Edgar Allen Poe who was best known for his poems and short fiction, deserves more credit than any other writer for his transformation of the short story from anecdote to art (1996 Groiler Multimedia). He virtually created the detective story and perfected the psychological thriller. Edgar also produced some of the most influential literary criticism of his time – with important theoretical statements on poetry and the short story, that has had a world wide influence on literature.
In this paper I will try to capture the life of Edgar Allen Poe through his childhood and the loss of both his biological parents before the age of three ( Edgar Allen Poe, Buranelli 36). Edgar Allen Poe attended school for 5 years in England, but only briefly in the U. S. at the university of Virginia, due to large gambling debts incurred that his foster farther John Allen refused to pay(Buranelli, 88). His farther also prevented Edgar from returning to the university of Virginia and broke off his engagement to Sarah Elmira Royster( Buranelli, 102).
This Paper will reflect the ups and downs of Edgar’s lifelong dream of becoming a journalist and publisher(Life of Edgar Allen Poe, James Molloy). Edgar worked many jobs that provided no future for him most noticeably as a writer for the Philadelphia Saturday courier which also published two of his stories, both comic and satric. Edgar also took on a related job as an editor of the southern literary messenger in Richmond VA in 1835( Edgar Allen Poe, Joseph Lonely 65).
Edgar’s life has taken him from many places such as Virginia, Philadelphia, Maryland and overseas to England. Edgar’s life tour came to an abrupt end on a Baltimore street in 1849 where he was found unconscious. In a brief obituary the Baltimore clipper reported Poe had died of “congestion of the brain”, two years after his wife Virginia’s death in January 1847 which caused a heavy mental blow to his ability to write and lecture.