The Theme of Death in the Works of Edgar Allan Poe - Essay Example

The Theme of Death in the Works of Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe was arguably one f the best writers in his day. He was definitely one f the best writers that ever used the gothic style. He was also one f the first writers to popularize this absurd or even horrifying writing style. Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 19, 1809. His parents were David and Eliza Poe, who both happened to be in a local acting company that was currently performing at the Federal Street Theatre. Poe's first real education came when his father moved to London in order to try and develop his business there. Poe was then sent to both the Chelsea and the Stoke Newington boarding schools in the suburbs f London. Although he was a brilliant student, excelling especially in mathematics, he did not enjoy his days spent there. In July f 1820 Mr. Allan's business collapsed, and they were forced to return to Richmond in order to avoid the creditors that Allan was indebted to. Edgar Allan Poe was obviously not typical in his style f writing nor in his style f life. His father left the family when he was young and his mother was dead by the time Poe was three from tuberculosis. "So precocious a child must have carried with him, deeply imprinted, the waning figure and the coughing paroxysms f his mother." (Darkening 9). For the remainder f his tragic life, things never seemed to improve much. He lost his wife (also his cousin), Virginia, two years before his own death. After his trouble with alcoholism and general bad health, Poe died when he was about 40 years old. The exact events surrounding his death are still uncertain and somewhat mysterious. (Parker 1-5) Most f Poe's literary works were inspired by life. "Alone" is Poe's way f vocalizing the unique and dismal life that he led. He, from an apparently young age, finds himself with such different feelings about life than most people. In this poem, Poe describes his own condition f loneliness. In the first three stanzas alone, Poe discusses that since his early childhood he didn't see the world as others saw it. Even as a child his emotions were very hard to express. Anything he expressed he kept inside. In the sixth stanza, Poe writes "My sorrow; I could not awaken", meaning that because he had his emotions bottled up, he couldn't even express his sorrow. Because he couldn't express his emotions, anything he loved he couldn't love with another person, he could only love alone. There was no way he could express himself emotionally. Poe continues to reiterate that since his childhood he had this mystery surrounding him, following him wherever he went. When he did anything or went anywhere, there was this mystery or shadow that continued to bind him. This mystery could be the problem f not expressing his emotions he inherited as a child or the element f self-companionship. "His was a deviant mind, and his soul, ever lost in mystery, was possessed f demons; even elements f nature assumed their form."(Darkening 9). Ultimately Poe emphasizes this mystery as an evil or "a demon" that was haunting him. The demon was present everywhere; even the elements f nature assumed its form. Poe describes the demon as the sun rolling around him, as the thunder from the storm. Everywhere he turns and looks this evil is lurking around him, making Poe unique from others. Poe describes his uniqueness as a result f the demon that he is consumed by. The reason why he is alone, and why he can only love alone is because f this demon which he inherited as a child. (VanSpanckeren 1-5) Numerous events in Poe's life can explain why Poe may have written this poem. This poem was written in 1830, around the year where his stepmother had died and when his stepfather had remarried. The death f his "beloved step-mother reinforced the morbid consistency f Edgar's mind."(Darkening 4-5). Her death probably caused more psychological problems to Poe. He lost his biological mother and his stepmother, both f whom helped provide emotional support for Poe in his times f need. Not only did the death f his stepmother cause pain to Edgar, but the fact that later in that year his stepfather had re-married. Edgar and his stepfather were trying to patch their rocky relationship together. When Mr. Allan had re-married, he no longer needed Edgar because his new wife provided him an heir. As a result, Mr. Allan broke off all communication with his stepson. At this point, Poe was really alone and poor. From this point on, Poe's life began to change. I really enjoyed reading and analyzing this poem because f the way it tied together with Poe's life. I really do feel a lot f sympathy for what Poe had gone through in his life, through this work he really depicts his life very eloquently. His downfall was his psyche, which caused him to be depressed in life as well as preventing him from expressing who he is. But one can also explain that, it was the early events in his life that caused him to be who he became later on in his life. It was the betrayal f both his biological father and his stepfather, and the deaths f his mother and stepmother that actually traumatized his life. "His dead mother came to represent the maternal protection he was so desperately seeking....the unstable element in Poe kept twisting him farther and farther from the norm, and every disaster in his ill-starred life contributed to the warping." (Stern xix). The need for maternal protection or self-companionship could be the element that was destroying him. This could be the element he was talking about in the poem. One can say that one paradox f Poe is that, although his life was basically insecure and highly emotional, his writing was really structured. Poe does a great job in expressing his loneliness in this sad poem. It is as though when you read this poem, you can feel his pain. It was this quality that made this poem appealing to me. (Hipple 1-2) Many people have frequently said that Poe is preoccupied with death, and for good reason. It seemed like every time he got close to someone emotionally, they always died. It happened with his wife, his mother, and his stepmother. People have also said that his experiences in life have led to and provided substance to base his writings on. Some even believed that he intentionally used these topics to scare people and cause them to get chills when they read them. The Oval Portrait was said to have been written about the tragic breakdown and death f his wife, Virginia, from tuberculosis. (Szumski 1-3) It was said that in many f his works that "Poe's characters must perform a persistently downward journey". In The Fall f the House f Usher Poe immediately gives the reader a sense f something supernatural and horrible about the house. He then develops the narrator's feeling from that f plain nervousness to that f pure and absolute terror. In the end f the story the narrator watches the house fall and kill everyone inside just after he has left. In The Cask f Amontillado he tells how the narrator lures a helpless man down into a catacomb, where he precedes to chain him to the wall. (Basuray 1-7) Then he buries him alive in a horrible tomb f rock and earth. Some f his non-gothic works also have connections to events in his life. His poem To Helen was a love letter written to a woman he was courting. He also wrote published a set f poems that were originally correspondences back and forth between himself and women he had dated or liked during his life. So his gothic style poems were not his only references to his life or his only style f writing. (Elbert 22-41) Edgar Allan Poe was one f the greatest gothic style writers f all time. His obsession with this style f writing came mainly from his many experiences with death throughout his life. His mother died when he was very young. Then his stepmother died while he was at West Point. Then he married his cousin and she even died. So every person he ever really got emotionally close to ended up dying. One person even said, "Edgar Poe, whatever he was, must have caused suffering in those who loved him". Generally the suffering came in the form f death. He even had a hard time in school even though he was a very bright student. But it must have been his fate to live an unhappy life, for that is exactly what he did. Conclusion Edgar Allan Poe is known for his strong elements f mood in his work such as death, torture, and insanity. Some f his works that display this predominant mood are "The Pit and the Pendulum", "The Raven", and "The Tell-Tale Heart". The story "The Pit and the Pendulum" shows a strong mood f torture. The story is about a person who is put in a torture chamber because f his religion. In the story he is tied to a table and a pendulum is swung over his body. When it gets close, it goes back up to where it started just to torture the man. This story's mood puts a dark and torturous illustration in the reader's mind. In Poe's poem, "The Raven", there is a predominant mood f death. The poem is about a man who is visited by a raven from the underworld. At first he thinks the raven is "Lenore" coming back from the dead. The man says "Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!", which means he wants to know what is going to happen to him when he dies. Because f this, story gives a gloomy picture f death to the reader. In the short story, "Tell Tale Heart", a man kills an elderly man because f his blue, vulture-like eye. The narrator tries to prove himself sane to the reader while telling the story. He says "It took me an hour to place my whole head within the opening so far that I could see him as he lay upon his bead. Ha!- would a madman have been so wise as this" Because he tries so hard to prove himself sane to the reader, it makes him seem even more insane. Later on in the story, the beating f his own heart drives him insane. This short story creates a mood f insanity for the reader. Mood is an important element in the poems and short stories that Edgar Allan Poe has written. The predominant mood made it easier for his readers to picture details f his poems and stories. It left more f an effect on the reader and left a better picture in their mind. Works Cited "The Darkening f Prodigy." Poedecoder: Essays on Poe. 22 November 2000 Stern, Philip Van Doren, ed. The Portable Poe. New York: Penguin Books, 1945. Basuray, Ashish. "An Archetypal Approach To His Writings." Edgar Allan Poe (Dec. 1996) Dickenson, Joan. American Apocalypses. Spring field, New Jersey: John Hopkins University Press, 1985. Elbert, Monika. "Poe Gothic Mother and the Incubation f Language." Poe Studies. (June 1993): 22-41. Hipple, Ted. Writers for Young Adults. Houston, Texas: Charles Scriber's Son, 1997. Parker, Susan. Great Writers f the English Language. Freeport, Long Island: Marshall Cavendish Corp, 1989. Szumski, Bonnie. Readings on Edgar Allan Poe. New York: Greenhouse Press, 1985. VanSpanckeren, Kathryn. "An Outline f American Literature." Edgar Allan Poe. (June 1998): 3pp. Read More