Edgar Allan PoeJanuary 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849

Poetic Principle

Reasons to study poetry: 1. To learn creativity 2. To make yourself more well-rounded 3. To better understand yourself through

understanding others. 4. Aesthetics (beauty) 5. History

Life

Born Edgar Poe in Boston, Mass. Orphaned young; mother died

shortly after father abandoned family

Taken in by John and Frances Allan of Richmond, VA, but never formally adopted

Attended University of VA for one semester

Enlisted in the army, failed as a cadet at West Point, parted ways with the Allans

1827 – a collection of poems published, Tamerlane and Other Poems

Switched focus to prose, literary criticism 1835 – married Virgina Clemm, his 13-year-old

cousin January 1845 – published “The Raven” 1847 – Virginia died from Tuberculosis Was planning to produce own journal, The Penn,

but died before production Cause of death is unknown; speculations:

alcoholism, brain congestion, cholera, drugs, rabies, suicide, tuberculosis, and heart disease

Poe says poetry is the “rhythmical creation of beauty.” Beauty is the province of the poem. It is an immortal instinct that we have to reach for beauty.

Poe always lived in search of something within reach.

Four techniques to obtain music and beauty: 1. Onomatopoeia 2. Alliteration 3. Strong rhythms and uncoventional

metrical patterns 4. Repetition – dramatic effect,

emphasis; helps create atmosphere

Themes 1. an air of resignation to despair 2. romantic love – women are idealized

Famous works “The Raven” “Annabel Lee” “Lenore” “To Helen” “A Dream Within a Dream”

The Creator of the Modern Short Story

Main body of work: 1832-1849 Disdained longer forms

1. physical and emotional health not good

2. financial condition – had to make money and short stories the best way

Short story rules 1. must be short enough to read in one

sitting 2. must create one single effect 3. must not contain one word not adding

to effect

Three types 1. humorous▪ Satire▪ Exaggeration▪ Bordering on ridiculous▪ Purple Prose: take a simple situation and pile on one

absurdity after another

2. Detective▪ Poe is the “father of the detective story”▪ Elements▪ Based on analysis and deduction▪ Solution found in a step-by-step analysis of the crime▪ Reader’s interest centered on how crime is

committed

▪ Monsieur Auguste Dupin is Poe’s little French detective in those short stories. He is the literary father of Sherlock Holmes

3. Horror ▪ Mainly achieved through mood and

atmosphere. Primary to plot▪ Accumulations of horrors piled one after

another, rushing to a climax▪ Reader held in suspense until the last

possible second Poe was obsessed with being entombed

alive and also with being forgotten

Famous works The Fall of the House of Usher The Tell-Tale Heart The Purloined Letter The Cask of Amontillado The Pit and the Pendulum

The Fall of the House of Usher Poe was editor of Burton’s Gentleman’s

Magazine in Philadelphia when “Usher” was published on September 18, 1839.

Five months earlier: “The Haunted Palace” published in the Baltimore Museum. “By ‘The Haunted Palace’ I mean to imply a

mind haunted by phantoms – a disordered brain. A gifted mind becomes haunted by evil things and memories.”

Poe feared going insane and had many bad things to haunt his life

Main characters: Madeline and Roderick Usher, the Narrator, the House

Conflict: Man v. Man Man v. himself (fear) Man v. the elements

Point of View: 1st person (narrator)

Setting: House of Usher actual location never given Gloomy setting increases Usher’s

depression, but also is an extension of his emotional state

Theme: Vulnerability of the Human Mind

Climax: revelation: put her in the tomb alive

Falling action: Narrator flees Resolution: House and family dies

Romantic Elements Fascinations with antique Mysterious Exotic Supernatural Focus on Self

Gothic Elements House – bleak and remote Thunderstorm Tarn (lake) and misty vapors Strangeness of people in the house…

physical and psychological torment Supernatural element often present

ZIGZAG – story of division and fragmentation: house and inhabitants