Help with an Edgar Allan Poe's essay

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Hi, please help me with this, I have already read The black cat, The tell - tale heart, and The cask of Amontillado, and his poem Anabelle Lee, I need an essay for Tuesday, so please help me, it has to deal with his style, life and the link between his life and his writing.

-- Anonymous, April 01, 2001

Answers

To follow will be a brief summary of what it is that you seek. Had I more time, and had you a later deadline, I would be more than happy to supply you with something to a greater depth, but for now, I will do what I can in the time remaining.

Edgar Allan Poe's style of writing is what is known as "macabre." This is a style that constitutes particularly of concepts of a fantastic nature, with a strong element of the unusual, mysterious, and grim. There is an air of melancholy that is sometimes associated with this manner of writing, a certain understood feeling of loss, sorrow, and fleeing hopes of a hollow soul, sufice to say. Particularly in The Black Cat, Poe uses horror to convey his internal sufferings, whereas in Annabel Lee, he incorporates a feeling of great loss with a sentiment of slight hope and belief in eternal love.

The Cask of Amontillado plays largely on the basis of revenge, as does The Black Cat and The Tell-Tale Heart. In all of the stories, vengance is the soul motivation for his actions. Cask of Amontillado tells of his silent hatred for his aquaintance Fortunado and the devious and clever plot to render his immolation. In The Black Cat, it is madness that drives the narrator to kill his wife (which was not pre-meditated) and attempt to kill the cat. The Tell-Tale Heart tells of years of abuse and neglect as his sole inspiration to kill the old man. You see, Poe told much of stories grotesque in content, but there was always that underlying notion of extreme intelligence on behalf of the narrator.

Poe's life was one that was greatly reflected in his works. For example, the poem Annabel Lee tells of his loss of Virginia Clemm, his late wife. Much of it is metaphorical, the kingdom by the sea and such, but it was truly his belief that "neither the angels in heaven above, nor the demons down under the sea, could ever dissever my soul from the soul of the beautiful Annabel Lee." It is believed that E A Poe suffered greatly from depression, and never could forget about the infinite sorrow that seemed all too well aquainted with his own being.

His thoughts are portrayed throughout his works, his ideas of fantastic adventure, grim fate, strange comedy, and the demons and angels that forever fought within himself. It was a struggle never to be won, and elements from the efforts of both sides can be observed throughout his works.

He truly is the master of the macabre, and the creator of the mystery (as his short story The Murders in the Rue Morgue was the fist mystery). He will forever be recognized as one of the most original and intelligent writers of all time. His genious, in my opinion, far surpasses that of his fellow writers, both predecessors, contemporaries, and those to follow to the present day.

I do hope that in some measure this may have helped you, and I am sorry that it could not be more informative, but I wanted you to see this as soon as possible.

All Respects and Regards,

-- Anonymous, April 02, 2001


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