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edgar allan poe

presentation made by Matilda moscillo, vittoria tossani, irene preti

Life

• Born on January 19, 1809, in Boston
• 1811 he's adopted by Jhon and Frances Allan

• He attended the University of Virginia and the U.S. Military Academy
• He struggled with alcool and gambling addiction and had economic problems all his life
• 1827 he published Tamerlane and Other Poems
• 1836 he married Virginia Clemm
• 1845 The Raven
• 1849, in Baltimora he died misteriously

«In my childhood I showed that I had inherited these family characteristics; I descend from a race that has always been distinguished by imagination and an easily excitable temperament…» (In William Wilson)

Literary movement

Romantic movement > Gothic genre

Horror

Psicologichal Thriller

Detective fiction

Edgar Allan Poe - Master of Short Stories- Preferred short stories for their brevity and emotional impact.- Crafted each story for a single, powerful effect (The Black Cat as an example).- Focused on psychological terror and internal collapse rather than external horrors

His works: writer and texts

Timeless Legacy

• Founder of modern detective fiction (The Murders in the Rue Morgue).

• Influenced modern horror, suspense, and psychological storytelling.

• Works like The Tell-Tale Heart and The Raven continue to inspire adaptations.

• Explored duality: rationality vs. irrationality, reality vs hallucination.

• Admired globally, introduced to Europe by Charles Baudelaire.

• Inspired late 19th-century decadents and movements delving into darker existence.

Themes and Influence

- Gothic tale (1842) set in an abandoned castle.- A narrator uncovers a tragic story behind a haunting portrait.- An obsessed painter sacrifices his bride’s life for artistic perfection.- Explores the destructive power of obsession and the cost of beauty.

The Oval Portrait

The Black Cat (1843)

PLOT- Unnamed narrator tells what he has done- Initially he was gentle, but then he became an angry alcoholic- He removed one of cat’s eyes and after he hang Pluto from a tree - He found a similar cat except for a white splotch, which changed the form in a gallows- He killed his wife and he hid her in the wall and the cat was disappeared- The police found wife’s body thanks to the cat

THEMES- Combination of psychological depth with gothic elements- Madness - Denunciation of alcoholism - Symbol of dark mysterious forces, explored with modern sensibility - Near the genre of horror- Symbol of justice

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