Poe

Born in Boston, 1809 to David and Elizabeth Poe

...and cousin, Virginia

Virginia dies of TB

1847

Poe collapses from stress

What made Poe able to write such dark stories?

• Was he born that way?
• Shaped by the events in his life?
• Warped by drugs and alcohol?

Write a brief paragraph answering the question and supporting it with details from the notes or stories you know.

Final three days, 1849

• Spends the night in prison in Philadelphia
• Goes to Richmond, gives lectures
• Boards a steamer for Baltimore
• Is found three days later in a bar wearing clothes that are not his own, out of his mind
• Dies in a hospital still in a delirium

Breakdown

• Drank "God only knows how often or how much" -Poe
• Attempted suicide with laudanam (morphine, codeine, opium)
• Said, "I was never really insane, except on occasions where my heart was touched. I have been taken to prison once since I came here for getting drunk; but then I was not. It was about Virginia."

Attempts to sell stories

• Sells some
• Many rejections

Intentionally dismissed from West Point

• Who is 13.
• He is 27.
• Ew.

• Moves to NYC to try to be published
• Repeatedly rejected
• No friends, no job, no money
• Asks John Allan for help
• JA says no...

Moves in with Grandma

• and aunt and brother

Then,

and dies, leaving Edgar entirely out of his will

• Returns to Boston
• No job skills, no money
• Shunned by John Allan
• Joins the army-- West Point

University of Virginia

• Attends UVA
• John Allan provides him with about 1/3 of the money he needs
• Starts drinking heavily and goes into debt

Edgar Allan Poe

Elizabeth

Lonely Poe

• Separated from her husband
• Took all three kids with her
• Died in 1811 of TB

So...

• Siblings are split up; Edgar is adopted by John Allan
• John Allan was wealthy
• Poe went to the best schools
• Lived in good neighborhoods

• Misses aunt and Virginia
• Brings them to live with him
• Marries Virginia

Tuberculosis

• Highly contagious
• Coughing up blood
• Excessive sweating, especially at night
• Fatigue
• Fever
• Unintentional weight loss