Born in Boston in 1809, Edgar Poe was an orphan before he was three. Both his actor parents died, and he was taken in by John Allan, a wealthy Richmond tobacco merchant, and his wife Frances. Though they gave him their name, they never formally adopted him. The Allans intended to raise him as a proper Southern gentleman, a life of commerce and tradition. But this role clashed with Edgar's own poetic and sensitive temperament from the start. He was a boy with a brilliant mind, educated for a time in England, but he felt like an outsider in his own home. This early tension between his artistic spirit and the expectations of his foster father would define his entire life and drive him toward a desperate independence.
The Life and Death of Edgar Allan Poe
The story of the master of the macabre, from his tragic life to his mysterious death in Baltimore in 1849.
Chapter 1
The Adopted Son
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Edgar Allan Poe get kicked out of West Point?
Poe deliberately got himself court-martialed to force a final break with his foster father, John Allan. After Allan refused to pay his university gambling debts and their relationship soured, Poe ensured his dismissal from the military academy by ceasing to attend classes and drills.
How did Poe's wife Virginia die?
Virginia Clemm Poe died of tuberculosis at the age of 24. She suffered a five-year decline after a blood vessel burst in her throat while she was singing. Her long illness became a central, haunting theme in many of Poe's most famous works.
What is the 'cooping' theory about Poe's death?
'Cooping' is a theory that Poe was a victim of election fraud in Baltimore. It suggests political gangs kidnapped him, drugged him with alcohol, and forced him to vote at multiple locations in different disguises, leading to his delirious state and eventual death.
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