E.A Poe - a presentation

Edgar Allan Poe

Michela Loi 2^D A.S. 2024/2025

Let's start!

Biography

Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19th of 1809 in Boston. Poe ends up orphan at the age of three but was luckly adopted by John and Frances Allan from Richmond, Virginia. His relationship with the Allan was quite complicated,especially with his adoptive father. Poe went to university in Virginia, but had to leave for finance problems. In 1827 he enlisted in the ''United States Army'', to which he quit a year later, he later published his first collection ''Tamerlane and Other Poems'' with the only credit being ''a Bostonian''. Poe became a recognized mean critic while working for various literature magazines, a damaging reputation to which created tons of ''enemies'' in the editor industry.

Biography

He's most famous for his stories and poems,Including ''The Raven'' (1845) and ''The Fall of the House of Usher'' (1839). After the wedding with his young Cousin Virginia, Poe finds a certain stability and publishes his first and only story. He continues to publish stories in magazines, but when his wife gets really sick cause of Tubercolosis, Poe's addiction to alcohol starts. The publishing date of the poem ''The Raven'' in 1843, caused great success, but Poe wasn't recognized at all economically, and the poverty, with the death of his wife caused the writer to develop depression. Poe spends the last years of his life in Richmond, Philadelphia and New York, still writing and fighting financially. He dies in mysterious circumstances on the 7th of October 1849 in Baltimore. The cause of his death is unknown.

Styles and literature themes

Poe's work has been labeled as "Gothic Horror'', His writing themes revolve around death and nature decomposition. All under the "Dark romanticism'' genre. Poe in his stories, he makes it hard to understand if he's talking about a real life event, or if it's just the characters. He also wrote Physicological stories For a comic effect he often used Irony to distract the reader from cultural conformism (known as "Conformismo Culturale'' in italian). Metzengerstein was Poes first published story in the horror genre. Poe wrote many of his work using themes that the people liked. His narrative usually included elements related to popular pseudosciences.

Most important works

The Raven1845

Despite this being a poem, "The Raven" deserves to be a special mention for its impact. It's a symbolic work of the american romanticsm and the gothic genre. The poem talks about a griefing man being visited by a talking raven who repeats the word ''nevermore'', symbol of forever agony.

Most important works

The Fall of the House of Usher 1839

This is one of the most perfect examples of the gothic genre. It talks about the story of Roderick Usher and his sick twin sister Madeline, both are the last descendents of their family. The work explores themes like mental illness, incest and death

Most important works

The Pit and the Pendulum 1842

Set during the Spanish Inquisition, this work follows the story of a imprisoned man who was subject of horrible mental torture. Its famous for its intense atmosphere of terror and suspense, just like Poes immagination.

Facts

Poe died the 7th of October 1849 at the age of 40, and the causes are still unknown. The 3rd of October he was found in Baltimore without clothes, he was later then hospitalized but was in a coma, to which 4 days later he was found dead. In the few moments he was still alive after he was found, he couldn't remember what had happened to him or where his bags were: a few days later one of Poes cousins found one of his bags in Richmond and another one in Baltimore. A week before his death, one of his doctors friends John Carter advised him to stay in Richmond and to not leave to go to Philadelphia for a business trip.

'I remained too much inside my head and ended up losing my mind'-Edgar Allan Poe

Influence + Mentions

Edgar Allan Poe was an influence on writers (but not only) like H.P. Lovecraft. All the way to Japan,Tarō Hirai, was influenced so much by E.A. Poe that his pen name, was the japanese pronounciation of Edgar Allan Poe, ''Edogawa Ranpo''.

Both Ranpo and Poe were mentioned in a japanese cartoon known as ''Bungo Stray Dogs'', their dynamic being reversed to the one in real life*.

*they weren't friends in real life!

thanks for listening

ft: kunikida because i miss him