A&e biography full episodes edgar allan poe

The Play Is The Tragedy "Man" And The Hero The Conquering Worm.

Baby Edgar was born in Boston and his father promptly deserted the family. His mother, an actress, traveled a good deal and died in Richmond, Virginia, when Poe was three. The Poe children were scattered around to orphanages until the Allan family, friends of Mrs. Poe, decided to raise Edgar. A mismatch made in hell. Mr. Allan was a Scotsman, a rough tobacco trader. Poe was impulsive, athletic, and rebellious. The authoritarian John Allen sent Edgar off to the University of Virginia without any money. Poe ran into debt and left, joining the army under an assumed name. Pleas to his father didn't help and Poe angrily put an end to any relationship.

Surprisingly, Poe seems to have been a good soldier, rising to a high enlisted rank and briefly attending West Point. But he wasn't interested, says this program, and left the army. Other biographies mention gambling debts and drinking as well as a lack of interest in the military. With little money, he moved in with his aunt, Mariah Clemm, and her eight-year-old daughter Virginia. To help support the family he sold short stories and fantasies to literary magazines, which paid a pittance. Hired as an editor by the Southern Literary Messenger, his reviews and rejection slips were arrogant and brutal. This can hurt, as I know. He was also at odds with his employers. This combative character and the resultant poverty were two consistent themes in his life. He loved certain women -- carefully selected -- and his own version of literature, but little else. He must have been a big pain in the neck to everyone except the women in whom he was interested, and they often died on him.

One of the women he loved was his cousin Virginia. When they were married, he was twenty-six and she had grown from eight years old to twelve. ("O, E