Edgar Allan Poe and the Influence of Tragedies and the Time Period on his Works
In Edgar Allan Poe’s poetry, there are often dark, deranged, and morbid tropes used, which could have been influenced by the Romantic Movement and life events such as his mother dying after his father abandoned him. Poe often used dark tropes, like death and fear, to create an ominous tone throughout his poems. In “A Dream” Edgar creates a dark tone by stating “The spirits of the dead... Shall overshadow thee” (Poe 10). Having the dead overshadow you means they could be nearby, about to catch up with one, meaning their time has come. the fear that death is looming just around the corner is a trope commonly used in his poems. In “The Raven” Edgar states, “Long I stood there wondering, fearing”(Poe 21). this creates a fearful situation because of the uncertainty of what is making noise. The thought that something malicious could be hiding nearby, ready to cause one harm is ominous.In “The Raven” Poe creates suspense by saying “rustling... filled me with fantastic terrors”(Poe 29). The thought that there might be a malicious entity in the room with one while no one else could possibly help is frightful. Tense, terrifying tropes such as the scary uncertainty of this situation are part of what gives poe his reputation. Poe uses fearful, scary tropes often incorporated with loneliness in his works. Edgar Allan Poe had a very harsh and dark life, filled with many tragedies and depressing events. As a child, Edgar was “Orphaned young when his mother died shortly after his father abandoned the family” (Woodberry). Edgar grew up without parents, the two greatest influences in a small child’s life. Growing up without parents could have influenced the lonely tropes used in his poems. Poe “Married his 3-year old cousin”(Israfel) who died early. Poe loved his wife very much, but she died. The loss of a loved one could have been a cause for the lonely tropes used in his poems. Poe’s life was influenced heavily by alcohol, his “life was one long series of alcoholic sprees” (Anonymous). Alcohol can cause depression, and Poe was drinking constantly. The combination of already having a tragic life and drinkig constantly caused Poe to constantly feel miserable. Poe lived in the first half of the 1800’s (1809-1849), which was around the Romantic Movement, which explains why his works are so surreal. Romanticism was the belief that “intuition, imagination, and emotion were worth more than any scientific or reasonable thought.”(Hobson). Romanticism went beyond the limits of reality and appealed to emotions. Poe often uses the same style, appealing to feelings such as loneliness. The Romantic Movement “Plac[ed] new emphasis on such emotion as apprehension, horror,terror, and awe”(Cestre). This turned authors of that time to focus more on negative tropes such as insecurity instead of love. Poe’s poetry reflects off of that because his works almost always include tropes that were emphasized at that time period.. The Romantic Movement was an “attempt to escape the confines of population growth, urban sprawl, and industrialism”(Cestre). People whom romanticism appealed to were unhappy with the reality that everything is based off of numbers and resources. To get away from this, they wrote surrealistic poems just like Poe’s