Poe: Life & Times

Death and insanity are two focal points in Edgar Allan Poe’s stories. Like the beating heart beneath the floorboards in The Tell-Tale Heart those themes are prominent. Poe is a master storyteller, but was his focus on the morbid because he loved horror stories or did certain circumstances influence his tales?

Poe astutely defined his mental status by stating, “I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity.” On the surface, he seems to embrace his madness. However, there are many events in his life that could drive any soul into mental instability. By the time he is 5-years-old, Poe is orphaned (par 5-79). Unofficially adopted by the Allan’s, he’s separated from his brother to live with this family. Soon after that move, he’s whisked away to several boarding schools all the while his adoptive family moves to England. Then in the late 1820’s and early 1830’s his biological brother and adoptive family dies.  To put the final nail in Poe’s proverbial coffin, his wife dies from Tuberculosis. Two years later, and after a second marriage, he too dies from unknown causes.

The Tell-Tale Heart’s leading antagonist is driven insane after committing a heinous crime. No matter where he goes, the sound of his victim’s heartbeat plagues his twisted mind. Driven to extreme measures, he confesses to the visiting police, “Villains!" I shrieked, "dissemble no more! I admit the deed! --tear up the planks! --here, here! --it is the beating of his hideous heart!" (Poe 202).

During the Victorian era, a man’s job was to provide and protect his family. Poe did neither of those things. He often was in debt due to alcoholism and gambling. Under his watch, his family dies. While there is nothing he could’ve done, Poe still might have felt immense guilt. He must’ve felt like a failure. The Tell-Tale Heart is his declaration to his feelings and experiences with death and insanity. 

Works Cited

Chronology of the Life of Edgar Allan Poe . (2011, December 4). Retrieved March 4, 2013, from Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore: http://www.eapoe.org/geninfo/poechron.htm

Edgar Allan Poe Quotes. (2013, March 4). Retrieved March 4, 2013, from Brainy Quotes: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/e/edgar_allan_poe.html

Poe, E. A. (2001). Complete Tales and Poems. Edison: Castle Books.