THE TRAGIC TALE

OF

EDGAR ALLAN POE

• Born January 19, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts

• Parents: David and Elizabeth Poe, both of whom died before Edgar was

three.

--They were both actors.

• Siblings: Henry and Rosalie.

EAST COAST BOY

Elizabeth Poe

• Raised by: Frances and John Allan in Virginia

--The couple was wealthy so Edgar went to good schools.

--He even studied in England for 5 years from ages 6-11.

• Edgar was never adopted by them and harbored resentment about this

fact.

• His brother and sister were raised separately.

GROWING UP

• Began in 1826

• Studied Latin and French

• Began to gamble and

accrue debts

• Began to drink heavily

• Quit the school after a

year

• Had a falling out with

John Allan

UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA

• Joined 1827 at the age of eighteen.

• Served two years

• Attained the rank of sergeant major

• Published his first poem: “Dreams” in the Baltimore North American

• Published his first book Tamerlane and Other Poems

ARMY YEARS

• Frances Allan dies, Edgar tries to reconcile w/ John

• Moves in with his grandmother and aunt, Mrs. Clemm. His brother Henry and cousin Virginia also live there.

• Enters Westpoint in 1829 but is dismissed a year later

THE NEXT MOVE?

• He moves New York City in 1831 and began to write

• Submitted stories to a number of magazines, all rejected

• Poe begs Allan for help, none comes

• John Allan dies in 1834

--Edgar is not mentioned in the will

STARVING ARTIST

• He becomes a newspaper editor in 1835.

--Successful editor of Southern Literary Messenger in

Richmond

• Wins a contest with his story “The Manuscript Found

in a Bottle”

• Brings Mrs. Clemm and Virginia to live with him in

Richmond

CAREER MOVES

• Marries his cousin Virginia in 1836.

--He was 27, she 13

• Poe leaves the paper

• Moves around some (New York, Philadelphia)

EDGAR FINDS LOVE AT LAST

• First volume of short stories published

in 1839

--Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque

• Still struggling financially

• Also publishes only novel, The Narrative

of Arthur Gordon Pym

GAINING NOTORIETY

• He becomes Editor for Graham's Magazine in 1840.

--successful editor and essayist

--publishes more stories

• He leaves in 1842 because he wanted to start his own magazine.

• Begins The Stylus

--it is a failure

• He then gets a string of jobs, all short term

--still struggling financially

• Begins work at The Broadway Journal in 1845.

--New York

TRYING TO STAY AFLOAT

• His wife Virginia dies in 1847.

• A bereaved Poe collapses from stress and later turns to alcohol.

TRAGEDY STRIKES AGAIN

• Goes back to Richmond

• Joins “The Sons of Temperance” to attempt to stop

drinking

--doesn’t work

• Renews boyhood romance w/ Sarah Royster

Shelton

• Plans to marry her that October

POE’S FINAL YEARS: 1847-1849

Sarah, as she was when Poe first loved her.

• September 27, Poe leaves Richmond for New York, via Philadelphia

• September 30, heads to New York, takes the wrong train, ends up in

Baltimore

• October 3, Poe is found at Gunner's Hall

--taken to a hospital

• October 7, 1849, Poe dies in Baltimore

• No one knows for sure what happened the last few days of his life

--theories include: alcohol poisoning, mugging, murder, and

rabies

POE’S FINAL DAYS: 1849

• Poe is best known for his scary, short stories but also wrote

poetry

• Some of his most famous works:

--”The Raven”

--”The Tell-Tale Heart”

--”The Pit and the Pendulum”

• Poe is considered the father of horror and the father of mystery

stories

--Steven King, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

POE’S LEGACY