Edgar:
Poetic, not pathetic
Coming into this project, I had this highly romanticized idea of Poe. To me, he seemed like an unparalleled genius and fascinating, dark soul. However, throughout my research I came to realize that he was just a regular guy, too. All lunatics aside, he was loving and affectionate. The countless deaths of the women that he loved--from his mother to his foster parent to his childhood sweetheart and to, of course, his wives--truly tore him up inside, showing his true level of devotion to them. He is most well known for his horror stories, but he also wrote love poems too, like “For Helen” or “Annabel Lee.” The biggest revelation of Poe that came to me through this research, however, is that he was not as mature and wise like I had thought him to be. In truth, he was an alcoholic and a narcissist. Despite his harsh reviews of other writers, it seemed that he could not take criticism himself, even going so far as to write nasty letters to anyone who disliked his work. He was in several feuds, even with his own foster father, going so far as to disrespect the man who had taken him in when no one else would (though in Poe’s defense, his foster father was a greedy and unfairly demanding man). These types of feuds show Poe in an unattractive light, because he was selfish, unappreciative, and downright unpleasant. Poe also drank on a regular basis and probably wrote more of his stories while intoxicated than while sober. Unattractive traits like these remind me that we all have our flaws, even Poe, and it gave me a gentle reminder that he was not superhuman, allowing me to take him down from that highly revelled pedestal upon which I had previously rested him. However, these insights from my research do not change my overall thesis on Poe. Instead, it simply gives me more hope. If he was a normal guy, then maybe all of us average people have a chance to become as great and influential as he.