The writings of Edgar Allan Poe are known for their presence of horror, mystery, and tragedies, but what influenced his original stories and writings have been on the mind of his audience since his death. Over the years rumors have spread, saying maybe he was a little crazy, or his addictions drove him to his wild tales, but how does one write such detailed and elaborate tails when not in the right state of mind? From going over his works and background we can see that Poe had to be in the right state of mind when writing to be able to write so carefully and eloquently. A major theme that can be found in Poe's writings though, is that of tragedy and lost love. Edgar Allan Poe was all too familiar with these subjects as in his own life he went through some very tough times. These experiences are mirrored throughout Edgar Allan Poe's life's work in his repetition of tragedy and morbid tales expressed throughout his literature. .
Poe was born on January 19, 1809 to David and Elizabeth Poe, two traveling actors, in Boston, Massachusetts. He had an older brother named William Henry Leonard Poe, and a younger sister named Rosalie Poe, who he was separated from at an early age after their mother's death. Poe's father deserted the family around the time of Rosalie's birth, leaving Poe's mother to take care of three children. Then in 1811, both David and Elizabeth Poe died of tuberculosis, leaving their children parentless, and forcing them to separate into the custody of three different families. A successful merchant and his wife, John and Frances Allan, in Richmond, Virginia, took in Edgar Poe. John Allan tried to guide Edgar into his personal ideals of conforming into a businessman and southern gentlemen, but Poe dreamed of becoming writer. Because of this controversy, Poe and Mr. Allan did not get along very well, leading Allan to send Edgar Poe off to college at the University of Virginia in 1826, with only one-third of the money necessary.