Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe was a predominate and highly influential figure in world literature. Much of Poe's notability is based on his ingenious and profound short stories, poems, and critical theories. The innovative way that he wrote established a pretense of how the short form in both poetry and fiction should be, which is one reason they regard Poe in literary histories and handbooks as the architect of the modern short story (Quinn 93). It was Poe's particular genius that in his work he gave consummate artistic form both to his personal obsessions and those of previous literary generations, at the same time creating new forms which provided a means of expression for future artists (Allen 473). Edgar Allan Poe was born to poor actor parents. His father David was an average actor and a heavy drinker who deserted his son and wife and disappeared forever. His mother Elizabeth, on the other hand, was said to have been a charismatic and talented actress. Elizabeth died of tuberculosis in December of 1811. Edgar Poe was not quite three, but always remembered his mother vomiting blood and being carried away from him forever by sinister men dressed in black. It was her sudden death that was said to have warped Poe

His apparent frenzy is always accompanied by lucidity. After six years of marriage Virginia had become fatally ill, and her slowly progressing illness between 1842 and 1847 had driven Poe to distraction. By doing this he changed the popular literary standard of the happy ending and taking sides and putting one's own emotion into the story. He interpreted what he thought into clear and vivid descriptions that would captivate and engross his readers. Clemm and her daughter Virginia to live with him and in 1836 he married his young cousin. Israfel: The Life and Times of Edgar Allan Poe. The way that he wrote greatly influenced the way that literature was and continues to be written. It appears in almost all of his works, in the vivid descriptions of the deaths of his characters. So like the hero of one of his own tales, he was constantly threatened and tortured by the pendulum of fate swinging between the extremes of the human condition (Allen 312). After his mother's death Poe was taken into the home of John and Frances Allan - hence his middle name. He wrote stories and many forceful and slashing reviews, waging war on mediocrity and trying to enforce high literary standards (Krutch 55). Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography.