MIKE LIGAS ON: EDGAR ALLAN POE
MIKE LIGAS
EDP 380D, FALL, 1996
Edgar Allan Poe: The Fine Line
Edgar Allan Poe remains today one of the most unique figures in American
literary history. Critics have likened him to both Leonardo Da Vinci and the "Jingle
Man" ; either the keystone of American literature or simply a writer of fashionable
entertainment. As a person and a writer, Poe is also a collection of contradictions. One
thing is for certain, few people have left a more lasting impression in the minds of
readers than Poe. Subsequent authors have never been able to improve upon the style
which Poe created and mastered. Poe's tales have transcended generations of American
readers and lasted through many shifts in literary thinking. One of the few things that is
as strange and unique as Poe's writings is the man himself. Poe created his unique,
strange, and unsettling tales by testing the limits of the soul , walking the line between
higher understanding and insanity.
A Redeemed Childhood
Edgar Allan Poe was born in 1809 in Baltimore, Maryland to two young actors
named Eliza Arnold Hopkins and David Poe. When Poe was nearly three years old, his
mother died from tuberculosis. This had a profound effect on the young Poe, who
"always remembered -more or less unconsciously - his mother vomiting blood and being
carried away from him forever by sinister men in black," according to Roger Asselineau,
professor of American literature at the Sorbonne, Paris. Within a number of days, David
Poe, who was known to be an alcoholic, disappeared. Although he was never found, it is
assumed that he ran off rather than died.
Fortunately, the young Edgar was taken in by John and Frances Allan of
Richmond, Virginia, where Poe was with his family when his mother died. John Allan
was a successful business man who had also been adopted. The Allans were childless,
and although they never formally adopted Edgar, they raised him as if he was their own
son. When Edgar was six years old, the Allans moved to England because of John's
business ventures. They enrolled Poe in the Manor House School at Stoke Newington,
which he later used as the setting of his short story "William Wilson." As a child, Edgar
was described as smart and athletic; and because of this both of his parents adored him,
especially his mother.
Adolescent Concerns
Edgar's picturesque family life started to deteriorate as he reached puberty.
While attending private schooling, Poe often felt inferior to the other kids because of his
meager past. The young Poe was very athletic and liked to run, box, and play other
sports, but was exceedingly unsociable towards his peers, and because of this they often
rejected him. In addition, Poe's special affection towards his foster mother caused
problems for the adolescent child. As was with his natural mother, Edgar felt much
closer to his new mother than his new father. While it is not clear whether Edgar had an
Oedipal complex, his affection for his mother did result in tension with his father John.
The young Poe returned with his family to Richmond, Virginia in 1822 at the age of 13.
Poe's somewhat strange affection for women was evident while he was still in
grade school. At the age of 14 Poe fell in love with Jane Stith Craig Stanard, the young
mother of a schoolmate. Ms. Stanard, who Edgar referred to a Helen, died of a brain
tumor shortly afterwards. This deeply affected Poe; her death would not only inspire
him to write a poem baring her name, but also influence his poetic style. In The
Philosophy of Composition, Poe states, "the death of a beautiful woman is,
unquestionably the most poetic topic in the world" (Ketterer 6). Three years later Edgar
fell in love with and got engaged to Sarah Emily Royster, his fifteen year old neighbor
and enrolled in the University of Virginia. Unfortunately Poe would witness another case
of lost love when this arrangement was broken off because Edgar had begun to
accumulate betting debts. Furthermore, Poe's gambling debts caused more stress with
his father and eventually led to his withdrawal from the University of Virginia.
First Attempts as a Poet
After leaving UVA, Poe headed for Boston where he soon joined the army under
the name "Edgar A. Perry." Poe excelled in the military, and soon reached the highest
rank possible as an uncomissioned officer. In 1827 Edgar published Tamerlane and other
Poems at his own expense. Although this early attempt at poetry went unnoticed, the fact
that he was willing to go to the expense of publishing a book while maintaining a meager
existence displayed Edgar's belief in himself as a poet. Showing more persistence, Edgar
published a second collection Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems in 1829, which
again went unnoticed. When his stepmother Frances died in 1829, Edgar did sorted out
the differences with his father. Through an arrangement with him Poe was discharged
from the army and subsequently entered West Point in 1830.
Although Edgar was a very successful student at the academy, the same troubles
that bothered him at the University of Virginia again surfaced while at West Point. Once
again he began to drink heavily, and ran up more gambling debts. Poe felt like John
Allan had not sufficiently supported him and choose to skip classes and disobey orders
until he was finally court-martialed in 1831, ending his stint at West Point.
Success in a Secondary Interest
Poe was a man who always considered himself to be first and foremost a poet. In
his preface to The Raven and Other Poems, he states, "with me poetry has not a purpose,
but a passion" (Ketterer 26). However, his first success was to come not from poetry but
rather prose. Out of money, Edgar Allan Poe moved to Baltimore, where he lived with
his aunt Clemm. It was here that he experienced his first taste of literary achievement.
After publishing another unsuccessful book of poems, Poe submitted five short stories to
the Philadelphia Saturday Courier: "Metzengerstein", "The Duke de l'Omelette", "A
Tale of Jerusalem", "A Decided Loss", and "The Bargain Lost." Although he did not win
a prize, the stories were later published in the Courier. In 1833, Poe submitted six more
tales: "Epimanes", "Silence-A Fable", "Ms. Found in a Bottle", "The Visionary",
"Lion-izing", and "Shadow-A Parable" to The Baltimore Saturday Visiter. "Ms. Found
in a Bottle" won the first prize of $50.
Unfortunately, Edgar's adopted father would not see Edgar's later success as he
died in 1834.
Due to Poe's initial success as a short story writer and a new friend John P.
Kennedy, Poe assumed the position of assistant editor of The Southern Literary
Messenger in Richmond, Virginia. It was hear that he married his cousin, 14 year old
Virginia Clemm. Friend and fellow poet Dr. Thomas Chivers stated that Virginia "was
of all the persons [in] the world, the most unfit to be the wife of a man of his habits. Her
life consisted in an unromantic attachment of real and actual love; His in an
unsophisticated, unimassioned , romantic wild goose chase after phantoms and
unrealities which had no relish of salvation in them" (35). While Poe's motive for
marrying his cousin may have been to keep what remained of his family, Aunt Clemm
and Virginia, intact; it is evident that he grew to adore his wife. Prosperous times hardly
ever lasted for Poe, however; while employed by the Messenger, Poe went through an
unstable period of alcoholism and was discharged from his position in 1837.
Soon after he was dismissed, Poe and his family moved to New York and then to
Philadelphia where he found a position as editor of Burton's Gentleman's Magazine.
During this time period, Poe wrote intensely. He diversified his work by completing his
first and only novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, which described a journey
from the ordinary world to a fantastic place. His real success was about to come in the
form of his tales. In a short time, he had mastered the art of the short story. In 1839,
Poe's "Ligeia", "The Man That Was Used Up", "William Wilson", "The Conversation of
Eiros and Charmion", "Morella", and what was to be his most famous short story, "The
Fall of the House of Usher" were all published in the book Tales of the Grotesque and
Arabesque. These stories included many themes, but one common one that dominated
much of Poe's work was the struggle between imagination and reason.
Poe's Masterpiece
Many critics believe that we can gain a better understanding of Poe by analyzing
his most famous short story. His friends often noticed that in many ways, Poe's works
bared a striking resemblance to his life. A friend and fellow poet, Dr. Thomas Chivers
noted that his stories "appeared to me to be faithful record of some peculiar phase of his
own being, or mental rapture, at the time of their composition." (78). Poe's description
of Roderick Usher does bare a resemblance to Poe: "A cadaverousness of complexion;
an eye large, liquid, and luminous beyond comparison; lips somewhat thin and very
pallid, but of a surprisingly beautiful curve; a nose of a delicate Hebrew model, but with
a breadth of nostrils unusual in similar formations" (Poe 84). If Roderick Usher is indeed
a representation of Poe, then the descent of the house of Usher and Roderick is an
indication that the force of dark imagination was definately overwhelming him at this
time in his life.
Although horror stories were written long before the great author, Poe's unique
philosophy of writing developed unusual stories of the grotesque that were not only
successes in his time, but also lasting favorites of readers everywhere. Poe liked to call
his technique "The half-closed eye." (Ketterer 27). His settings were often described
with indefiniteness and surealism, which disoriented the reader and had the net effect of
destroying any perceptions of reality and turning the setting into "'arabesque' reality."
(23). While the lasting of Poe's work has shown that his innovative methods were
extremely effective, his motives are less clear. Did he aim simply to disturb readers, or
was there a deeper meaning to his work? Most critics agree with the latter, but they fail
to come to a consensus about exactly what his meaning was.
The Victory of Reason
Poe once again fell out of favor with his superior, this time it was with William E.
Burton. Poe and Burton had a difficult relationship, and when Poe found out the owner
planned on selling the magazine in 1840, Poe left to fulfill a lifelong dream, publishing a
high quality literary magazine. The magazine however was soon aborted, and Poe
became the editor of Graham's Magazine. It was at this time, just two years after his
publishing of "The Fall of the House of Usher", that Poe made his next innovative
breakthrough with the publishing of "The Murders in the Rue Morgue". Poe liked to
describe this as a story of ratiocination, but we know them as detective stories. This was
the first of three stories of ratiocination, which were the first detective stories of all time.
This marked a powerful shift in Poe's literary struggle between imagination and reason.
In these stories, logic overcomes the fantastic by solving seemingly unexplainable
crimes. While a case could be made for Poe simply mastering the short horror story, it is
clear that Poe has made a breakthrough with the publishing of "The Murders in the Rue
Morgue". In addition to this new form of short stories, Poe also published some of his
best classic tales at this time; including "The Masque of Red Death", "The Tell-Tale
Heart", "The Mystery of Marie Roget", and "The Black Cat". History quickly repeated
itself in his personal life, however, and he quit Graham's Magazine over a
misunderstanding. In the midst of this turbulent time, tragedy struck when Poe's wife
Virginia burst a blood vessel while singing. This marked the beginning of her fatal battle
with tuberculosis.
In 1844, Poe and his wife moved back to New York where he took the position of
sub-editor for the New York Evening Mirror. It was during his short employment with
the Mirror that Poe finally achieved success in his favorite medium, with the publishing
of The Raven and Other Poems. His poem "The Raven" was an immediate and
widespread success all over the United States and overseas. This newfound recognition
as a literary figure led to a new job, that of editor and proprietor of the Broadway Journal.
This in many ways marked the pinnacle of Poe's life. Unfortunately this peak was brief,
Poe first accused Longfellow of plagiarism, then ran into more financial problems. He
started to drink heavily because of his distress, and soon the New York Evening Mirror,
went out of circulation because of lack of funding. Poe then moved with his family to a
small house in Fordham, 14 miles from New York City. Poe's fall from happiness
became complete when his wife died of tuberculosis on January 30, 1847.
The Lost Years
The deterioration of Virginia's health had been a long and tiresome journey for
Poe, who was completely emotionally drained by her brief recoveries and then
regressions. The death of his sickly wife crushed Poe, but his initial action was positive.
He set out to compose a lengthy cosmological poem about the meaning of the universe
called Eureka, which was published in 1848. Despite this attempt to find meaning in his
life, Poe was lost without Virginia. Much of the remainder of his life was spent in the
pursuit of a love to replace his deceased wife. He simultaneously became involved with
two women, Nancy Richmond and Sarah Whitman. While still dating Mrs. Richmond,
Poe became engaged to his childhood sweetheart, Sarah Elmira Shelton, who was then a
wealthy widow. Poe spent the last year of his life often disoriented and intoxicated.
Finally, on October 3, 1849, Poe was found outside a Baltimore bar by Joseph Walker,
who described him as "a gentleman, rather the worse for wear." There has been much
speculation as to the nature of Poe's condition and how he reached that point. His
alcoholism was indeed prominent during this time of his life, but things seemed to be
turning around with him. His fiancee, Mrs. Shelton, was providing financial backing for
Poe's dream, a literary magazine. Many think he was drugged and used as a dummy
voter because it happened to be election day and a voting location was near by. A new
theory even suggests that Poe's symptoms closely resemble the characteristics of rabies.
Whatever the cause, Poe died after four days of delirium in a Baltimore hospital, his last
words being "Lord help my poor soul." (9).
Mixed Reactions
Despite his popularity, Poe was widely dismissed by American critics because to
many of them he seemed to be an outsider. He was even omitted completely from
Matthiessen's book American Renaissance. This fall from acclaim started with Rufus
Wilmot Griswold's defamatory obituary that began, "Edgar Allan Poe is dead.This will
startle many but few will be grieved by it. The poet is well known personally by
reputation, in all this country; he had readers in England, and in several of these states of
continental Europe; but had few or no friends" (32). Many prominent literary figures
regard his work as unhealthy and not reflective of American society. Others were critical
of Poe's writing style. Emerson dismissed Poe as "The jingle-man" (Asselineau 5).
Henry James stated "an enthusiasm for Poe is the mark of a decidedly primitive stage of
reflection" (5) T.S. Eliot thought that the fact that "Poe had a powerful intellect was
undeniable but it seems to me the intellect of a highly gifted young man before puberty"
(Ketterer 32)
While Poe was disregarded in America, in France he was beloved. Charles
Boudelaire, a powerful literary character, greatly respected Poe and was largely
responsible for France's adoption of Poe. Two other French poets, Mellarme, and Valery
combined with Boudelaire to champion him in France. Poe was not only was adored by
the French, he also helped influence French literary trends. "Poe is credited with making
possible the symbolist movement in French poetry," states David Ketterer in his book,
Edgar Allan Poe: Life, Work, and Criticism. Poe also influenced French structuralism
and it is this influence that has led to Poe's critical reconsideration in America. French
structuralism and deconstructuralism influenced American literary trends, and because of
Poe's impact on these philosophies, Poe is now being regarded as a critical author in
American literary history.
Poe's Multiple Intelligence
Poe demonstrated intellectual strength in many of Gardner's intelligences while
also showing a complete lack of other intelligences. As a gifted writer, the most obvious
strength of Poe would be verbal and linguistic. Poe's writing ability was most apparent
in his ability to create surreal settings and fantastic characters ranging from masters of
logic to those who are on the brink of insanity. Poe's characters' representation were
limited by his interpersonal intelligence, which is his weakest intelligence. From early
childhood till his death, Poe never had many friends. "Edgar's retiring disposition and
unsociable manner made him unpopular with his schoolmates, and he never asked any of
them to come home with him after class," states Jeffrey Meyers (16). The nararator of
Poe's "Berenice" probably speaks partly for Poe when he said, "The realities of the world
affected me as visions, and as visions only, while the wild ideas of the land of dreams
became, in turn, - not the material of my every-day existence - but in very deed that
existence utterly and solely in itself." (Asselineau 34) Poe's lack of interpersonal
intelligence therefore contributed as much as his intellectual strengths to the success of
his works. How combinations of intelligence have contributed to a person's creativity
has been discussed many times before, but Poe is a great example of how a lack of
intelligence enables creativity.
Another strange aspect of Poe's interpersonal intelligence was his often powerful
but often misguided capacity to love. Many believe that the young Edgar had an Oedipal
complex for his stepmother Frances Allan. At the age of 14, Poe fell in love with his
schoolmate's mother, Jane Stith Graig Stanard. This was not just a silly childhood fancy,
he later wrote about her in his poem "To Helen." He married his 14 year old cousin
Virginia, who he claimed was 20 years old. After her death he dated multiple women at
the same time, trying to find a much needed mate.
As an editor, Poe could not deal with his superiors. Out of 5 literary magazines
for which he edited, Poe was forced out of 4 of them because of poor relationships
developed in very short periods of time. His inability to maintain relationships was also a
result of Poe's extreme self will and strong convictions. This introduces the
intrapersonal intelligence, in which Poe displayed both strength and weakness. Poe was
able to gain a deep understanding of himself: his fears, his dreams, and his fragile sanity.
It is through these observations that Poe is able to author stories that unsettle people.
Poe's emotional instability, depression, and alcoholism point to a lack of understanding
of self-control and therefore shortcomings in intrapersonal intelligence.
Poe demonstrated remarkable strength in the other intelligences. His stories
create rich images in the reader's minds, indicating powerful visual and spatial
intelligence. Poe's proficiency in poetry draws upon his musical and rhythmic
intelligence. Edgar Allan Poe was very interested in music, and once even declared, "I
would have much rather have written the best song of a nation than its noblest epic"
(Asselineau 37). As the originator of the detective story, one would expect Poe to have a
strong logical intelligence. He demonstrated his logical intelligence throughout grade
school, University of Virginia, West Point and his professional career. For example, he
once requested that his readers send him in cryptograms, he received one hundred,
solving all but one which he proved to be indecipherable. Surprisingly, Poe displayed
moderate kinesthetic ability as a child and teenager. He often got into fist fights with
other boys much larger than himself, but because he was a proficient boxer, he would
win.
A Faustian Bargain?
As an adult, Poe displayed the willingness to sacrifice almost anything for his
passion of literature. Poe's work was judged by magazines such as Harper's as too
complex for the popular audience and in order to get his work published, he often had to
waive royalties altogether. This was especially difficult while Virginia was sick and
while her medical bills were rising, he received hardly over one-hundred dollars for his
writing during three years. He would often write friends and mere acquaintances asking
for money until it became humiliating. Most of Poe's life was spent in poverty because
he insisted on writing rather than assuming another occupation. This was a true Faustian
Bargain that Poe agreed to in order to continue to write.
In conclusion, Poe was indeed a creative genius because of both his intellectual
strengths and weaknesses, along with his personal situations. The net effect of the many
parts of his "fishbone" was a literary genius whose ability to tell tales of the "grotesque"
and "arabesque" has still been unmatched. Poe was in many ways a slave to his gifts, and
often tempted disaster. It was the fine line that he walked that made him the author he
was, but ultimately it was a line he would fall off, destroying his life but making him
immortal to readers of his unsettling stories.
Bibliography
Asselineau, Roger. Edgar Allan Poe. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota
Press, 1970.
Chivers, Thomas H. PhD. Life of Poe. New York: E. P. Duton & Co., Inc.,
1952.
Ketterer, David. Edgar Allan Poe: Life, Work, and Criticism. Fredericton,
Canada: York Press LTD, 1989.
Meyers, Jeffrey. Edgar Allan Poe His Life and Legacy. New York: Charles
Scribner's Sons, 1992.
Poe, Edgar A. Great Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe. New York:
Washington Square Press, Inc., 1965.