First, is Poe naturally mentally disabled or does it have anything to do with the lossof his parents and the lack of actual parental love he received from his well proividing but certainly not affectionate parents. Also, I am a really bad researcher, what are the full names of Poes Wives and their deaths. My final Question is if it is proven all these things about his weirdness and posssible substance abuse or is it just assumed with decent evidence

Thanks, Eric Reyner

-- Anonymous, November 03, 2003

Answers

Discard any ideas about weirdness. No more than anyone on the cultural scene now or them and simply debating the issue has always done the majority of the harm. Poe's friends trying to defend him against the senseless postmortem trashings gave in to some of the attacks. DESPITE his woes, shortcomings or alcoholism and poor health Poe wrote many works of particular genius, intensely bound to his special character- that is a type of honesty not too common in that century though that is not what he intended. it is just that his Muse and his abrreviated works were such a strong compass and framework. Yet Poe had a variety of works and thoughts, always stunning and effective and always not quite understood. One wife Virginia Poe who died shortly before Poe of tuberculosis.

Poe's alcoholic intake has been studied pretty extensively. Enough to damage his health and lose him a few jobs and mangle some relationships but not as much as Dylan Thomas for example or other debauchees. A few medicinal encounters with laudanum and one suicide attempt, none of which had anything to do with macabre imagination more than the typical Gothic of the day- which in fact Poe broke from in several important ways while seeming to write the most memorable examples.

-- Anonymous, November 06, 2003

Poe was engaged to a woman by the name of Elmira Royster, but they didn't end up getting married because her parents broke it off.

-- Anonymous, November 07, 2003

Poe was married to his cousin Virginia Clemm. Some say she died of ammonia.

-- Anonymous, November 09, 2003