Trauma In Edgar Allan Poe's Life

Trauma can affect an individual for the rest of their life. Some individuals are never able to overcome their experiences. Bad experiences are coped with differently depending on the person and how extreme the trauma was that he or she went through. Edgar Allan Poe experienced much mental and emotional agony in his childhood as well as his adult life. One of the most traumatic experiences in Poe’s life was the death of his wife Virginia Clemm. After her death Poe wrote “Annabel Lee” a poem where the narrator, much like Poe, loses the woman he loves. Poe reveals his damaged mental state and his feelings towards death through the first a person speaker in the poem “Annabel Lee” and the different feelings that are experienced while coping with death.
The events in Poe’s childhood and young adult life largely contributed to Poe's negative mental state that stayed with him until he died. Poe’s birth father has a bad temper and a drinking problem and eventually abandoned his family leaving them with …show more content…
The death of his wife Virginia hurt Poe the most. After her death Poe wrote a poem called “Annabel Lee” where the narrator copes with the loss of his wife. Poe’s poor mental state is a direct result of the trauma he experienced as a child and young adult. Poe’s mental state, feelings, and experiences with death were reflected through the narrator in the poem “Annabel Lee”. Poe’s childhood and young adult life trauma affected him for the rest of his life. When his beloved wife became sick it was difficult for him to accept that he was going to lose another person in his life. Poe coped with her death in different stages and he spent a lot of time reminiscing on the good times they shared. the Next he became resentful and angry. Poe eventually accepted his unfortunate circumstances. Although Poe learned to accept death he never fully recovered and his experiences haunted him for the rest of his