Edgar Allan Poe was a great American poet, short story writer and fierce literary critic. He was born in 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts, and died in 1849 of mysterious causes, though some claim it was simply alcohol poisoning. His life was wrought with tragedy, from his parents dying when he was not even 3 years old, to his adoptive parents dying, and then his wife dying as well. He had problems with alcoholism and gambling, could not finish college due to gambling and money problems, and he was expelled from West Point military academy. Poe is one of the greatest American writers of his time. Poe’s wide body of works “includes short stories, poetry, a novel, a textbook, a book of scientific theory, and hundreds of essays and book reviews.
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The most revered women in Poe’s life appeared to be his aunt Mrs. Clemm and his wife Virginia. His life with them seemed to be some of the happiest times in Poe’s life. The poem Annabel Lee was inspired by his wife Virginia who died of tuberculosis. The poem To My Mother was inspired by his aunt, Virginia’s mother, who took him in and raised him as her own before he married her daughter (Meckert). “Poe wrote Sonnet to My Mother to mostly pay tribute to his aunt but also to acknowledge his natural mother and his wife. From a biographical point of view, this sonnet is certainly one of his most revealing works” (Benton). One story that clearly represents his life with his aunt and his wife Virginia is the story Eleonora. This is Poe’s only serious romance with a happy ending. Thematically, it not only depicts growth of love in the life of man but also suggests differences between ‘romantic’ love…and ‘married’ love… Poe grew up with Virginia only as loving cousins and only when they grew up did he develop romantic feelings for her. This story first speaks of the Garden of Paradise that likely resembles his childhood and growing up with his beloved aunt and cousin who he walked hand in hand to school with, but then later in the story it speaks of having fallen from this paradise, which likely speaks of when he married his cousin and moved her and his aunt to live with him in the big city of Baltimore
The most revered women in Poe’s life appeared to be his aunt Mrs. Clemm and his wife Virginia. His life with them seemed to be some of the happiest times in Poe’s life. The poem Annabel Lee was inspired by his wife Virginia who died of tuberculosis. The poem To My Mother was inspired by his aunt, Virginia’s mother, who took him in and raised him as her own before he married her daughter (Meckert). “Poe wrote Sonnet to My Mother to mostly pay tribute to his aunt but also to acknowledge his natural mother and his wife. From a biographical point of view, this sonnet is certainly one of his most revealing works” (Benton). One story that clearly represents his life with his aunt and his wife Virginia is the story Eleonora. This is Poe’s only serious romance with a happy ending. Thematically, it not only depicts growth of love in the life of man but also suggests differences between ‘romantic’ love…and ‘married’ love… Poe grew up with Virginia only as loving cousins and only when they grew up did he develop romantic feelings for her. This story first speaks of the Garden of Paradise that likely resembles his childhood and growing up with his beloved aunt and cousin who he walked hand in hand to school with, but then later in the story it speaks of having fallen from this paradise, which likely speaks of when he married his cousin and moved her and his aunt to live with him in the big city of Baltimore