Edgar Allan Poe: American Renaissance Or Age Of Transcendentalism

Introduction

Edgar Allan Poe is often considered as one of the most controversial figures in modern Literature. Although he was quite unknown in his era, he became known to a wider number of readers during the last centuries. In fact Poe owes his reputation to the French writers of Parnassianism and Symbolism, and especially to Baudelaire. Therefore even if he was not popular in his birth country, he was extremely admired in France (Stovall 1965, xxix). According to Lemonnier the shadow of E. A. Poe was “haunted all the poets who followed Baudelaire” (Stovall 1965, xxix). His enigmatic works, as well as his mysterious life, caught the attention of scholars; however it has been given greater emphasis on his critical works and his short

It is known as the Romantic Period, American Renaissance or Age of Transcendentalism and it covers the period 1828-1865 (Abrams, 2009, pp.246). Romanticism was not adopted in a superficial way, since the American writers adapted some elements of the movement to their own context. As they do not just imitate the European forms, their literary production is characterized as original. One of the most important writers of the American Renaissance is Edgar Allan Poe. Although he is discussed by scholars as belonging to several movements, he is essentially a romantic poet and

His parents, both actors, died when the poet was an infant. Little Edgar was separated from his brother William Henry and his sister Rosalie, and his custody was undertook by the prosperous trader John Allan and his wife Frances. Even if they did not adopt him lawfully, Edgar took his middle name Allan from his foster father. In 1815, they moved to London for business purposes, but they returned to Virginia after the failure of John’s plans. In February 1826, Poe started his studies in Ancient and Modern Languages at the University of Virginia, but he abandoned them shortly. He served in the US army in South Carolina and worked as a reporter for several magazines and newspapers, such as Broadway Journal. His excelled in writing prose and poetry, and he was also an excellent critic. His life was in total harmony with the romantic atmosphere in his literary works. Living in a time when US were changed “in the name of progress and democracy” (Fisher 2008, pp. 15), he reflects this world that is changed and transformed into something new and unknown. He was emotional and fragile; exactly as the characters he created (Fisher 2008, pp. 24), and surrendered to the charm of annihilation, destroying himself with abuses. The women he loved were on the verge of death. His legal wife, who was also his cousin, Virginia Cleem, was thirteen on the day of their marriage. Eleven years later she died of tuberculosis.