“The Oval Portrait”And “Life In Death”: A Literary

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“The Oval Portrait”and “Life In Death”: A Literary Analysis The life of Edgar Allan Poe was as dark as his poems and stories. He was born January 19, 1809, in Boston. After abandonment by his father, and the disturbing death of his mother, Edgar was reluctantly forced into an orphanage. He was later adopted by John Allan, a wealthy tobacco merchant. Their relationship was shaky, at best; and the contention between the two would last until Allan’s death, where his will left nothing for Poe. As if all this weren't enough, it was only the beginning for Poe. He studied at private schools, then attended the University of Virginia and the U.S. Military Academy, but did not complete studies at either school. After beginning his literary career as a poet and prose writer, he married his cousin Virginia Clemm. He worked for several magazines and joined the staff of the New York Mirror newspaper in 1844. After the Mirror published his poem “The Raven” in January 1845 Poe achieved national and international fame. Despite the acclaim he received, he was never really happy because of his long-time drinking problem. The death of John Allan’s wife and a large amount of debts acquired from gambling (which forced him into early resignation from the University of Virginia) only sent Edgar into a deeper state of despair. But the most devastating blow came when his wife died from the same disease as his mother: consumption. It is believed that heavy drinking was a contributing cause of his death in Baltimore on October 7, 1849. Poe's “The Oval Portrait” is a shortened revision of his earlier work “Life in Death.” The biggest difference between the two is the decision to drop the entire introduction that “Life in Death offers, in which the explanation of the Narrator's wound is found. Poe wrote in the opening paragraph that the narrator had suffered the wound in a confrontation with
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