Did Edgar Allan Poe Cause Of Death

Edgar Allan Poe's anthology has attracted literary scholars as well as anyone who enjoys a good twisted story for nearly a century. His creative and contorted way of thinking displayed quite immensely through his work. For decades, countless generations have read his stories either throughout their schooling or in their free time. Although the mysteries disclosed through this literary master's work has been resolved, usually by the end of the story, the one surrounding his death is one that has stumped generations. Over the many years since his early termination, there has been many different theories surrounding the cause for this unfortunate event. Many choose to believe he drank himself into his own grave., or was a victim of voting fraud.

Many believe that his inability to handle alcohol was to attribute to Poe's unexplainable death. His prior alcohol troubles caused quite the problems for him early in life, though this wasn't his cause of death. Though Poe was known to “fall ill when tempted” to alcohol, he had abstained from alcohol for about six months prior to his death, and was an active member of the Sons of Temperance (What Killed 'Em). Along with the fact that he hadn't had a sip of this distilled poison for months before the fatal end of this literary legend, it was also very unusual for patients suffering from alcohol poisoning or withdrawal to become extremely ill, recover, then become worse and die (What Killed 'Em). This incorrect theory primarily started from the one Dr. Joseph Snodgrass, an active member of the temperance movement at this time. Snodgrass exaggerated Poe's death as an example of what alcohol could do to a person if abused (What Killed

Though a case of rabies doesn't explain why he was found in someone else's soiled clothes, it does explain just about every other symptom. Edgar Allan Poe was found semi conscious and unable to move four days before his unfortunate passing; four days being the average number of days a rabies patient lives before their inevitable death. “Historical accounts of his hospitalization indicate that at first he was delirious with tremors and hallucinations, then he slipped into a coma. He emerged from the coma, was calm and lucid, but then lapsed again into a delirious state, became combative, and required restraint. He died on his fourth day in the hospital” (Edgar Allan Poe). For rabies patients, it is common to slip in and out of periods of confusion, as well as periods of swings in pulse rate. His medical records state that Poe experienced all of these things while hospitalized (Edgar Allan Poe). According to Poe's doctor, he refused to drink alcohol, further disproving any alcohol theories, but when offered water, he only drank with “great difficulty”. This is seemingly a clear case of hydrophobia, a common symptom of rabies (Edgar Allan