Lecture 3 on Edgar Allan Poe (V6).pptVIP

Lecture 3 on Edgar Allan Poe 埃德加·爱伦·坡 (1809--1849) Outline His life and works An analysis of “The Cask of Amontillado” Assignments A Picture of Edgar Allan Poe A Picture of Edgar Allan Poe I. His life and works Edgar Allan Poe was an American poet, short-story writer, editor and literary critic. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective-fiction genre. I. His life and works Although his writings were well received, Poe struggled financially and was also plagued with “bouts of depression and madness.” Quarrelsome, temperamental, alcoholic, unreliable, he made few friends and many enemies. Edgar Poe, son of itinerant actors, was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1809. His parents died when he was less than two years old. He was taken but not formally adopted by John Allan, a rich merchant in Richmond. I. His life and works At the age of seventeen, he entered the University of Virginia in Allan’s hope of becoming a lawyer. He did well in his study of French and Latin. His fellow students knew him as an aspiring poet and heavy drinker and a gambler. After a brief enlistment in the army, Poe accepted an appointed West Point, which Allan had helped to arrange. Later he was discharged in 1831 due to gross neglect of his duty. I. His life and works In Baltimore in 1835, he married Virginia Clemm, his 13-year-old cousin, who died of TB on January 30, 1847. In January 1845, Poe published his poem The Raven to instant success. On October 7, 1849, at age 40, Poe died in Baltimore. Virginia Clemm I. His life and works He had ever worked for a number of literary journals and periodicals and two newspapers: Southern Literary Messenger, Graham’s Magazine, Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine, Broadway Journal, and Sunday Times. Two stories that had won him prizes were MS. Found in a Bottle《瓶中手稿》, and The Gold Bug《金甲虫》. Tales of the Grotesque