Poe's life was struck with tragedy extremely early in his life. Edgar was born into a family of actors in Boston in 1809. Suddenly in July of 1810, David Poe, Edgar's father, vanished abandoning his family. During December 1810 Elizabeth Poe gave birth to Rosalie, his sister. Edgar was again struck with tragedy a year later. On December 8th 1811 he watched as his mother become ill and slowly die. Edgar and his sister Rosalie were then separated and taken in by different families. Rosalie was brought into the Mackenzies family and Edgar to the Allan's.

"The closest being in his childhood world and the source of all the security and tenderness he had ever known, Edgar found himself among strangers... Even Rosalie, his only companion, had been taken from him."(Winwar 26)

In 1815, Mr. Allan, his wife, and Edgar sailed for England on a business venture. This w

to her frequently, but because her father opposed to the match due to their age, he intercepted the letters. Because of this Edgar did not receive any replies to them.

After two years in New York, Poe moved on to Philadelphia and began editing Burton's Gentleman's Magazine. A contract for a monthly feature set him to writing some of his stories of horror and the supernatural. These stories were collected and published under the title, Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque in 1840, followed by The Prose Romances of Edgar Allan Poe. The same year Burton's was sold, and Poe became editor of its successor, Graham's Magazine. Under his management, it became perhaps the most important American magazine of its day. Nevertheless, his reputation brought him little money, and the family remained desperately poor. Few free-lance writers can make a living by writing alone; most depend upon editorial and other positions. Alcoholism

Once established in his job, he brought Mrs. Clemm and her daughter, Virginia, to live with him. A little later in September 1835, he married his cousin, Virginia, who was some years younger than he. This marriage was not out of love from Edgar it was more for convenience. He was an able editor and a discerning literary critic. He made a name for both himself and the magazine.

Roderick wants to escape his life of a nightmare but he can not, that is he can not escape the nightmare alive. Therefore, in "The Fall of the House of

Harrison, James A. Life of Edgar Allan Poe. New York: Haskell House Publishers, 1903

Edgar, for most of his life was in search for a maternal figure. He was very fond of Fanny Allan but her frequent sickness made her less than the ideal mother. At the age of fourteen he became infatuated with Mrs. Jane Stanard, the mother of one of his high school classmates. Mrs. Stanard somewhat resembled both Fanny Allan and Eliza Poe. He came to her when he felt unhappy at home. Edgar had only known her for about a year when she died at the age of 31. Edgar suffered from her death because of this and his behavior changed. This lead to conflicts at home with John Allan. John Allan took his bad mood as a sign of thanklessness for all that he had done for Edgar.

"The sense of despair and melancholy in his work, as well as his well-known concept that the greatest theme for poetry is the death of a beautiful woman"(Harris 491) The inspiration for Poe's style of writing has been the life he lead. He has expressed his anger, depression and hurt through his stories and poems and that is how his life effected his work. For the most part Poe's life was his work in a abstract form.

Poe however, had his own private demon. Drinking was the bane of his life. He and the family moved to New York. This was during the 1837 financial panic when various magazines were compelled to cease publication. Poe was unable to find employment, but he was successful in publishing a long sea story, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym. This story was so convincing in its detail that some critics were sure it was the record of an actual voyage.

As we can see in the above pages Edgar Allan Poe lead a disturbing and depressing life. He had all the skill to succeed in life and school but that was not what he wanted. Poe wanted to belong, he wanted to feel that he was wanted and loved. Edgar only experienced this sense of belonging a few times in his life but none of those times were long enough. Every time that a person loved Edgar they were taken from him. His life translated into his work and gave insight to what was happening to him.

The three characters of course are unique people with distinct characters, but they are tied together by the same type of "mental disorder". All of them suffer from insanity, yet each responds differently. Lady Madeline seems to accept the fact that she is insane and continues her life with that knowledge. Roderick Usher appears realize his mental state

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Approximate Word count = 3605
Approximate Pages = 14 (250 words per page double spaced)