Edgar Allan Poe The inventor of the modern short story

Edgar Allan Poe

The inventor of the modern short story.

Edgar Allan Poe• Born January 19th, 1809, Died October

7th, 1849 at 40 years of age

• Parents were actors

• Mom dies of tuberculosis when Poe was 2

• Adopted by John Allan’s family

• -they were wealthy

• Poe’s MotherElizabeth

• John Allan

• Poe’s foster father

• Not welcomed by John Allan

• Attended the University of Virginia in 1826

• He was sent to school with no money or supplies

• Left school because of gambling debts

Edgar Allan Poe• Attended West Point in 1827

• He resigned with a dishonorable discharge

• Lived in Baltimore, MD

• Was depressed and living in poverty

• Married his cousin, Virginia Clem, in 1835

• Earned $10 a week as an editor

•

Poe’s Historical Site in Boston

Poe had many 1sts

• 1st great literary critic

• 1st American recognized as a note-worthy writer

• 1st person to write detective stories

1sts

• First psychological writer

• 1st author to write modern short stories

Poe’s favorite themes

• The death of a beautiful woman.

• Diseases of the body and mind

• Supernatural beauty

Themes

• Premature death

• Being haunted by death

• Sanity and Insanity

• Order and chaos

Great works include:

• “The Cask of Amontillado”

• “The Masque of the Red Death”

• “The Raven”

• “The Tell-Tale Heart”

• “The Black Cat”

Hardships

• Poe watched many of the women in his life die a bloody death.

• Poe was rejected by by adopted father.

• Poe had a drinking problem.

• Poe was very poor.

Poe’s Mysterious Death

• Poe was found unconscious on the streets of Baltimore, wearing someone else's clothes.

• It was election day, and one theory is that he was drugged and made a repeat voter.

Poe’s last home in Richmond

Poe’s Memorial Grave in Boston