EDGAR ALLAN POE

All that we see or seem, is but a dream within a dream

BIOGRAPHY

He was Born 19 January 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts

He attended the University of Virginia in 1820 – 1827 and was expelled for not paying back his gambling debts.

He then attended West Point, but was expelled due to his missing too many classes.

In 1833 he won a prize for his short story “MS in a bottle”

BIOGRAPHYPoe was born in Boston on January 19, 1809, his parents’ second child.His father deserted the family a year later.In December 1811, his mother died at twenty-four, and her husband disappeared completely.Poe was taken in by John Allan, a successful and stable Richmond merchant.

Poe later married his 13-year-old cousin, Virginia. She later died at very young age of tuberculosis.

HIS DEATH

On October 3, 1849, Poe was found on the streets of Baltimore delirious, "in great distress, and... in need of immediate assistance.” He was taken to the Washington College Hospital, where he died on Sunday, October 7, 1849, at 5:00 in the morning.[ Poe was never coherent long enough to explain how he came to be in his dire condition, and, oddly, was wearing clothes that were not his own. Some sources say Poe's final words were "Lord help my poor soul.” All medical records, including his death certificate, have been lost.] Newspapers at the time reported Poe's death as "congestion of the brain" or "cerebral inflammation", common euphemisms for deaths from disreputable causes such as alcoholism.] The actual cause of death remains a mystery

The Cask of Amontillado

The Fall of the House of Usher

The Pit and the Pendulum

The Sphinx

The Raven

A Tell Tale Heart

SOME OF EDGAR ALLAN POE’S WORKS….

CASK OF AMONTILLADO

I said to him -- "My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met. How remarkably well you are looking to-day! But I have received a pipe of what passes for Amontillado, and I have my doubts."

POE WORKED IN A VARIETY OF GENRES (1827-1849)

Criticism--he gained a national reputation as a virulently sarcastic critic, a literary hatchet-man. The bulk of his writing consists of his criticism, and his most abiding ambition was to become a powerful critic.Poetry--He was an experimental poet.Psychological fiction--He wanted to produce the greatest possible horrific effects on the reader.Detective Story--Poe created this form when he was 32, will all its major conventions complete.

ELEMENTS O F GOTHIC IN PO E ’S F ICT ION

Grim setting• Landscapes are often reflections of

character’s mind.• Unusual buildings, extremes of nature,

eccentric works of art• Very few of his stories take place in

America; most take place in Europe or Never-never-land.

OTHER ASPECTS OF THE GOTHIC

Hidden evil• Unspeakable, mysterious crimes, including incest and

parricideObsession with Death

• Ghosts, blood, body partsManiacal LaughterThe discovered manuscript

• gives responsibility to someone elseDeformity

• the grotesque--people who don’t look right are capable of activity beyond the norm