Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)

Lauren McNeel, Performing American Literature

Background:

· Born to two actors, Poe was orphaned by age two. He was taken in by a rather unsupportive family in Virginia, with whom he clashed.

· Poe attended the University of Virginia but could not afford more than one semester. Prone to alcoholism and gambling, he squandered away much of his money.

· Relationship to war:

· In 1827, at age 18, he enlisted in the US Army, where he was made part of a South Carolina artillery unit.

· He then sought an appointment as a cadet at the West Point US Military Academy. Many of his early poetry collections were dedicated to the U.S. cadets.

· At age 27, he married his 13-year-old cousin Virginia Clemm, who died of TB (informing much of his dying-wife writing)

· He wasn’t considered successful in his lifetime; he attempted a publishing career but was never paid enough for his writing, and had to resort to begging friends for money.

· He died of unknown causes at age 40.

Pay Attention To:

· Genre: Poe has been known for spearheading stories in many of these genres

· Gothic novels (dark, stormy weather, old mansions, ghosts, claustrophobia) were also popular in England around this time. Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” is one such example, as are Berenicë and Ligeia.

· Macabre (grim, deathly) stories such as “The Masque of the Red Death”

· Detective stories like “The Gold-Bug” in which codes are cracked

· Unreliable narrators

· The narrator in Berenicë does not seem to fully confess to the crime that becomes evident through the plot itself.

· Race and gender

· Pay attention to the agency of female characters in his plots. Does Poe’s own life inform his usage of female characters?

· Poe includes some characters of color in his stories (Legrand in “The Gold-Bug,” and Pompey and the Kickapoo/Bugaboo Native Americans); think about their greater roles in the narrative, and what might be Poe’s attitudes towards them.

· Fragmented plot and narrative structure

· Not everything is revealed immediately, or linearly, in the text: in Berenicë, the real violence in the plot is veiled from the reader. In “The Gold-Bug,” the code-cracking strategy is only revealed once the treasure has been found.

· Think about how adaptations of Poe’s stories can rework narrative structuring.

Interesting Performance Adaptations of Poe:

· BBC aired a radio dramatization of “The Gold-Bug” (dir. Gregory Evans, 2001) which had supposedly been made “post-modern” and “anti-racist,” in response to the original plot.

· Philip Glass wrote an opera based on “The Fall of the House of Usher” (1987) using melodies like the guitar to represent Richard’s voice and presence.

· Tim Burton describes being inspired by Poe from a young age: his short film “Vincent” (1982) mirrors the plot of Poe’s “The Raven” and even quotes directly from it.

· An animated short film of “The Tell-Tale Heart” (1953) was the first cartoon in the UK to receive an X certificate rating. It can be viewed on YouTube.

· Each Halloween in Detroit, a masquerade is hosted involving live acting and audience participation in the storyline of “The Masque of the Red Death”

Discussion Questions:

· Video adaptation idea on YouTube of “The Masque of the Red Death” (watch first 1:00-2:00, then last few minutes once Death arrives here)

· There are seven rooms of various colors, each representing one of the deadly sins. What is the benefit here of a video adaptation? In what ways does this add significance to the original story?

· Do you notice anything about the movement of the two main characters in the video version? What might this suggest?

· There are hardly any words in the video version (whereas other adaptations employ all of Poe’s original text as narration): does this alter the meaning of Poe’s original story?

· Turn to “The Man That Was Used Up,” pg 48 – summarize and explain fascination. Read last page.

· Can anyone make sense of the last line? The narrator, in an almost absurdist style, concludes with “perfect understanding” that the General is simply “The Man That Was Used Up.” What could this mean?

· What do you make of the General’s voice being the last thing restored? Is there any significance in who has taken away and restored his voice?

· And why is it that all the townspeoples’ voices have been cut short on the matter of the General?

· Critics have identified the General as the historical figure General Winfield Scott. He was the longest-serving general in the history of the US. He fought in many wars against Native American peoples and later served in the Civil War.

· How might his participation affect a reading of this General, who must be pieced together?