The Terror of Imagination: E. A. Poe and his Craft
Modern society thrives on the adrenaline rush from the being scar. Not just scares, but terrified to the point that fear takes on new meaning, invoking thoughts that were never deemed possible. Despite the popularity of facing these fears, it is not a new pastime as many would believe. Horror and Gothic tradition had its beginnings in the early medieval period that dominated Europe in the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, but it was American author Edgar Allen Poe of the nineteenth century that made Gothic tradition. A popular literary genre. Poe's troubled, short life had great influence on his writing, which is distinguished by specific, unique characteristics, and has in turn
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Both of his parents were actors and died when he was two years old. Poe was then adopted by a man named John Allen and there relationship was very problematic. While he was in Grammar School his teacher would take him into the graveyard as a punishment. Dean Castle, located near Kilmarnock, was an inspiration for the "The Fall of the House of Usher" because the castle was destroyed by fire just like in the book. Poe's aunt was also a traditional storyteller in Scotland. Poe joined the United States Army for two years. When he returned drinking and drugs took over his life (McBeth).
Poe has many unique characteristic to his writings. Having early experiences led to his stories having a Gothic writing style (McBeth). He uses realistic scientific details to make his stories more believable. Being buried alive and people being bricked up and left to die are also strong themes of his work (Poe's Lit...). The influence on imagination like graveyards, gravestones, and "bodies rising from the grave" (McBeth). Even when Poe set his horror tale in a distant land he focused less on the location than on the psychology of his characters (Poe's
“Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dreamed before” (Edgar Allan Poe). Darkness and sadness are strong characteristics of Edgar Allan Poe’s writing. The tragedies during his life, such as the death of his biological and adoptive moms, followed by the death of his young wife Virginia were important factors which formed his gothic style. Poe is known for his drinking problems and use of drugs. Those habits had a big influence in his life and in his works.
Poe uses literary devices to make the story interesting and suspenseful. His writing style is effective and good. This brigs more suspense to the story and makes you want to keep on
deal on scene and setting to convey a sense of horror to the reader. The American author Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) is just one master of the literary genre known as the Gothic story, and he makes great contribution to Gothic fiction. He inherits and develops the tradition Gothic fiction, and the American literature forms the background of his horror fictions and gives his fictions unique power and charm. To a certain degree, Poe’s horror fiction prepares the origin of Southern fiction. In his works, he reveals people’s horror towards super nature,
Poe probably made one of the biggest impacts in Gothic literature. Gothic Literature is considered to involve the horror or gothic element, but is mixed with romance, superstition, women in distress, and the occurrence of supernatural events. The history and beginning of this era is unknown. Poe analyzes the most controversial subjects and describes them in a meticulous and scientific way, which leads to terrible imagery that can attack a nervous man’s head and give him evil thoughts. (Szumski 33) Many people blame Poe for inspiring Jack the Ripper. His style
Poe wrote in a time when American romanticism and gothic literature were in their prime. American romanticism grew in popularity because it went against the ideas of the church. It focused more on individualism and freedom. By turning away from the traditions in the 18th century, American romanticism targeted finding oneself through the forces of nature. Believed religion should be chosen, and not forced on from the public (A Look at American Romanticism). Gothic literature also played a major role in this era. Gothic literature almost always included decaying castles, secrets, mysterious passageways, and or hidden desires. It is also believed that the authors of gothic literature not only wrote haunting, thrilling stories but had underlying messages within the text. The authors express their deepest darkest thoughts in their writing. The scariest part is the writing relates to the audience, even in today's society. Which means the haunted inner workings of the authors, are also understood by most readers (Weinauer). Obsession and love drive people to commit unthinkable acts as portrayed in Edgar Allan Poe's short stories “The Tell- Tale Heart,” “The Cask of Amontillado,”
The use of characters in Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories like “The Raven,” and the Pit and the Pendulum,” show psychological elements, and make the stories more mind boggling and delusional. Authors choose a certain technique on how they write their stories based on how they want the audience to feel and think when they read it, and also based off of their personal backgrounds. Edgar Allan Poe’s stories are described as “disturbing” with disturbed characters. His stories are meant to bring chills down the spine. Most of them are based on death, and the darkness it brings to the mind and how it affects your mental state. There is not life without death, and Poe really exaggerates this in his stories.
Feelings of fear, shock, and utter abhorrence are key elements in Gothic horror literature that have frightened readers since the eighteenth century. American writer, editor, critic, and poet, Edgar Allan Poe became a highly influential figure in the world of literature and is one of the first writers to develop this genre of fiction and horror. In Poe’s popular short stories “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “The Tell-Tale Heart,” Poe can be described as a Gothic writer by exploring themes of death and darkness, madness and helplessness, supernaturalism and setting and architecture, in order to reverse the norms of rationality as illogical and unexplainable events generate fear in the reader.
Poe grew up like any other inner city kid right in the heart of Boston, Massachusetts where he was born on January 19, 1809.. Within three years of Poe’s life both of his parents had died of tuberculosis. Poe was adopted by a wealthy tobacco owner in Richmond John Allan and his wife Frances Valentine Allan, who loved poe just like her own. At a very young age Poe’s love for literature and writing became apparent to those who knew him, but none would have ever thought of the unfortunate life poe would live.
Although Poe had a rocky childhood he was able to grow into a successful writer and inspiration to many today. Unique and unlike any other writer Poe was able to write his short stories and wasn’t hesitant about it either. “Poe had an extreme influence on two genres still being read to this day which would be Science fiction and Detective genres” (“biography of”). Poe later went on to be what some could say America’s first great writing critic. “Poe often called out authors that he believed were intimidating other authors” (“Spiridon”). “He was one of the first writers to really focus on Gothic themes and to make it okay to write about death in a new way” (“HRF”). This all started when “Poe had finally landed a job as an editor for a newspaper because, of winning a contest with his story “The Manuscript Found in a Bottle”” (“Biography of”). Later Poe became the manager of the paper. His first volume of short stories after that were, “Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque” (“Biography of”). The book was published in 1839, after that his career took
Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most influential writers of the horror genre in American history. His horror stories have impacted numerous authors and their stories over the years. Various people have tried to copy his way of writing style, but they have failed to achieve the success he did. Even though Poe is no longer living, his impact on American literature can still be felt today.
Edgar Allan Poe has a distinctive and dark way of writing (Poe & Kennedy, pp.22). His mysterious style of writing appeals to passion and sentimentality. Poe’s most prominent works of fiction are gothic. His stories tend to have similar recurring theme of either death, lost love or both. Poe’s psychologically thrilling stories examining the depths of the humanoid psyche earned him much fame throughout his lifetime and after his death. And this distinctive style of writing made him possess his own style of wiring (Arbor, pp.71). There is a psychological concentration which is an important characteristic of Poe’s literatures, particularly the tales of horror that encompass his best and well-known works, such as The Black Cat and The Raven which
“The relationship of Poe’s work to the Gothic tradition... For Poe, both the stylistics and the thematics of Gothic fiction became a major aesthetic imperative, partly because he found in the Gothic a means of giving objective expression to the subjective demons at large in his short, sad life…” (Thomson, Voller, and Frank, 331) In essence Poe’s stories are almost as if they were journal entries of his own, since his characters and himself are often going through similar problems at similar times. He found comfort in this genre simply due to the fact that this is what he could relate to most.
his gothic style of writing. Poe dealt with many aspects of death and madness in his
Edgar Allan Poe’s life works are a reflection of who he is may it be crazy, depressing, or frightening. His background is what makes him a unique writer, all the horror he writes about is real and he has faced. He takes the main idea from his own life and adds details to describe how he feels making his story realistically horrific because it is real. Many authors just take ideas out of their brain which is great but writing book and poems from your own life, things that really happen is taking it to the next level making it exciting and
Poe’s writing style was much like that of Hawthorne’s, but drew from the darker side of romance creations. This gothic mood believed in the dark truths of the human heart, which are the ends and motivations for many of his stories. Human corruption and violence ends in murder in “The Black Cat”. Gothic writings move more into the supernatural side, which lets observer of the see a living person in the picture at his first, sleepy glance.