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Disease And Reality In The Works Of Edgar Allen Poe

461 Words2 Pages

Edgar Allen Poe knows the horrors of disease and reality and tries to portray that feeling through his stories to the reader. His writing is often perceived as gruesome and focused on death and torture. Edgar Allen Poe, a renowned author, is known for writing many morbid stories and it can be assumed that he writes that way due to his past experiences in his life with death and loss. Poe’s life is filled with many sad moments that can all explain the moods that are present in his writing. As a child and throughout adulthood, Poe experienced loss through his loved ones, including his mother and his wife, dying from mainly tuberculosis, and other diseases (A+E Biographies). His childhood left a mark on him that brought the reality of death to full force. He learns about how horrible disease is through his most loved ones dying in front of him. The shadow of …show more content…

The story is about a disease killing many people in a kingdom and when the rich try to hide, death still finds them. Poe writes specifically about how the partygoers “... died each in the despairing posture…”(452) that reflects the Prince’s death and proves that no matter wealthy or poor, death will still find a way. The disease in the story can be easily perceived as tuberculosis considering Poe’s past experience with the disease. In “The Raven”, the main character repeatedly mourns his “... sorrow for the lost Lenore …”(436) which can be assumed is his wife that passed away. This can be compared to the death of Poe’s wife, Virginia. He loved Virginia, but death took her as well and it seems likely that Poe wrote the poem about Virginia’s death. Poe’s regard for death and sadness is also seen in the story “The Pit and the Pendulum”. This story is about a prisoner of war having to face torture. In the middle of his stay in the cell, he finds a pendulum slowly coming down and how it “...

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