Do you believe that Poe's use of opium affected his writing.

-- Anonymous, February 01, 2000

Answers

I don't beleive that Poe's usage of opium really affected his writing. I think that we would see some examples or after effects of the opium in his writing.

-- Anonymous, February 01, 2000

I don't know that this actually answers the question, but here's my thoughts on the use of opium by Poe. It's hard to say whether or not he used opium before or while he was working on his stories, but I think he probably needed some by the time he finished writing for the day. Coming up with some of the tales that he did would be enough for anyone to need a temporary escape from reality.

-- Anonymous, February 02, 2000

Maybe it did and maybe it didn't. I mean, if he was actually using the drug at the time that he was writing his various works, then yes, of COURSE it affected his writing. Opium is a drug that affects the brain and how you think and react to your surroundings. If he was using opium at the time of his writing, then I am sure that it affected his stories and poems in some way or another. Of course, we don't KNOW that he did use opium when he was writing, so it COULD be that he was just a creepy guy anyway and no amount of drugs really would have made much of a difference. We just don't know. I would like to think that his literary genius was unaffected by any mind- altering drugs, but since the man is dead, I cannot really speculate either way.

-- Anonymous, February 09, 2000

I personally do not think that Poe's use of opium affected his writing what-so-ever. I think Poe was a much different type of writer than pretty much every other writer of his time but, I don't think it changed the way he wrote. I think that Poe enjoyed writing the way he did, I believe that it probably came more natural to him.

-- Anonymous, February 11, 2000