Poe´s Life After Death

The subject of this essay is Edgar Allan Poe and how his life, works and death have contributed to the fact that he is such a renowned name today, even though it has been 160 years from his death. Firstly, after the introduction, Poe‘s life will be accounted for. Poe‘s life was a tragedy and his death is a mystery. His biggest impact in literature has been on the Gothic genre which is the genre of tragedy and mystery. The third chapter will therefore focus on the Gothic. Poe‘s works have been thought to mirror his life and Poe has therefore become the focal point in interpretations of his works, which gives rise to the question whether authors have generally been centralized in their works. The fourth chapter is a theoretical account of the status of “the author” through the course of literary history. Going back to Poe’s death, the fifth chapter focuses on two authors who have written books in which they try, each in their own way, to find a solution to the mystery of Poe’s death. Another interesting aspect of Poe’s death regards his funeral. According to sources no more than ten people attended Poe’s first funeral, which inspired the population of Baltimore to throw Poe a large and glamorous memorial in 2009, 160 years after his original burial. This event is the subject of chapter six. Poe’s life has interested many biographers and Poe’s works, especially his Gothic tales, have made Poe very famous. However it is the mystery left behind when Poe died, along with the tragically small funeral, which has turned Poe’s death into an enormous cultural phenomenon. Poe’s death therefore hugely contributes to the fact that the memory of Poe and his works are still alive today.

Author dc:creator

• Harpa Björk Birgisdóttir 1980-

Contributors dc:contributor

• Háskóli Íslands

• Enska
• Bandarískar bókmenntir
• Ævisögur
• Poe, Edgar Allan, 1809-1849

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1946/5366

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:skemman.is:1946/5366