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,
Rabies is known as a very deadly virus spread to people from the saliva of infected animals. The rabies virus is usually transmitted through a bite. In the late 1800 rabies was well known to cause different symptoms, including itching, fever, headache, excess salivation, muscle spasms, and mental confusion. These symptoms tend to spread through entire body. Recently
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?
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.
Poe's death has always been a mystery, but my belief is that Edgar Allan Poe died from cooping. Edgar Poe was found dead in front of a bar on October 7, 1849 which happened to be the night of an election. Elections were held at bars so more people would come and vote for a certain canidate. Poe was found in a different person's clothes which makes me believe that he was dressed in different clothing so that he could vote multiple times at multiple places. Poe was found dead in Baltimore which makes my point of that he died of cooping even stronger.
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.
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.
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).
Even though we will never truly know the reason for his death, rabies
“He had come like a thief in the night. And one by one dropped the revellers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each in the despairing posture of his fall” (Poe). Edgar Allan Poe was an American author and poet during the 1800’s (anb). He is known for his gothic style of writing, and tragic tales. Poe has written famous pieces such as The Raven (1845), The Black Cat (1843), and The Tell Tale Heart(1843).
Poe’s Death Caused Of Rabies Poe’s death is very debatable, some believe that he died from rabies and others think that he died from alcohol poisoning. Evidence is shown for both topics but the one i believe is that he died from rabies. Poe was not only drinking alcohol but he was also very sick.
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.
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.
Though Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories like, The Cask of Amontillado, to his poems like, The Raven, Poe’s shows his writing style to use physical imagery and connotative syntax to show ,imagery in his writing. Throughout his life, Poe had always lived through the most chaotic and evil of time. His parents died while he was 3 years old. After his parents died, he lived with another family member who never accepted him as their own son. Later on in life, Poe had served in the military and at that point he started writing poems.
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.
