itful stain of melancholy, which will ever be found inseparable from the perfection of the beautiful.”(1204) Edward Wagenknecht’s view is that, “Beauty brings melancholy because it is impossible to hold, and it can not be dissociated from death because even while we grasp at it, death snatches it away.” (157) Poe’s oxymoronic views frightened many of the day’s top writers. Gottesman also states that Ralph Waldo Emerson nicknamed Poe the “jingle man,” Henry James called his writing primitive, and T.S. Eliot labeled him as immature.(1206) In comparison, today Poe is regarded highly by critics and readers alike. In his twenties, Poe’s poverty left him angry at the world. He often transferred anger from his failed careers and lack of money to his writing and other aspects of his life. He often unnecessarily gave scathing reviews to average books or short stories and even accused Henry Wadsworth Longfellow of plagiarism. This reflected a cause he was deeply involved in, trying to get international copyrights. He was passionate in this pursuit for equality of authors. He saw that American writers were able to simply copy British writers with little or no consequence. All of these factors contributed to a more frequent appearance of madmen during this era of his life. Including Roderick Usher in The Fall of the House of Usher; Montressor in The Cask of Amontillado; and the narrator in “The Raven.” His poverty brought him both joy and pain, but most critics are unsure of the total magnitude of the effect it had on his poetry and short stories.Personal loss also had a considerable effect on Poe’s writing. Silverman articulates that when he was only two years old he had to be given to the Allans because of the tragic and sudden death of his mother. A respected actress, she took ill on a tour and never recovered despite many benefit performances by her acting troup...
