Edgar Allan Poe Research Paper | Teen Ink

Edgar Allan Poe Research Paper

November 19, 2021
By 23jenniferagoodine PLATINUM, Easley, South Carolina
23jenniferagoodine PLATINUM, Easley, South Carolina
24 articles 0 photos 2 comments

Mystery. Horror. Murder. These words all describe Poe’s short stories that he wrote. Poe wrote many letters to people that he loved. The letters he wrote he used in his short stories to help people to connect with what he felt. In Poe’s lifetime he wrote many literary works that reflect his life because “Ms. Found in a Bottle” shows how he feels about life and his family that also represents the deaths of loved ones, “Annabel Lee” represents his love for his first wife and how sad he was after she died, and “The Masque of the Red Death” represents how he feels about the sickness that killed most of his loved ones and what he saw the sickness was doing to his loved ones.

The first reason is, “Ms. Found in a Bottle” shows how he feels about life and his family that also represents the deaths of loved ones. One of Poe’s stories quotes Quinault Atys translated into English it says, he who doesn't have another moment to live does not have anything more to hide (Shmoop). This translation means that Edgar Allan Poe doesn’t want to live anymore because all the people he has loved have died in some way or another. The author states, “...Of my family I have little to say” (Poe 15). This quote explains why he didn’t even have a good relationship with his two fathers who really didn’t want anything to do with him and also why he could say anything about his mothers because they both died of the same disease. According to the text, “No person could be less liable than me” (Poe 15). This quote shows that Poe blames himself for the death of his mother and his wife, which was also his cousin, death. He blames himself for something that happens naturally that we can’t help in life unless if there is a cure to give to them to make them better also he blames himself for his wife’s death because of the condition they were living in.

The second reason is, “Annabel Lee” represents his love for his first wife and how sad he was after she died. According to the text, “...She lived with no other thought than to be loved by me” (Poe, Edgar). This quote shows that Poe and his wife loved each other very much and that they both thought of each other every single day of their life. The author states, “... Seraphs of heaven coveted her and me” (Poe, Edgar). This quote explains that seraphs made them yearn for the love each other that made their affection draw close together to where they wanted to marry each other at the age of 24 and 13. The author states, “ That the wind came out of the cloud by night chilling and killing my Annabel Lee” (Poe, Edgar). This quote shows that he was sad that his wife Virginia was killed by tuberculosis because he loved her so much. According to the text, “Nor the demons down under the sea Can ever dissever my soul from the soul” (Poe, Edgar). This quote means that he loved her so much that he would never forget about her and that there will always be a part of him that will always love her.

The third reason is, “The masque of the Red Death” shows how he feels about the sickness that killed most of his loved ones and what he saw the sickness was doing to his loved ones. For instance, “Pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous” (Poe, Edgar Allan 145). This quote shows the scariest part of death he uses words like "hideous" and "horror" and right away he mirrors the fears of the people in the story. Another example is, “ Blood was its avatar and it seals the redness and the horror of blood” (Poe, Edgar Allan 145). This quote explains that Blood is something that marks it a highly contagious disease, and also that it’s an indicator of death. The author states, “ There were sharp pains and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution” (Poe, Edgar Allan 145). This quote shows the pain his two mothers and his wife were in while having this sickness that killed them in the end.

On the other hand, people who say that Poe’s stories are biographical say his stories are not because they feel that he never experienced what happened in his own stories. They think the meaning of autobiographical experiences with one’s own life. Poe’s stories were real because “Ms. Found in a
 
Bottle” shows how he feels about life and his family. “Annabel Lee” represents his love for his first wife and how she died. “The Masque of the Red Death” represents how he feels about the sickness that killed most of his loved ones. All of these reasons are not just fiction short stories they are about his life and how he suffered from a child to an adult.

In summary, Poe’s stories are autobiographical as shown in his literary works that his feelings are towards real people like in “Ms. Found in a Bottle” about his life and his family about what he has to say, “Annabel Lee” about how his first love contracted a deadly sickness, and “The Masque of the Red Death” talk about the loved one pain from the sickness. People have their thoughts and feelings about his stories if they are autobiographical or not. Poe led a troubled life, one almost befitting his works. However, his legacy of dark fantastical characters, stories, and poems will continue to live on thru the ages and always keep telling his tale.


The author's comments:

A research paper I did in English 1 Honors


Similar Articles

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 0 comments.