Edgar Allan Poe Research Paper

855 Words4 Pages
Edgar Allan Poe was one of the most well known poets/writers of the 1800s, and his legacy continues to grow today. He wrote terribly beautiful writings with fantastic yet wicked intent. A life characterized by darkness, obscurity, and insanity is evident in the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Had he not lived a life with mental illnesses and internal disturbances, his works would not have received the fame and recognition that have made them the timeless classics they are today. The disturbances of Poe started when he was a toddler. Since he was little, he was surrounded by death and tragedy. According to “Balancing Between Sensitization and Repression: The Role of Opium in the Life and Art of Edgar Allan Poe and Samuel Taylor Coleridge”, an…show more content…
While Poe was a young child, he had relatives that were addicted to alcohol. David Poe, Edgar’s biological father, had history of alcoholism in his family before the birth of Edgar, and his brother, William, died of an early age due to alcohol (Iszaj and Demetrovics, 1615). This shows that alcohol was not something new for Poe; he was well aware of what it was from previous experiences. According to the “Encyclopedia of Drugs, Alcohol, & Addictive Behavior”, “Studies have shown that the first-degree relatives of alcoholics are fourteen times more likely to be addicts themselves” (Carson-DeWitt). This means that Poe was very likely to fall under the influence of alcohol. From the website, http://www.neuroticpoets.com/poe/, “after his lover got engaged to another man, Poe started to drink heavily, and he easily became ‘violent and irrational’ once he drank over his limit” (Mondragon, 1). This shows that Poe was sometimes uncontrollable with drinking, which would cause him to be drunk. Therefore, the inference that Poe’s writings were written under the influence is clearly true. In one of his classic dark tales, “The Cask of Amontillado,” the narrator passionately wishes to seek revenge on a man. To accomplish his goal, he brings the man into his wine vault, which also happens to be his family’s crypt, and gets the man drunk. Finally, the narrator seals the man in a crypt by…show more content…
From the tragedies of his past, to the chronic alcohol abuse of his present, depression was certain to enter Poe’s life, and become worse and worse as time continued. Poe was an abuser of alcohol, which is most likely the leading factor to his depression. According to “Encyclopedia of Drugs, Alcohol, & Addictive Behavior”, “Chronic alcohol abuse can lead to numerous adverse effects- to direct effects such as depression. As drinking prolongs, depression intensifies” (Carson-Dewitt). This proves that his depression accelerated since he started drinking and it only grew stronger. Depressive signs are also seen throughout his writing. He wrote splendidly sinister tales of death, wickedness, tragedy, guilt, and more. In one of many of Poe’s poems, “Alone”, tells the story of Poe and his depressing life. The poem ends with a final verse “And the cloud that took the form, (When the rest of Heaven was blue), Of a demon in my view—”(Poe, 430). The ending of this poem clearly proves that Poe was a dark and depressed person, and even when things were happy, great and ‘blue’, the only thing he noticed was “a demon in his
Show More
Related

  • Edgar Allan Poe Insane Research Paper

    721 Words  | 3 Pages

    “How, then, am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily-how calmly I can tell you the whole story,” (Edgar Allan Poe, 203). In the story of The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe, the narrator brutally kills an old man with a blue vulture-like eye, only because of the eye. He then proudly hides the body, to avoid suspension from the police. The defendant is clearly guilty of murder in the 1st degree, and he is also off his rocker, but does he, the defendant, fit the legal description of insane

    Read More

  • Edgar Allen Poe's The Masque Of The Red Death

    1109 Words  | 5 Pages

    biographical source focuses on the personal and literary aspects of Edgar Allen Poe’s life. It discusses much of Poe’s own life and his motives behind many of his literary works. Poe

    Read More

  • The Tell Tale Heart And The Black Cat Analysis

    3402 Words  | 14 Pages

    Term Paper - 1 On ‘Edgar Allan Poe’s Experimental Art Of Narration With Reference To The Tell Tale Heart and The Black Cat ’ In partial fulfillment of the requirements for Award of Degree of B.A. Hons. English - 4 Submitted By: Supervised By: Annant Gaur Dr. Smita Mishra A0706113077 Asst. Professor Amity Institute of English Studies and Research AMITY UNIVERSITY UTTAR PRADESH India Introduction Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet,

    Read More

  • House Of Usher

    1117 Words  | 5 Pages

    Psychosomatic Thriller- “The Fall of the House of Usher” The Gothic, mysterious narrative, “The Fall of the House of Usher,” written by Edgar Allan Poe, is a tale of madness, sickness, incest, and the peril of unrestrained creativity, perhaps being one of his most critically examined, popular horror narratives. I was mesmerized by the concept of a decaying mansion, full tattered tapestries, broken furniture, as well as the detailed setting, which happens to be a desolate, gloomy locale, yet is

    Read More

  • Sherlock Holmes And Hercule Poirot Study

    2231 Words  | 9 Pages

    Although both characters are featured/appear in both novels and short stories, it is the latter ones that are in focus in this paper. The purpose of the paper is to compare Sherlock Holmes stories with Hercule Poirot stories in order to trace similarities as well as differences between these two detective series. The research concerns/is focused on, first, the character/person of the protagonist – his characteristics and skills, as well as his cooperation with the sidekick;

    Read More

More about Edgar Allan Poe Research Paper

Open Document