Edgar Allan Poe
Date of birth/place of birth: January 19, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts
Family background (children, wife/husband): His mother passed away when he was still very young and his father left
the family shortly before that. In 1836 he married his 13- year- old cousin
Virginia Clemm and in 1847 his wife suddenly died, leaving Poe childless.
Education: He visited the
University of Virginia from 1820 until 1827. In 1829 he enlisted in the West
Point Military Academy, but was expelled a year later.
Famous works: short stories:
The Fall of the House of Usher
The Gold Bug
The Tell- Tale heart
Poems: The Raven
Additional information: Two of
his most common themes in almost all of his works were loss and death. He not
only wrote fictional short stories and poems, but also non- fictional essays,
such as The philosophy of Composition, where
he examined his own methodology and writing style. He died shortly after his
wife’s death in 1849 and the actual cause is still unclear. After he passed
away his reputation was hurt, when his literary rival Rufus Griswold claimed
that Poe was mentally ill, a drunkard and a womanizer. Poe was not recognized
as a writer when he was still alive and he had a lot of financial problems, but
now he has become one of the most famous American writers.
Dark Romanticism
Dates: 1815- 1840
Background information: This era
is connected industrialization, slavery and the market crisis of 1837. Dark Romanticism
had traces of the British gothic tradition. In this era the dark side of the
soul and human abysses were portrayed in literature.
Main stylistic devices: Main stylistic
devices of that time were short pieces of text, taboo themes in novels, horror
scenarios and the so called unity of effect that was mostly shaped by Poe.
Unity of effect means that every stylistic device is meant to emphasize one
special effect of the story that should stricken the reader.
Famous and most influential authors and books: Edgar Allan Poe, Walt Whiteman, Herman Melville, Emily
Dickinson
The Raven
Publishing date: 29th
of January 1835
Place: New York in the Evening mirror
Reactions: After the poem
was published Poe became a national celebrity and people identified him with
the poem. He was therefore soon given the nickname “The Raven”. Shortly after
the first publication the poem was often imitated, parodied and reprinted, but
it still did not brought financial success to Poe.
Summary: The first person narrator sits
in his bed chamber on a chair and mourns the death of his beloved one, named
Lenore. Suddenly there is a tap on his window. The narrator stands up and opens
the window and a raven enters the room. It silently flies into the room and
sits upon the door. The narrator than
asks the raven for its name and the raven replies with the word ‘Nevermore’.
The narrator is surprised that the bird can talk and somehow starts to think
about his deceased loved one again. The
raven constantly repeats the word ‘Nevermore’, leaving the narrator agitated
and confused about the raven’s intention, not knowing where it came from and
who send it.
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