Edgar Allan Poe’s stories could easily be described with one word, enigma. His impeccable writings call on people to continue analyzing and to re-read. It questions people’s actions and thoughts. During Edgar Allan Poe’s time, the United States made many historical decisions that affected it’s citizens that will make it’s way into the books. Just like a big country faces several difficulties, so did he. In 1847, Poe’s wife died of tuberculoses. He remembered the death of Virginia and wrote Annabel Lee. Poe also had a trilogy in which he wrote The Murders in the Rue Morgue. Poe was filled with darkness and devastation. He was influences by two men named James and Agnes Usher to write about their lives and illnesses in The Fall of the House of the Ushers. Edgar Allan Poe was a short story author and poet that invoked death, mystery, and details of his own life into his works.
To be able to relate the life of Poe to his stories, it is important to know about his life and what may have inspired him to write certain books. The first connection is between Poe’s wife and one of his poems, Annabel Lee. Poe met his cousin, Virginia, for the first time in August 1829 after leaving the Army. At that time, Virginia was only seven years old. The couple fell in love with each other and not much time passed before they got married, Virginia at the age of thirteen and Poe a twenty-seven year old man. Unexpectedly, on January 30, 1847, Virginia died from tuberculosis. Poe also lost his mother and step-mother in the past. Poe was devastated. It is not known who really inspired him to write Annabel Lee, but is suspected that it is one of those three important people, if not all. The quote taken from the poem, Annabel Lee, on goodreads.com writes, “For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams Of the beautiful Annabel Lee,” proves previous mentioned statement. The story allows for readers to analyze and learn from Poe’s techniques in writings.
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To continue, the overall theme of Annabel Lee, is of losing a loved one. The story was released in May 1849. At the beginning of the story, the character is deceased, just like Virginia. The poem can be described in one quote, “there love for each other will live on forever,” even when the other half is dead. The child spend time sleeping next to the tomb of the lover. This story relates to Poe’s life, because although some of the real events in the story may not be true, but the emotions could have been what Poe was feeling while he was writing this poem.
In addition, Poe wrote a detective trilogy that begins with The Murders in the Rue Morgue. Poe had depression and had a drug and alcohol addiction which was shown in some of his stories. To cope with all the trauma in his life, Poe would solve puzzles. Poe thought above and beyond others. He was a very powerful man. Poe spent a lot of his life alone and had to be independent. Poe analysis things very well.
Poe put some of himself into the detective in the book, Dupin. Dupin was thought to have been a crazy man by some of the characters in the story. Dupin was a detective and investigator. In The Murders in the Rue Mourge, Dupin invested his time into finding out who killed the two women. Although others doubted Dupin, he kept persisting that the murder was not done by one person only. In conclusion, Dupin discovers and proved that an orangutan caused the death. Poe inspired authors to create other mystery books and characters, even Sherlock Homes. According to nps.gov, “Nearly forty-five years after Poe’s death, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle popularized the detective story when he created Sherlock Holmes, a character with peculiarities similar to Poe’s Dupin.”
While writing “The Fall of the House of the Ushers,” Poe felt uneasy and subsequently scared of the events and deaths in his life. The book was written during an era were gothic romanticism was popular in Poe’s life. The story shows how the dark mood in the beginning has a connection to gothicism. This story may have been inspired by two twins named James and Agnes Usher who ironically suffered from a mental illness just like the main character in the story. They were close friends to the Poe family.
The story has three main character’s; the narrator, Roderick Usher, and his sister Madeline. Roderick lives in this haunted mansion and invites the narrator to visit and stay in his house for a few days. During this time, Madeline becomes very ill and dies. To prevent scientist from using her in their experiments, Roderick temporarily buries her in the mansion. One night, the two men were not able to sleep. They heard a noise that began to grow louder and louder. The narrator noticed a blur and was able to read something on it. At the front of the doorsteps, they see Madeline drenched in blood and question if she had even died. This relates to Poe’s life because it is one thing to want your dead family with you, but it is another thing to have them come back to life once they are dead.
In conclusion, Edgar uses literary devises to tie real-life into his books and poems. Edgar has inspired several authors to write about mystery and death. Many believe that Edgar’s wife’s death brought out a side to Poe and his writings the people had never seen or read of. The story’s give a diversity of different emotions that people can through throughout tough times in their lives. English experts owe a debt of gratitude to Poe for his ideas in liturgy.
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