Edgar Allan Poe

1
Edgar Allan Poe
2
Parents

• Father David Poe
• Traveling actor (not successful)
• Alcoholic
• Left when Edgar was a baby

3
Parents

• Mother Elizabeth Arnold
• Talented actress
• Died on tour in Richmond, VA before Poe turned
  three

4
Parents

• Taken in by John and Frances Allan
• They provided for his early education
• Never adopted him

5
Parents

• John Allan let Poe know he was disappointed in
  him
• Poe had no business ambition
• Was slightly lazy
• Had a desire to be a writer

6
Poes Education and Career

• When Poe was 17 he entered the University of
  Virginia
• John Allan did not give Poe enough money, despite
  his success in school
• Poe tried to earn money gambling

7
Poes Education and Career

• Poe went deep into debt
• Allan refused to help Poe out, so he had to drop
  out of school
• Poe and Allan had another fight, so Poe left for
  Boston to make his own way

8
Poes Education and Career

• 1827 published small book of poetry (not
  successful)
• Joined army unhappy as an enlisted man
• Asked Allan for helpAllans dying wife begged
  him to help

9
Poes Education and Career

• Allan helped Poe get appointed to West Point
• Meanwhile, Poe published a second volume of
  poetry, this time successful

10
Poes Education and Career

• Frances Allan died and John remarried a young
  woman
• Poe figured he would not inherit any of Allans
  money, so he dropped out of West Point

11
Poes Education and Career

• Poe moved in with his aunt in Baltimore in 1835
• He married her 13 year old daughter Virginia
• Virginia was not healthy

12
Poes Education and Career

• He worked as an editor on several magazines
• Was dismissed because of his drinking
• Continued to write short stories

13
Poes Education and Career

• Wrote The Murders in the Rue Morgue which is
  considered the first detective story
• Poe set the foundation for the modern detective
  story
• Master of the psychological thriller

14
Poes Education and Career

• Poe produced a number of works despite his
  poverty and drinking
• Knew success as a writer, but never benefited
  financially

15
Poes Education and Career

• 1847 Virginia died of TB
• Poe became more unstable
• Drinking became worse
• Contracted several illnesses, including a fatal
  brain lesion

16
Poes Education and Career

• Always looking for romance and someone to love
  him
• 1849 went to visit a woman he hoped to marry
• Disappeared

17
Poes Education and Career

• Found a week later drunk, delirious, clothing
  torn and soaked in a Baltimore tavern
• He died four days later

18
The Raven

• Published in 1845
• A huge success with an impact comparable to the
  Beatles first single
• Everyone read it, recited it and talked about it

19
The Raven

• Poe became a household name, but never became
  rich
• Only made about 10 for the poem

20
The Raven

• Poe said the raven in the poem was a symbol of
  mournful and never-ending remembrance
• The narrator projects onto the bird what his
  imagination creates