The Life of Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe, born on January 19, 1809, in Boston, Massachusetts, was the maestro of macabre and mystery in American literature. Poe was the son of the English-born actor Elizabeth Arnold Poe and David Poe, Jr., an actor from Baltimore. His tumultuous life was as enigmatic as his haunting tales. His father abandoned the family when Poe was a toddler. His biological mother died of tuberculosis at the age of 24, when Edgar was 3 years old, making him an orphan. They say he sat at her bedside, watching the effects of tuberculosis ravish her as she coughed up blood. This trauma very well could have been a core memory for Poe, leading to his penchant for morbid writings.

Poe was taken in by John Allan, a wealthy merchant, and his wife Frances. His older brother, Henry, and his younger sister, Rosalee, were taken in by other Richmond families. The Allan’s were childless, and Frances Allan was quite fond of Poe’s mother, Elizabeth. He took the middle name Allan from them. He was later taken to Scotland and England, where he was given a classical education at grammar school in Irvine, North Ayrshire, in 1815 that was continued in Richmond later.

Poe’s first feelings of love were awakened by his friend’s mother, Jane Stanard. She died of brain cancer when Poe was 15, presenting another tragic loss of a woman he cared about. It would not be the last. At the same time, Mrs…