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Before You Read
Edgar Allan Poe 1809–1849 About the Author
A fearless original, Edgar Allan Poe was extremely productive in his short life. Although most famous as a master of terror, he also pioneered the modern detective story and early science fiction, and he was a first-rate editor and critic.
Orphaned at age two, Poe was raised by the Allans, a wealthy family in Richmond, Virginia. He performed well in school and displayed literary aspirations in college. Poe’s gambling debts and drinking episodes, however, caused Mr. Allan to withdraw support. After brief stints in the army and a military academy, Poe lived with an aunt and cousin in Baltimore. His cousin, Virginia, whom he married when she was thirteen, reportedly resembled the heroines in much of his fiction. In 1842, Virginia began to show early signs of tuberculosis, and she died in 1847. Literary critics believe the loss of his wife and mother contributed to Poe’s dark imagery and repeated themes of loss and death.
As an editor and critic,
Poe became well acquainted
with the current literature,
studied it carefully, and
eventually developed a
formula of his own. His first successful story collection included the detective classic “The Murders in the Rue Morgue.” Fame followed with the publication of “The Raven,” one of the most widely read American poems. Despite the fame, Poe still struggled financially.
Poe, the writer, has been described as “a wolf chained by the leg among a lot of domestic dogs.” Nevertheless, he reportedly was gentle with loved ones, and even humorous at times. After Virginia’s premature death, he became even more unstable, yet managed to continue writing and to regain some fame by reciting “The Raven” to huge crowds. At age 40, the enigmatic writer met a premature end.
Author’s Style
Poe’s work contains familiar elements of Gothic literature: melodramatic plots, mysterious settings, grotesque characters, and surreal situations. Critics credited Poe with elevating this popular genre into the realm of literature. His works explore more than the dark recesses of the outer world; they also probe the dark recesses of the human psyche. His characters grapple with dark pasts, hideous crimes, and their own deaths. Repressed emotions erupt, and psychological balance breaks down.
Structurally, Poe’s stories are tightly 60 Before You Read
controlled units in which every element, every sentence, contributes to the whole. The voices of unreliable and often deranged first-person narrators reveal characters’ psyches. Inventive sentence structures and sound techniques enhance a sense of terror.
Irony is a significant element in “The Masque of the Red Death” and adds to the reader’s suspense. In his narrative poem “The Raven,” the use of figurative language, including symbolism and repetition, generates intense, melancholic emotions in the reader.
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