Some names inspire, others generate terror. Edgar Allen Poe is a name that initiates vivid images of madmen, murderers, and premature burials. Part of the few authors who generated the dark romanticism literary subgenre, Poe’s work as an editor, poet and a critic had a profound impact on American and international literature. Known as the “father of the detective story,” his writing captured the imagination and interest of readers from all around the world. Yet, many readers still dispute his choices in theme. When analyzing beyond the entertainment and educational impact that Poe’s writing left behind, one is able to see the multiple demonstrations of Poe’s hardships and mental imbalances he battled every day in the heart of each story.
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Yet, it’s under false pretenses to say that Americans have developed an infatuation for the poem because the reader is actually falling in love with the heartbreaking details of the life of Edgar Allen Poe. To begin with, when putting the puzzle pieces together, one is able to see that the first reference to Poe’s life is in the setting. Ironically, in “The Raven,” Poe writes, “Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak of December”(Cain, 738). What makes this statement about the setting so significant is the fact that Poe’s mother died on December 8, 1811. Furthermore, the raven is another symbolistic aspect incorporated by Poe. In most societies, the raven is used in reference to death. For Poe, the death of his mother marked the neverending sadness that appeared to stay in his life, similar to that of the raven who never leaves the narrator in “The Raven.” According to the article “Literary Contexts in Poetry: Edgar Allan Poe 's The Raven," Sanna Dhahir writes “ beyond the exterior details of his lifestyle, the man in "The Raven" is a projection of Poe himself: his fears, his sense of alienation, and his despair”(Dhahir). One of the poem 's overriding themes is loneliness, felt in the finest fibers of the speaker 's soul. This is partially due to the fact that throughout the time frame that Poe was writing this story, Virginia was suffering in the terminal phases of her illness. With Poe’s history with tuberculosis, it’s not odd that he felt totally dejected by her
Yet, it’s under false pretenses to say that Americans have developed an infatuation for the poem because the reader is actually falling in love with the heartbreaking details of the life of Edgar Allen Poe. To begin with, when putting the puzzle pieces together, one is able to see that the first reference to Poe’s life is in the setting. Ironically, in “The Raven,” Poe writes, “Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak of December”(Cain, 738). What makes this statement about the setting so significant is the fact that Poe’s mother died on December 8, 1811. Furthermore, the raven is another symbolistic aspect incorporated by Poe. In most societies, the raven is used in reference to death. For Poe, the death of his mother marked the neverending sadness that appeared to stay in his life, similar to that of the raven who never leaves the narrator in “The Raven.” According to the article “Literary Contexts in Poetry: Edgar Allan Poe 's The Raven," Sanna Dhahir writes “ beyond the exterior details of his lifestyle, the man in "The Raven" is a projection of Poe himself: his fears, his sense of alienation, and his despair”(Dhahir). One of the poem 's overriding themes is loneliness, felt in the finest fibers of the speaker 's soul. This is partially due to the fact that throughout the time frame that Poe was writing this story, Virginia was suffering in the terminal phases of her illness. With Poe’s history with tuberculosis, it’s not odd that he felt totally dejected by her