Post-Colonial Author: Edgar Allan Poe in American Literature Essay

This essay delves into the life and works of Edgar Allan Poe, a significant author of the Post-Colonial American literature. It begins with a biographical sketch, highlighting his difficult life and early career, and then proceeds to examine his contributions, including short stories, poetry, and his influence on detective and science fiction genres. The essay emphasizes the element of romanticism prevalent in Poe's writings, particularly in poems like "The Raven" and stories like "The Masque of Red Death," and discusses how this romanticism aligns with the literary themes of the era. The analysis includes specific quotes from Poe's works to illustrate his style and the themes of despair, death, and the human mind. The essay concludes that Poe's masterful descriptions and romantic elements establish him as one of the finest authors in American and world literature.

Running head: POST COLONIAL AUTHOR IN AMERICAN LITERATURE
Post-Colonial Author in American Literature
Name of the Student
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Author Note

1POST COLONIAL AUTHOR IN AMERICAN LITERATURE
Edgar Allan Poe is considered to be one of the most popular authors of the post-
colonial American literature. Edgar Allan Poe is best known for his best short stories and
poetry especially his stories of the unexpected and the macabre. The author is also regarded
as the inventor of the detective fiction stories and also paved the way for the genre of science-
fiction stories. He is also the first author who is known to have chosen writing as a career for
himself, which led to a difficult life and career for him.
The purpose of this essay is to make a biography on the life and the works of
Edgar Allan Poe, considered to be one of the most well-known authors of the Post-
Colonial American Literature.
Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston in 1809 to actress Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe
and David Poe Jr. He grew up and spent some time with the United States army, as he was
unable to support himself. Once he got discharged from the army, he went to live with his
widowed aunt. As stated by Brown (1791), after his wife’s death, Poe decided to launch his
writing career. He wrote short stories and poems which ranged from dealing with the
supernatural to detective stories and also paved the way for the birth of the science- fiction
stories. One of his most well-known creations was Monsieur Auguste Dupin, considered to
the first detective character to emerge in the English literature as a whole. Throughout his
life, Poe had written and published numerous short stories and poems among which some of
the most famous ones are “The Tell-Tale Heart”, “The Raven” “ The Fall of The House of
Usher” “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” and “The Black Cat”. He lived a difficult life and
died in Baltimore in 1940 at the age of 40, suffering from tuberculosis.
One of the most unique aspects that is common in most of Poe’s works is
romanticism. This is commonly seen in most of his works as he had started his writing career
after the death of his wife. Therefore, the element of romanticism is clear in his works

2POST COLONIAL AUTHOR IN AMERICAN LITERATURE
especially in the poem, “The Raven”. Thus, Poe can be considered as one of the authors of
Post-Colonial era as American romanticism emerged around this period. Poe’s romanticism
in his works can be considered to be psychological in nature. As stated by Yin (20), just like
other poets of romanticism in the poems, Poe believed that human mind should not attempt to
find the truth on their own. Poe believed that the chief elements of the human mind included
the ability of intellect, taste and the moral sense among the humans. It is for this reason that
Edgar Allan Poe is considered to be one of the pioneers of romanticism in the American
Literature of the Post-Colonial era.
As stated by Wenz (474), even Poe’s writings speak of the element of romanticism in
his stories and the poems. This is commonly seen in the poem “The Raven” which is a big
example of the romanticism. In the poem, it is that the poet is lamenting for his beloved, and
suddenly a raven enters his rooms and perches on his doorframe. The poem questions the
raven on whether he would be able to meet his beloved in the afterlife, only to be
disappointed in the Raven’s reply “Nevermore”.
“Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore”
This quote shows the poet’s disappointment in the raven’s answer as he repeatedly
asked the raven whether he will be able to meet with his beloved in the afterlife or not. This
quote shows the element of romanticism at its peak in the poem “The Raven”.
“And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all.”
This quote is taken from the famous Poe story “The Masque of Red Death.”. the quote
talks about the death of the main character and his damsels, but in reality, is referred to the
author’s own life as he had faced death, decay and loss in his life from the death of his family
members and his beloved (Brown, 1780).

3POST COLONIAL AUTHOR IN AMERICAN LITERATURE
Thus, from the essay, it can be concluded that Edgar Allan Poe indeed was one of the
best authors to emerge during the Post-Colonial era of the American literature. His masterful
description of the events in his stories and poems and the elements of romanticism and
despair indeed make him one of the very best authors to emerge in not just American
literature but also in world literature as well.

4POST COLONIAL AUTHOR IN AMERICAN LITERATURE
Reference List
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Halliburton, David. Edgar Allen Poe: A Phenomenological View. Princeton University Press,
2015.
POE, EDGAR ALLAN. "CHAPTER THIRTEEN STEPS TO A METROPOLITAN MODE:
CINEMATOGRAPHIC TALES BY EDGAR ALLAN POE SARA MATETICH."
Edgar Allan Poe across Disciplines, Genres and Languages (2018): 203.
Poe, Edgar Allan. The Complete Edgar Allan Poe. McClelland & Stewart, 2018.
Wenz, Steven. "Borges's Poe: The Influence and Reinvention of Edgar Allan Poe in Spanish
America by Emron Esplin." Comparative Literature Studies 54.2 (2017): 472-475.
Yin, Jiaqi. "An Analysis of “Beauty of Death” in Edgar Allen Poe’s Poetry." English
Language, Literature & Culture 3.1 (2018): 20.