Edgar Allan Poe's Definition Of Mystery And Macabre

Edgar Allan Poe was the pure definition of mystery and macabre. His deep and dark writing, as well as his mysterious death, made him one of the most fascinating and controversial writers in US history.

Born on January 19, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts, Poe was raised by actor parents, thus hinting at his dramatic influences. After three years within birth, both of his parents had passed away, leaving him an orphan. He was taken into the house and foster family (never officially adopted) of a wealthy tobacco merchant John Allan and his wife Frances in Richmond Virginia. In 1826, Poe left the household to attend the University of Virginia. Money became a heavy issue for Poe, as he began to find himself slowly crumbling from financial debt.

He also published his first book, Tamerlane in 1827, and joined the army around this time. He moved around, living in New York, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Richmond. Dissatisfied with his low pay and lack of editorial control at his publishing company, Poe moved to New York City. During the “Panic of 1837,” he struggled to find magazine work and wrote his only novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym. Despite multiple poem/short story successes,Poe was still barely able to make a living. For the publication of his first book of short stories, Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque, he was only paid with twenty-five free copies of his book.This lead to his goal of reforming the literary world through suspense and dark American reality. He soon became a champion for the cause of higher wages for writers as well as for an international copyright law. To change the magazine industry, he proposed starting his own journal, but he failed to find the necessary funding. Always in search of opportunities, Poe moved to New York again in 1844 and introduced

In the story, Poe explored some of his common themes—death and loss. He published other books, and unsuccessfully tried to release another magazine. (This also lead to his intense Alcoholism and psychological problems). During this time, Poe was heavily involved in the Romantic period.He wrote Romantic poems full of emotions (such as love and death) like “Annabel Lee,” “The Bells,” “Dream within a Dream,” “The Conquer Worm,” and much more. He also wrote horror stories like “The Masque of the Red Death,” “The Black Cat,” and “The Cask of the Amontillado.” These stories were hints at Poe’s deep involvement in the Gothic movement, as well as his dabbling in the concept of Transcendentalism. On his way to Philadelphia, Poe stopped in Baltimore and disappeared for five days. He was found in the bar room of a public house in 1849 that was being used as a polling place for an election. He was sent to Washington College Hospital, spent the last days of his life alone, and died on October 7, 1849 at the age of forty. The exact cause of Poe’s death remains a mystery. Some suggest that it was the method of cooping-in which unwilling citizens who were forced to vote for a particular candidate were occasionally