was Poe's particular genius that in his work he gave consummate artistic form both to his personal obsessions and those of previous literary generations, at the same time creating new forms which provided a means of expression for future artists (Allen 473). Edgar Allan Poe was born to poor actor parents.
His father David was an average actor and a heavy drinker who deserted his son and wife and disappeared forever. His mother Elizabeth, on the other hand, was said to have been a charismatic and talented actress. Elizabeth died of tuberculosis in December of 1811. Edgar Poe was not quite three, but always remembered his mother vomiting blood and being carried away from him forever by sinister men dressed in black. It was her sudden death that was said to have warped Poe for the rest of his life (Krutch 12). After his mother's death Poe was taken into the home of John and Frances Allan - hence his middle name.
In 1834 Poe brought his aunt Mrs. Clear and her daughter Virginia to live with him and in 1836 he married his young cousin. It was during this time that an extreme production of literature came from Poe. He wrote stories and many forceful and slashing reviews, waging war on mediocrity and trying to enforce high literary standards (Krutch 55). Unfortunately his efforts were often wasted on rather insignificant works. After six years of marriage Virginia had become fatally ill, and her slowly progressing illness between 1842 and 1847 had driven Poe to distraction.
Virginia eventually died on January 30, 1847, and Poe broke down, though he felt relieved in a way from "the horrible never- ending oscillation between hope and despair" (Allen 309). Throughout his life, Poe lost everyone he cared about and loved. So like the hero of one of his own tales, he was constantly threatened and tortured by the pendulum of fate swinging between the extremes of the human condition (Allen 312). Poe was perfectly discernible and clear to the end, but he lost the will to detach himself from the ever present chaos that was bringing him down (Krutch 207). His works reflect the double aspect of his personality: the abandonment of the self-destructive romantic artist and the self-control of the conscious and the conscientious craftsman, the passivity of the dreamer indifferent to all that exists outside his dream world and the restless activity of a keen mind always on the alert (Quinn 172).
Poe is most often thought of for his short fiction, but his first love as a writer was actually poetry. He began to write poetry during his adolescence. Poe's early verse showed the influence of English romantics, and it also gave a glimpse to his later poetry which illustrates a subjective outlook and surreal, mystic vision (Allen 224). Poe's attitude toward his own tales is much more complex than is commonly realized. He is never completely taken in by his own imagination. His apparent frenzy is always accompanied by lucidity.
There should be no denying that Poe's "tales of imagination and fear" were not mere literary exercises or hoaxes (Krutch 129). They wholly committed him, and his own tragic life is the best proof of this. Poe had a fear of death, a terror which haunted his soul. It appears in almost all of his works, in the vivid descriptions of the deaths of his characters.
Poe experienced many things in his life and wrote about what he knew and felt, which was predominately death and his fear of nothingness overtaking him. At the same time, he understood that it was essential to detach himself from his stories. By doing this he changed the popular literary standard of the happy ending and taking sides and putting one's own emotion into the story. He interpreted what he thought into clear and vivid descriptions that would captivate and engross his readers.
The way that he wrote greatly influenced the way that literature was and continues to be written. Bibliography: Works Cited Quinn, Arthur Hobson. Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography. New York: D. Apple- Century, 1941. Allen, Hervey.
Israel: The Life and Times of Edgar Allan Poe. New York: Doran, 1926. Krutch, Joseph Wood. Edgar Allan Poe: A Study in Genius.
New York: Knopf, 1926.
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