Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyze and discuss the great personality that history has witnessed in the field of English literature Edgar Allan Poe. The core objective of the paper is to analyze the literary works proposed by Edgar Allan Poe in order to express discomfort through his writings. Edgar Allan Poe was famous for his gothic stories; however, there were several other masterpieces given by Edgar Allan Poe during his life. This paper discusses the early life and works provided by Edgar Allan Poe during his life. Nonetheless, the paper also discusses the achievements acknowledged by Edgar Allan Poe in his life.

Table of Contents

Introduction3

History and Background4

Discussion5

Poe's Achievements6

Conclusion8

Works Cited9

Review of Literature on Edgar Allan Poe Expressing Discomfort through his Writing

Introduction

Edgar Allan Poe was recognized as an American literary critic, author and a poet. Poe's psychologically tales made him a very famous writer, in fact Poe is considered the founder of detective fiction genre and a big contributor to the science fiction genre however, the vast majority of Poe's works are those of gothic genre, emphasizing on tales of mystery and death. The author's life was marred constantly by tragedy and death, Edgar Allan Poe expressed his discomfort through his literature. In fact, The Cast of Amontillado, The Tell-Tale Heart and The Raven narrated personal experiences of deprivation, deception and death. Through his works Poe creates a pattern on which he articulates his dark passionate obsession with violence and the loss of life. The literature surrounding this topic can be organized into three groups. The first Group will be those sources relating to the author's biography, Group B will be the sources that contain the works of Edgar Allan Poe and Group C will be used for additional sources that will aid in the analysis of Poe's literature and mental state.

The figure of Edgar Allan Poe, in all his strangeness, might conjure up a possible Poe protagonist: The Man with Too Many Faces. Poe is the archetypal genius, with shades of the Gothic: a brilliant literary and linguistic theorist and critic; a gambler and heavy drinker; a dedicated and hardworking journalist; one of the first nationally known Southern writers; the creator of truly disturbing Gothic tales; a poet of mathematical rhythm and precision; one of the founders of the detective-mystery literary genre; the inspiration of countercultural French writers like Baudelaire … the list could go on. To consider Poe is not to reduce such multiplicity to any single interpretation, but rather to paint as broad a picture as possible of the many facets of his private and public lives.

History and Background

Poe's biography reveals the extent of his mixture of peril and promise, tragedy and talent. Born in Boston on January 19, 1809, to two itinerant actors, by age two Poe was an orphan—his mother dead, his father vanished—and the ward of the wealthy Virginian John Allan. The list of subsequent failures, controversies, and losses is lengthy and infamous: 1827—forced to withdraw from the University of Virginia after only one year because of gambling debts; 1831—court-martialed and dismissed from West Point for dereliction of duty, leading to his 1832 exclusion from Allan's will; 1835—married to thirteen-year-old Virginia Clemm, whose extended illness and death in 1847 would drive him to drink and subsequent ill health; 1849—found in Baltimore in a coma (possibly induced by drink), he died on October 7...