Edgar Allan Poe's Influence On Literature

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In a similar way that culture changes over time, literature also gains and loses new aspects as the years go by. When the literature follows a similar pattern or a common focus, it is called a literary time period. Romanticism, lasting between 1800 to 1860, was a critical literary time period. Aside from popular belief, Romanticism was not related to the kind of romance that would be shared between two significant others. Romanticism first originated in Europe but soon traveled over to the United States. The United States being a newly formed country was very susceptible to new ideas and thoughts.The United States quickly adapted to the romantic ideas. Romanticism was focused around non logical thought and freedom for the individual. Romanticism …show more content…

Poe was born on January 19, 1809, in Boston and died on October 7, 1849. Poe 's life initially started off in tragedy when his father left him at infancy forcing his mother to look after him and car for him.Only a year later Poe 's mother had past away leaving him with no parents. Edgar then moved to Richmond, Virginia, with his new foster parents, John and Frances Allan. Poe 's writing career initially began in New York when he worked as a reporter and copyeditor ("The Poetry of Edgar Allan Poe"). Edgar Allan Poe was said to have an immense impact on literature. The author noted, "His poetry and his stories of terror are among the most influential in Modern literature." Majority of Poe 's work consisted of critical reviews, short stories, and poems. Poe 's review of a novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne made him the first significant theorist of the short story (Ljungquist). Many critics of Poe 's work focused on his unique, dark elements of his tragic life and experiences with early death. Edgar Allan Poe 's birth mother died at an early age along with his foster mother and his wife ("The Poetry of Edgar Allan Poe"). Poe demonstrates the mourning ritual in the mid nineteenth century being specifically the performance of grief as a repetition compulsion (Peeples). Poe was notorious for writing with a dark and gloomy setting or series of events. One of Edgar Allan Poe 's most famous pieces of literature was