Edgar Allan Poe
By Hannah Jones
Edgar Allan Poe's twisted and horrific writing style came from a multitude of rough life experiences and overall a rough life.
Edgar was orphaned at age 3
When he was a late teen, he had to enlist in the army
After being in college for a while, he had to drop out due to becoming in a lot of debt, and also becoming a heavy drinker. He decided to join the army, and while at some of his army bases he gathered some ideas and inspiration for his books. He met a biologist named Dr. Edward Revenel, and their base was a set up near a beach/forest. "Just as the gloomy atmosphere and gothic architecture of London provided the mood and setting for "Wilson Wilson" and other stories, Poe's experience in South Carolina(his army base) provided the backdrop for some of Poe's later stories," says Suzanne Levert, author of the book Edgar Allan Poe. Although Edgar didn't enjoy the Army and his time there, he used many of the places he visited as settings later on in his stories.
He wasn't loved by many
He married his 13 year old cousin
some of his skillful writing techniques were developed from other authors
Edgar used some forms of "physcological intensity" in his writing, which he gained from the Russian author/philosopher Fyodor Dostoyevsky. He uses intense "sounds", or onomatopoeias , in his writing. This causes the reader to feel as if they're a part of the story. He also uses the "symbolic method", which he learned from authors Nathanial Hawthorne and Herman Melville. In using the symbolic method, Poe adds hidden meanings in his work, or also uses a lot of symbolism. Even though this techniques aren't unique to Edgar, I believe that he wouldn't have been able to make them work as perfectly as they did in his writings if he didn't have any dark backgrounds to channel his work from.
although many people's view on Poe is that he was an insane, drunk writer, I belive that he actually had a strong sense of depth and intelligence to him as well
AS YOU CAN SEE IN SOME OF HIS QUOTES:
"The true genius shudders at incompleteness - and usually prefers silence to saying something which is not everything it should be."
Edgar Allan Poe
"Science has not yet taught us if madness is or is not the sublimity of the intelligence."
Edgar Allan Poe
"That pleasure which is at once the most pure, the most elevating and the most intense, is derived, I maintain, from the contemplation of the beautiful."
Edgar Allan Poe