Edgar Allen Poe was born in 1809. He was the son of two poverty stricken actors, David and Elizabeth Poe, both of which had died and left Edgar an orphan by the age of two. From there, Poe was taken in by his aunt and uncle. He was given the opportunity of studying at some of the best private schools in England and America, and although he excelled in all of his studies, Poe's family life left him feeling empty inside. His uncle never accepted Edgar as a true member of the family and this led to some bitter quarrels between the two.
When Poe was about seventeen years old, he left home and decided to join the Army. Poe had already begun writing poetry by this point and was lucky enough to have had a small book of his works published. Army life did not turn out to be what the young writer had first expected, and he found himself discharged due to disobedience.
Illustration for "The Black Cat" by Aubrey Beardsl...
"The Fall of the House of Usher" was published wid...
The Fall of the House of UsherIt was at this point in his life, that Poe decided to take a job as an assistant editor with a magazine. He also started sending his own manuscripts to different publishers along the east coast with hopes of earning enough money to live on. It is noted that around this time period was when Poe started with his infamous drinking problem. He was known to have lost many jobs throughout his life due to his inability to stay away from alcohol, which left Poe living in poverty most of the time.
In 1834, Edgar married his thirteen year old cousin, Virginia Clemm. She was sick for most of their twelve year marriage and eventually died of tuberculosis. Poe never got over the death of his wife and his drinking was said to have escalated...