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The Truth Behind Edgar Allan Poe's Death

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The Truth Behind Edgar Allan Poe’s Death
Edgar Allan Poe was a great write, but a mysterious person. Edgar Allan Poe was a famous horror story writer. His stories were known for being morbid, gruesome, and mysterious. But perhaps something that was more mysterious than his stories was his death. Poe had gone a trip from Richmond, Virginia to Philadelphia Pennsylvania, but he never completed his trip (Geiling). He was found in a bar in Baltimore, seemingly delirious, by a mutual friend of his publisher (findingDulcinea Staff). He was taken to a hospital, where he died a couple days later. There are many possible reasons for Poe’s death. Cerebral problems have emerged as a possibility, but not with much evidence. Some of the more stronger arguments …show more content…

The doctor who treated Poe didn’t find proof of alcohol in his body (findingDulcinea Staff). There was proof that he had symptoms of rabies however. Poe had become hydrophobic after being found and was able to drink very little water, a common sign or rabies ("Poe’s Death Is Rewritten as Case of Rabies, Not Telltale Alcohol"). One sign of alcohol abuse is withdrawal (“Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse”), but with Poe having hydrophobia, he refused alcohol and could drink very little water ("Poe’s Death Is Rewritten as Case of Rabies, Not Telltale Alcohol"). (Other symptoms that showed he was suffering from rabies were perspiring heavily, hallucinating, shouting at imaginary companions, and short term memory ("Poe’s Death Is Rewritten as Case of Rabies, Not Telltale Alcohol"). These symptoms make it obvious that Poe had rabies, not alcohol …show more content…

A vaccine for rabies was not invented until Louis Pasteur and Emile Roux did so in the mid-1880s. Edgar Allan Poe died 1849, about 35 years before a vaccine for rabies was made (findingDulcinea Staff). Pets were not common at the time that Poe died, all pets had to be registered and any animals that were not registered were allowed to be shot on the spot (Kemp). Today there is an estimated 50,000 deaths due to rabies per year (“Rabies”). No exact numbers exist for the amount of deaths due to rabies during the mid 1800s, but numbers are estimated to have been more than eight times higher than now (Kemp). Rabies was a much more common cause of death back then than alcohol abuse was. This simply increases the probability that Edgar Allan Poe died of

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Theories Postulating Edgar Allan Poe's Death

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There are multiple theories postulating Edgar Allan Poe’s death. Finding concrete evidence for his death theories is difficult, as there are very few accounts of the events that occurred prior to and after his passing. Edgar Allan Poe was constantly troubled during his life, and wanted to extricate himself from his excruciating emotional pain. In order to numb his pain he resorted to excessive drinking. The alcohol theory clarifies the cause of death of Edgar Allan

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What Are The Theories Of Poe's Death

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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.

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How Does Life Affect Poe's Work

705 Words | 3 Pages

Edgar Allan Poe was an all around admired poet, but very few tend to actually learning about what made his horrific stories come to life. Many can say it was the loss of loved ones, including his parents and his wife. Others will argue that it was under the influence of alcohol. Although the reasoning is not written on paper, there is a worldwide assumption that all of these more than likely played a key factor in his dark

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Did Cooping Cause The Death Of Edgar Allan Poe

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It is ironic that the creator of the mystery genre died in the most curious way. The death of Edgar Allan Poe on October 7, 1859 in Baltimore is one which stumps historians and professors to this day (Semtner). Was his extreme alcoholism the cause of his downfall? Was he beat to death by those whose works he criticized? Or was he simply ill; both mentally and physically?

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Why Edgar Allan Poe Died From Rabies Analysis

486 Words | 2 Pages

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.

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Edgar Allan Poe Rabies Theory

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Edgar Allan Poe’s Mysterious Death Have you ever been watching a movie so scary that it gave you nightmares? The father of all scary movies, Edgar Allan Poe, was a very mysterious man even at his death. Poe wrote very many mysterious and spooky stories that set the standard for the horror genre as we know it today. It seems almost fitting that even Poe’s real life was mysterious, as nobody know for sure how he actually died.

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Edgar Allan Poe Death Theory

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The death of Edgar Allen Poe has been a mystery quite sometime as the details surrounding it are very few and the few we do have are quite vague. Through all of the unclear details two theories have arisen. The first theory of Poe’s death was alcohol poisoning. Poe was found outside of a tavern in a disoriented state of mind and for an unknown reason was wearing someone else’s clothes. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he was put into a room where he could recover from his apparent drunken state.

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How Did Edgar Allan Poe Have Rabies

569 Words | 3 Pages

We also know this because, there is no evidence saying there was scratches or any bites. Another textual evidence from the story was, ''Rabies was well known as to causes and symptoms, including itching and other sentations that affect limb side of the body''. We know this because the Doctors that was taking care of Poe couldn’t have missed a rash on him or him itching his limbs or an entire part of his body.

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Alcoholism In Edgar Allen Poe's Death

478 Words | 2 Pages

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).

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Edgar Allan Poe's Death Essay

501 Words | 3 Pages

Hook:Edgar Allan Poe’s death has been questioned for a long time now. Background info:Poe’s addiction to alcohol led to his death. Four days after being found at a tavern in someone else's clothing and drunk. He was taken to a hospital and four days later he was dead. Thesis: Alcohol should contain warning labels about the possible damages of overdrinking.

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Edgar Allen Poe's Cause Of Death

464 Words | 2 Pages

Another reason of why I believe he died of rabies is because Dr. Benitez reported him having a hard time drinking water or alcohol. In the New York Times article, he states, "In the brief period when he was calm and awake, Poe refused alcohol and could drink water only with great difficulty." This supports the idea that he suffered from hydrophobia, the fear of water. It was painful for Poe to swallow the water, and this suggests that he prefered to drink nothing. Severe Intoxication will not keep someone from being near water, nor can it cause intolerable pain when water is drunk, so his death must be something more than just a story of a belligerent drunk.

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Did Edgar Allan Poe Cause Of Death

891 Words | 4 Pages

Edgar Allan Poe's anthology has attracted literary scholars as well as anyone who enjoys a good twisted story for nearly a century. His creative and contorted way of thinking displayed quite immensely through his work. For decades, countless generations have read his stories either throughout their schooling or in their free time. Although the mysteries disclosed through this literary master's work has been resolved, usually by the end of the story, the one surrounding his death is one that has stumped generations. Over the many years since his early termination, there has been many different theories surrounding the cause for this unfortunate event.

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Examples Of Human Nature In The Black Cat

588 Words | 3 Pages

In the story, the narrator becomes addicted to alcohol, causing his many violent acts. He describes it as a disease that, “...grew upon me—for what disease is like Alcohol!—even Pluto began to experience the effects of my ill temper.” (Poe, 2) Addiction is most likely one of the most dangerous of human nature because it can consume your life. Poe even includes that the narrator’s, “...original soul seemed, at once, to take its flight from my body; and a more than fiendish malevolence, gin-nurtured, thrilled every fibre of my frame.” (Poe, 2) Poe takes this idea to an extreme, but brings the attention to the detrimental effects of letting any one thing have too much possession of your

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Similarities Between Mary Shelley And Edgar Allan Poe

1012 Words | 5 Pages

Poe died under very suspicious circumstances in 1849 when he failed to arrive in Philadelphia. He was found in Richmond completely disoriented and died in a hospital from “congestion of the brain” which could have been chronic alcoholism, drug use, poisoning or mental illness (biography.com). Both Mary Shelley and Edgar Allan Poe wrote about characters who were monstrous and very frightening. In many ways they were both monsters and not human.

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Edgar Allan Poe Research Paper

1118 Words | 5 Pages

(http://www.eapoe.org/ ). From this you can conclude that Poe might have just drunk, because his brother and dad were doing it so he followed in their footsteps not knowing any different. All these things show how Poe wasn’t using drugs and his alcohol

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