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Edgar allan poe mental illnesses in his works
Edgar allan poe drinking problems
Edgar allan poe drinking problems
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Edgar Allan Poe creates this menacing tone by the repetition and description of his senses. In the killing the narrators explains that the eye of the old man is the reason why he killed him in the first place .The description of the old man’s “eye of a vulture- a pale blue eye, with an film over it. Whatever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees”(1). The senses of the narrator helps to bring on the mood of menace into the story.
This online article reviewed the many theories that surround the death of Edgar Allen Poe to date. The articled emphasized that the alcohol theory is the most commonly accepted cause of death recognized by majority of people. Even Poe’s good friend J.E. Snodgrass felt binge drinking caused his death. Other critics argued Poe was a victim of cooping, a practice that entailed bribing him with alcohol, thus forcing him to vote repeatedly in polling booths for a particular candidate, as Balitmore’s elections were notorious for political uproar and extortion. This would explain the conditions under which Poe was foundOthers suggested Poe died of other medical ailments ranging from brain tumors, heart disease, tuberculosis, rabies, epilepsy,
There have been many theories about the death of Edgar A. Poe. Many of these theories includes brain tumor, heart disease, flu, alcoholism, rabies, etc. The stories have been supported but, how accurate are they? Out of all the different theories, alcoholism and rabies are the most accurate ones. But, the most common and accurate one is that Edgar A. Poe died because of rabies.
Poe struggled with alcoholism for most of his life(Geiling). With this in mind, it is not surprising that someone related to cooping could easily tempt Poe with alcohol and get him drunk to a dangerous point. Another factor that could have contributed to his death is illness. Whilst preparing for his departure for Richmond during his final days, Poe contacted a physician due to weak pulse and fever; the doctor told him he was not fit for travel, yet Poe traveled anyway (Geiling). In addition, years later after having Poe’s body exhumed and reburied, a mass was found rolling around inside of his skull (Harris).
The cause of Poe’s death is still widely debated today. Poe died of encephalitic rabies because of the likeness of Poe’s symptoms and those caused by rabies, Dr.Benitez backs his rabies theory up with irrefutable scientific evidence, also Pollin and Benedetto try to disprove the scientific evidence provided by Dr.Benitez with false information that portrays them as unreliable sources. Poe’s symptoms were very similar to those of rabies. Benitez says that Poe refused alcohol and could barely drink water: “Rabies victims frequently exhibit hydrophobia, or fear of water, because it is painful to swallow” (“Poe’s Death” 187). This statement by Benitez shows that he was hydrophobic and was not drinking anything.
Many said Edger Allan Poe died of rabies or alcohol, but l have another idea of his death. In fact, to me , he died because of a brain tumor, that alcohol helped aid into his death. One reason I believed he died of a brain tumor, is Matthew Pearl notice a chimp on Poe’s skull , 3 decades later. He consult forensic pathologist, who believed this was a brain tumor.
Although some people feel that Poe was killed by Rabies. Evidence:The text states, “ On his fourth day at the
Accounts seem to show he was fine in the last month but then abruptly Poe’s health declined and later died. The logic of the situation is proved for if Poe got the Rabies infection before where no one knew about it why he suddenly seemed ill. This also ties in with the article “ Rabies Death Theory” in which it claims “ … in the United States there have been 33 reported cases of human rabies, yet only 24 percent of these victims could recall an appropriate history of animal exposure”( The New York Times). This would explain why Poe had never mentioned a Rabies Bite and couldn’t recall such an event. The small percentage rate of people that remember Rabies bites would also explain why in Poe’s time period no one would suggest his death to cause of rabies.
Poe 's Cause of Death Edgar Allen Poe 's death has been the topic of discussion for many historians and scholars for many years. The reason for his demise has been unsolved, because of the many different sources explaining his death. From what I 've learned from reading counts of Poe 's death, I 've concluded that Edgar Allen Poe died of rabies, rather than alcoholic intoxication. The reason why I believe it is rabies is because his symptoms were too severe and life threatening to be related to just alcohol. One reason of why I believe Poe died of rabies is because he exhibited signs and symptoms of late effects of rabies.
Gathering all the evidence, I believe that Edgar Allan Poe was a victim of schizophrenia. Although no one can be sure, considering no one was able to diagnose him, the symptoms do add up. Without all of our medical advances, no one can imagine what Poe went through his life. He may have let his feelings and thoughts flow into his numerous pieces of writing. Whether his feelings and emotions flowed into his writing, or he purposely wrote his stories like that, which would make him an even better writer.
Many people go through horrors in their life. However, most don’t record them in the way Poe did. From a young age Poe experienced death in his family. As Poe lived his life, he started using his feelings and life experiences in his work. He based his feelings in his poems such as Annabel Lee and Alone.
One of Edgar Allan Poe’s most known attributes is his use of fear in many of his stories. He used words and images to instill the fright into his readers. He strung together scenarios that happen to his characters that encapsulates real fears that a reader could have. Poe would use fear in his stories in multiple ways. A story could relate around a certain fear.
While some symptoms Poe exhibited matched rabies, doctors did not know enough about the disease back in the 1800’s. Dr. Benitez even admits the faults in his theory, “Lack of evidence of a bite or scratch. In those days rabies was known as to causes and symptoms, including itching and other sensations that could affect an entire limb or side of the body. . . Catrina [Poe’s pet cat], who, uninfected and and showing no signs of rabies” (qtd. In Pollin and Benedetto 189).
The reasons people believe Poe died from rabies is because in one of the letters Dr. Benitez says “Poe refused alcohol and could drink water only with great difficulty, rabies victims exhibit hydrophobia”. If Poe had been drinking he would have taken the alcohol, this shows he may have had something else. Another thing that Dr. Benitez said was “there was no evidence of a bite but some rabies victims don’t remember being bitten”. This shows that he could have been bitten a long time ago and couldn’t remember.
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author; he mainly focused in genres such as short stories and poems. Poe didn’t have much of an academic background in literature but, he excelled in it. Some people believe that his success was mostly due to the fact that his life was very sad, filled by a series on misfortunate events, such as being an orphan, suffering from poverty and being constantly surrounded by death. In his works, Poe portrays narratives that are characterized by their mystery and macabre. The topic of death was ever present in his work, constantly describe with dark moods and somewhat terrifying settings.
