what illness did poe have? how did the way his family all married each other affect poe? what kind of an illness did the inscess give him?

-- Anonymous, June 02, 2001

Answers

First get rid of that incest notion. The ONLY thing you can be thinking of is Poe's own marriage to his young cousin(no children) which has nothing to do with this question and is still legal today.

Any inherited illness is questionable. Poe was very athletic, a strong, ingenious mind, though hurt by poverty, stress and that most quoted though little understood alcoholism(which did destroy his father and brother?).

At www.eapoe.org they discuss the controversies surrounding Poe's last illness and other possible afflictions. Despite the the slander by his enemies(everyone seems to take slander as "proof"!) there is little direct evidence to support anything except for what Poe personally admitted. Pschoanalysis from a distance is also suspect, but a little empathy or compassion is definitely warranted.

Try a good biography or that Baltimore Society website for a fairer picture.

-- Anonymous, June 02, 2001

Scholars thought for decades that he died of drinking too much, it has actually been established, scientifically, that he died of pneumonia...but as an inherited illness im not sure

-- Anonymous, June 03, 2001