Edgar Allen Poe & The Fall of the House of Usher
Biographical Information
Poe was born into a family of actors in 1809, both of which were unstable financially. His father, David Poe, left the family in October 1809 due to his career being ruined by alcoholism, leaving his mother, Elizabeth, to struggle with taking care of her family. Elizabeth died of sickness when Poe was three years old, and Poe soon went to a foster family who was much more prosperous than his birth parents. His foster father, John Allan, disliked him yet pushed for Poe to get a proper education and paid for him to attend a college in Virginia until Poe was taken out for gambling away his money. (Kay, Biography of Edgar Allen Poe.)
He became attached to the mother of one of his friends, Jane Craig Steward. He saw her as a maternal figure, and often came to her for comfort and companionship. She died of a brain tumour on April 28th, 1824, which became a very deep loss for Poe, as this would be the second time he has watched a loved one die from sickness. (Kay, Biography of Edgar Allen Poe.) …show more content…
Poe would often drink in order to be able to speak comfortably in a large group of peers.This habit followed him for the rest of his life, and was fired from a job in Richmond because of it. (Encyclopædia Britannica, “Edgar Allan Poe”)
He married his cousin Virginia Clemm in September 22, 1835, but she died of tuberculosis in 1847. (Encyclopædia Britannica, “Edgar Allan Poe”)
I believe after this point Poe began to develop a fixation on the concept of the fragile pale woman that stands on the brink of death, the likes of which often appear in his stories.
Poe was constantly under stress during his lifetime, from both illness and financial struggles, and many of his writings were not as well-received as they are
Biographical Information
Poe was born into a family of actors in 1809, both of which were unstable financially. His father, David Poe, left the family in October 1809 due to his career being ruined by alcoholism, leaving his mother, Elizabeth, to struggle with taking care of her family. Elizabeth died of sickness when Poe was three years old, and Poe soon went to a foster family who was much more prosperous than his birth parents. His foster father, John Allan, disliked him yet pushed for Poe to get a proper education and paid for him to attend a college in Virginia until Poe was taken out for gambling away his money. (Kay, Biography of Edgar Allen Poe.)
He became attached to the mother of one of his friends, Jane Craig Steward. He saw her as a maternal figure, and often came to her for comfort and companionship. She died of a brain tumour on April 28th, 1824, which became a very deep loss for Poe, as this would be the second time he has watched a loved one die from sickness. (Kay, Biography of Edgar Allen Poe.) …show more content…
Poe would often drink in order to be able to speak comfortably in a large group of peers.This habit followed him for the rest of his life, and was fired from a job in Richmond because of it. (Encyclopædia Britannica, “Edgar Allan Poe”)
He married his cousin Virginia Clemm in September 22, 1835, but she died of tuberculosis in 1847. (Encyclopædia Britannica, “Edgar Allan Poe”)
I believe after this point Poe began to develop a fixation on the concept of the fragile pale woman that stands on the brink of death, the likes of which often appear in his stories.
Poe was constantly under stress during his lifetime, from both illness and financial struggles, and many of his writings were not as well-received as they are