Edgar Allan Poe

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Edgar Allan Poe

Introduction

Edgar Ellen was born in Boston, Massachusetts on 19th of January 1909. His biological mother and father were actors by profession and both of them passed away before he even turned three years old. Then he became a foster child to John and Frances Allen. Being very well off, Poe’s foster parents sent him to the finest boarding school and after that to the University of Virginia. Poe showed excellence in academia, but he had to leave the university because his father refused to pay for all his betting debts (Poe). Eventually, Poe came back home but his terms with his foster father had worsened. While many may think that Edgar Allan Poe’s childhood affected his career this is not reality (Indrusiak and Oliveira, 163-181). His career turned out being a success, he achieved to be a well-known poet in American history, also his works influenced literature around the world, and he has published many famous works (Poe).

Discussion

As mentioned above people are in belief of the fact that Poe’s early childhood collapsed his career, which is far from reality. This paper will discuss the personal growth Poe went through in his journey of becoming a famous literary figure in the United States of America. It is clear by the fact he felt alienated, he lost his parents at a very young age (Poe). At a tender age like that, a child wants attention and care but Poe was sent off to boarding schools. While a good education is essential to progress further in life, but a child also requires the presence of loved ones for support, care, and attention. Having supportive and loving parent figures assures one that they are wanted (Halliburton). This fact explains why he started gambling at such a young age in university. His foster parents gave him the education and money, but not the attention and love that is required for one to develop as a person. His early childhood actually aided in instigating his career. He would have never developed as a person on his own if he did not go through trauma. He became a self-made person because he was his own buffer (Poe). He learned throughout his life and constantly grew as a person. He was clear-headed in regards to what his true passion really is, and he further used this urge to establish his career.

Through his journey of life, he made many realizations, he even changed fields, but there was one thing that stayed constant; his love for literature and poetry. After realizing the fact that his relationship with his foster father has gone worse, he shifted back to Boston in 1827 and recruited himself in the military. That was the year the first collection of his poems Tamerlane and the other poems were published. The very next year the second collection of his poems, they went by the name Tamerlane, Al Aaraaf and other minor poems were published (Poe). Both collections of his poems did not get any major critical praise. After he was done with his Army service, he was admitted to the American Military academy. He had to leave the academy as well because he lacked financial support. Then he shifted in with his aunt and her daughter in Baltimore, Maryland (Indrusiak and Oliveira, 163-181).

After going through all the above, Poe still did not give up on his literary passion. He then started selling his short stories to various magazines. His efforts paid off and he ended up becoming the editor of Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond, where he ended up moving with his aunt and cousin who he married. In the next ten years, Poe worked on full potential as an editor. He would alter a plethora of papers inclusive of the Burton's Gentleman's Magazine and Graham's Magazine located in Philadelphia and the Broadway Journal in New York City. In the course of these ten years, he really established and progressed himself as a poet and a short story writer. He took this opportunity to grow his passion (Halliburton).

Those ten years he worked as an editor were his peak years. It is amid the ten years that he published and created some of his most well-known work. He published poems and stories like “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Raven,” and “The Murders in the Rue Morgue.” Poe really established himself as a writer and poet. His work started to get the critical claim that it deserved. It was those years that laid the foundation of him becoming one of the most notable literary figures of nowadays (Poe). He grew out of the trauma that he faced as a child and made something productive of himself with the passion that he had of writing and poetry. He took his depression and turned it into art. Unfortunately, when his wife passed away in 1847, his struggle with alcoholism and depression got worse. Poe eventually passed away on the 3rd of October 1849 (Indrusiak and Oliveira, 163-181).

Yes, Poe's early childhood was quite traumatizing, but it did not have an impact on his career. In fact, he reached his potential after the trauma that he had been through. His work for America's literary world is quite substantial (Stamos). His stories make him the originator of the horror and horror and fiction genre. His work is quite profound in the world of fiction. He gave us masterpieces like "The Raven" and to this day it is the muse of many movies and television shows (Poe). His wife’s death worsened his depression and anxiety but he had already achieved wonders before he passed away. The death of a loved one triggered his anxiety, depression, and alcoholism. This also proves the fact that having a loved one is essential for one to get by in life. It can also be seen that his career skyrocketed when he had his wife by his side. Those ten years might not have been enough but they definitely helped make a mark in the literary world and also Poe's career (Halliburton).

Conclusion

Poe’s work and achievements as a critic, poet, editor, and writer had a significant influence on both international and American literature. His stories are called the origination of the fiction and horror genre (Stamos). There are many compilations that have deemed him as the architect of modern day short story. He is one of the primary critics who talked about the influence of structure and style in the world of literature. He is been seen as the portent to the "art for art's sake” movement. Notable French symbolists like Rimbaud and Mallarme claimed that he is a literary forerunner (Indrusiak and Oliveira, 163-181). In fact, Baudelaire spent around fourteen years in trying to translate Poe’s work into French. In the present, Poe is known as one of the very first writer from America to have established themselves as a significant figure in the world of literature. These accomplishments made by Poe project that regardless of having a traumatizing childhood he developed himself as a person and achieved wonders. He never gave up his passion and continued down the road to achieving greatness in the world of literature (Stamos). He did not just achieve greatness but also made enhancements and new contributions to literature directly.

Work Cited

Poe, Edgar Allan. The Tell Tale Heart-The Short Stories of Edgar Allan Poe (Fantasy and Horror Classics). Read Books Ltd, 2017.

Poe, Edgar Allan. The Complete Short Stories of Edgar Allan Poe. Musaicum Books, 2017.

Poe, Edgar Allan. "Edgar Allan Poe Poems: the complete collection." (2018).

Halliburton, David. Edgar Allen Poe: A Phenomenological View. Princeton University Press, 2015.

Indrusiak, Elaine Barros, and Amanda Leonardi de Oliveira. "Poe's biopics: representations of the author in DW Griffith's Edgar Allen Poe and James Mcteigue's The raven." Abusões. Rio de Janeiro, RJ. Vol. 4, n. 6 (2018), p. 163-181 (2018).

Stamos, David N. Edgar Allan Poe, Eureka, and Scientific Imagination. SUNY Press, 2017.