Edgar Allan Poe :: essays research papers

Edgar Allan Poe was a master of his craft, gifted with the talent of introducing each reviewer to his or her own fears. As the first writer to compose tales of horror, death, and brain-teaser into literature and poetry, he is blessed, maybe even cursed, with an imagination that set high standards in the field of writing. However sinister or dark it may be, Poes writing continues to have an impact on the world of writing. A look into Poes childhood might shed some get on where his fascination with death comes from. Edgar Allan Poe was born in 1809 in Boston, mama to drifting actor parents. Denying his parental responsibilities, Edgars father abandoned his wife and children, leaving her to support the family as best she could. He died somewhere about 1810. His mother traveled through various cities acting in as many stage performances as she could get, but the struggle eventually took a toll on her health. Towards the end of 1811, shortly after turning 2, plot in Richmond, Vir ginia, she became ill and died. Her three children were put into homes. His brother William died young, his sister Rosalie subsequent became insane, and Edgar was placed into the home of a well-off, yet unsupportive man named bottom Allan. Allan was emotionally detached from Poe, refusing to even legally adopt the boy. This move would dismay a chain of events, eventually triggering a drinking problem, that would cause volume of Poes psychological troubles later in life. He was raised in an wealthy home, but lacked the emotional support needed to build aspiration and confidence in himself. Edgar would attend the finest boarding schools to train to be a proper gentleman. But, when it came time to go to the University of Virginia in 1826, his foster father nevertheless gave him enough money to survive. In those days, the average college freshman was nineteen eld old. Edgar was certainly wise beyond his years, enrolling in college only a calendar month after his seventeenth birth day. This made it harder on Edgar to survive out on his own at such an early age. John Allan had always been nonindulgent and harsh, and sometimes even cruel to Edgar, but this was the first time he denied him the means to survive outside of his home. Adding insult to injury, he also forbade Edgar to need what his heart so desired poetry.