Edgar Allan Poe, born in 1809, was an American writer, poet, and critic. His writings are still famous today because of their mystery and tragedy. He is credited for opening the door to the Science Fiction genre of writings. Many of Poe's writings are very chilling, and can leave the reader with a sad, empty feeling. His life was short lived, but his writings are still very famous today. With his depressing stories, the reader can begin to wonder what happened in Poe's life that influenced him to write such tragedies.
Below is a link to an animation reading of a very sad poem by Poe.
Edgar Allan Poe's mother and father were both actors. He had an older brother, William, and a younger sister, Rosalie. His mother, Eliza, was a famous actress. David, his father, was an actor, but received many criticisms during his time. Poe's father abandoned his family right before Eliza Poe gave birth to their third child, Rosalie. It is believed that Rosalie was mentally retarded. Poe's mother died at the early age of twenty-four from tuberculosis, a very common disease during that time. The three children were orphans, and were soon split up completely. Edgar Allan Poe went to live with John and Frances Allan, his foster parents. He had a close relationship with his foster mom, and she taught him many school subjects in her spare time. He enjoyed her sweetness and they had many long conversations. Her death was extremely difficult for him to handle. Even though his real mother died when he was only two, losing his foster mom was almost the same to him and those deaths were the first of his downward spiral. The relationship between Poe and his foster dad, John Allan, wasn't a good one. John Allan was very abusive towards Poe, and his alcoholic ways added to the tension.
http://www.wisegeek.com/contest/what-influenced-edgar-allan-poes-works.htm
To get away from his foster father, Edgar Allan Poe enlisted in the Army, and went overseas. He published his first book during that time, and it was one of the most light-hearted of his writings. He wrote of the girls he fancied! Poe went to live with his aunt, and began writing short stories. Then, he received news that his brother passed away. This hit him harder than he thought it would, even though they didn't have a close relationship. The four writings he published after mourning were full of sorrow. Poe's foster dad died in 1834, and the past began to haunt him. His mental stability spiraled down, and his substance abuse spiralled up. He then wrote more about sudden death, something he was very familiar with. He started adding opium to his alcohol. Opium is a dried latex that can be converted into heroin.
http://iulzzang.hubpages.com/hub/Poe
Poe moved with his aunt and cousin to Virginia. There, he married his young cousin and moved up north, only to have her die of tuberculosis. This loss caused him to drink excessively. His wife suffered a slow, painful death, and Poe witnessed all of it. After her death, he moved back to Virginia to try and marry a childhood friend. They were engaged, but he died only ten days before they were to be married. It is obvious after researching his life that he had many reasons to be sad. The longer he wrote, the more tragic his stories and poems became. As his drinking became worse, he was forced to cancel countless jobs, and missed out on so many opportunities in life. After all of my research, I never found one definite fact of how he died. Some say he died while resting, and others say he disappeared and was found in a ditch. Edgar Allan Poe's life and death were both tragic mysteries.
http://www.eapoe.org/papers/misc1921/quinnc19.htm
