The Impact of Edgar Allan Poe On American and European Literature

From childhoods hour I have not been/ as others were- I have not seen/ As others saw
(Edgar Allan Poe,
Alone). Edgar Allan Poe is an American writer, editor, and literary critic. Poe
is best known for his short stories, and is widely regarded as the central figure of Romanticism
and American literature as a whole. Poe is one of the most influential writers of the twentieth
century and his works continue to have an impact on american culture today.
Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, on January 19, 1809 to Elizabeth Arnold Poe and
David Poe, Jr, They were both traveling actors. Within three years of Poes birth both of his
parents died and he was taken in by the wealthy tobacco merchant John Allan and his wife
Frances Valentine Allan in Richmond, Virginia, while his siblings went to live with other
families. John Allan wanted Poe to be a businessman and a Virginia gentleman, but Edgar Allan
Poe had dreams of being a writer in emulation of his British childhood hero the poet, Lord
Byron. Early poetic verses were found written on the backs of John Allans ledger sheets
revealing how little interest Poe had in the tobacco industry. By the age of thirteen, Poe had
compiled enough evidence to publish a book (Poe museum, 2015). It was at Burtons in 1839
that Poe truly embarked on his career as a litterateur. Poe completed a deal with publishers Lea

and Blanchard to issue a collection of his stories as a two- volume work entitled Tales of the
Grotesque and Arabesque sales of the book was slowed and it made very little money and he
received no profits from the publication at all ( Independence Hall Association 2015). Edgar
Allan Poe was an American writer, editor, and literary critic and he has written many books
throughout his life.

Over the course of his career Poe wrote over one hundred short stories and poems, many
of which are well known and studied today. Some examples and summaries are: William Wilson,
a tale about the main character having two different personalities. The Pit and The Pendulum,
is about a man who has to choose his way to die; either get sliced open by the pendulum
swinging back and forth, or fall into a seemingly bottomless pit. In Annabel Lee, the speaker,
grieving for his love lost many and many a year ago, (from Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan
Poe) still lies down with her each night, she, dead, has become his life. In Ulalume, the speaker
finds himself at his lovers tomb brought back for reasons he cannot identify. In The Black
Cat, a drunk man kills his cat and it comes back to haunt him.Hop-Frog is about a crippled
midget who seeks revenge on those who mistreat him and make fun of him. These are just a few
of the many short stories and poems he has written throughout his life, but one of his most
well-known and famous short stories is The Tell Tale Heart.
In The Tell Tale Heart, the narrators story begins with an idea that turns into an
obsession. There is no reason for it, in fact he loved the old man, and it is not about his money.
He thinks it might have been the old mans eye that caused the idea: he had the eye of a
vulture-a pale blue eye, with a film over it (Edgar Allan Poe, The Tell Tale Heart). Whenever
the old mans eye looks at the narrator, his blood freezes. Looking at the eye has gotten to be too
much for him, so he decides the old man has to die, so he will not ever have to see the eye again.
He now begins to start to defend his sanity. Arguing that insane people do not have any
knowledge or skill, whereas he plans everything well and is extremely careful. The narrator is
really nice to the old man in the week before killing him. Each night of the week, at almost
twelve a.m, the narrator goes to the old mans room and cracks the door just enough to put in a

dark lantern. After the lantern, the narrator pokes his head through the door, but in fear of
waking the old man, it takes him an hour to put his head in the room. He cannot kill the old man
because he will not open his eye, it is not the old man he has a problem with it is the mans evil
eye. On the eighth night he repeats the process as normal, but being more careful than usual. He
feels at the height of his power and cannot even believe his own sagacity. The old man
moves in his bed, the narrator does not draw back. The old man is afraid of robbers and keeps
his shutters closed. The room is so dark that there is no way the man can see the door opening.
Just as he gets his head through the door and is about to shine the light, he makes a little noise,
and the old man jumps up and says, Whos there? The narrator does not move for an hour. He
must be sitting up harkening to the death watches in the wall. Then he hears a groan of
mortal terror. According to him the man knows there really is something to fear, and knows that
he is about to die. The narrator waits and then decides to open his lantern and train the beam on
the mans vulture eye, and the old mans heartbeat gets louder and faster as the man gets more
and more scared. The noise gets so loud that he fears the neighbors are going to hear it, he
screams jumps into the old mans room and then yanks the heavy bed over him. To dispose of
the body, he cuts the arms, head, and legs off, then hides the body parts under some loose boards
in the floor. There is no blood in the floor because he is too smart for that and cuts up the body in
the tub. He hears a knock at the door and it is two police officers , he claims that he screamed
during his sleep and the old man has gone out. He invites them to the old mans chamber. They
sit and he hears a noise that keeps getting louder and louder. The cops do not suspect a thing, he
cannot take the noise anymore.He is convinced the police officers know and that they are just
toying with him. So the narrator blurts out Villians! Dissemble no more! I admit the deed! -

Tear up the planks! here, here! - It is the beating of his hideous heart! (Edgar Allan Poe, The
Tell Tale Heart) That is the end of the story, proof that he is not insane. Edgar Allan Poe is
widely known mainly for his impact on American and European literature.
Edgar Allen Poe was one of the first writers to develop the genre of both detective fiction
and horror. Like many famous artists, Poes works have imitators, and one of the most notable
imitator was Lizzie Doten, who in 1863 published poems from the inner life, in which she
claimed to have received new compositions by Poes spirit. The compositions were
re-workings of famous Poe poems such as The Bells, but which reflected a new positive
outlook. Even so, Poe has received not only praise, but criticism as well. Ralph Waldo Emerson
reacted to The Raven by saying, I see nothing in it and referred to Poe as The jingle man
(BBC News 2009-10-11). Nearly every important American writer after Poe shows signs of
influence especially when working in the gothic mode or with grotesque humor. The French,
Italians, and writers in Spanish and Portuguese in the Americas acknowledge and demonstrate
their debts to Poe in technique and vision (Gladis, Impact of Edgar Allan Poe, 2008).
Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century and his
works will continue to have an effect on American culture. Poe is now recognized as an
influential figure in the development in American as well as European literary traditions. Over
the mountains of the moon, Dawn the valley of the shadow, Ride, boldly ride, The shade
replied,- if you seek for Eldorado.(From Eldorado by Edgar Allan Poe.)