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