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Danielle Cozine
Mrs. Gregor
AP Language and Composition
14 February 2013
Edgar Allan Poe and Anti-Transcendentalism

Death is a topic that has long been discussed among men and women. Others have
written about it, and still others have determined the causes of it. Edgar Allan Poe discussed the
horrors of it. Titles like The Mask of the Red Death, or The Pit and the Pendulum have long since
been established in American Literature as classic horror stories, preceding Frankenstein and
even Dracula. Poe was more concerned, however, in the effects of death, and the fear of death,
upon the human soul. Poes experiences with death, illness and father figures heavily influenced
his writing and resulted in a firm stance as an Anti-Transcendentalist.
The early life of Edgar Allan Poe was relatively traumatic. His father was an alcoholic
and left Poe and his family before he was one year old. His mother, an actress, worked hard to
provide for him, though her profession was not a highly respected one. Poe adored his mother,
and it is thought that his regard for women stems from this relationship (A&E). Unfortunately,
Mrs. Poe contracted Tuberculosis (TB), and died when he was three years old. This was Poes
first experience with death and it left a deep impression on his young mind, and sadly, she was
not the last woman Poe loved that died of TB. This exposure to death and this terrible disease
would have seemed like unflappable evidence to Poe concerning the inherent evil in the world
and probably acted as the drive behind Poes dislike of the Transcendentalist movement.
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When Poes mother died, he was sent to live with the Allans, who were friends of the
family. Here he was given excellent schooling and a home. Although his foster mother was
affectionate toward him, his foster father harbored a constant disdain toward him. This was also
a factor in Poes regard for women. The two father figures he had in life were either absent or
arrogant, and Poe began to adore women, even idolize them. Sadly, Mrs. Allan died when he was
fourteen, after being sickly for nearly all of his life. This only served to convince Poe of
womens frailty, and this pushed them to be both the main characters and the most prominent
victims in his poetry (A&E).
After his foster mothers death, relations with his foster father became even more
strained. The man spent just enough money to get Poe to college at the University of Virginia
before cutting him off. It was here that Poe started to share his work, giving poetry sittings in the
dormitories and painting fantastic works of art. However, Poe was barely able buy food. The
struggle with poverty was something that continued to stay with him throughout life, and
eventually, in utter desperation, Poe became a gambler in an attempt to earn money. His plan
backfired however, and he ended up even deeper in poverty. Attempts to contact his wealthy
foster father were futile: Mr. Allan ignored him, and the relationship was strained to the point of
no repair when Poe was chased out of the university by his debtors. A tense letter to Mr. Allan
was his last correspondence with the man who had raised him:
Richmond and the United States were too narrow a sphere and the world shall be
my theater. If you determine to abandon me, here I take my farewell, neglected. I
will be doubly ambitious, and the world shall hear of the son whom you have
thought unworthy of your notice. (A&E)
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The two would not speak again until much later, when Mr. Allan was on his deathbed and
informed Poe that he would not be receiving any inheritance. It was also during this time that the
third woman he had loved in his life died-his first wife, who was another victim of TB. Her death
did nothing to help Poes debts, or his mental stability, and served to push him out of Virginia
and into alcoholism(A&E).
After fleeing the university, Poe joined the military under an assumed name (he was still
being pursued by debtors). There he thrived, rising to the highest possible post without officer
training at a military school. He applied to and was accepted into WestPoint, where he again ran
into financial difficulty and was kicked out within six months. After this, he went to live with his
aunt and her daughter, Virginia Clem. Poe continued to write and eventually got a job as an
editor, which was how he managed to provide for his new family. After some time, when
Virginia was twelve and his aunt getting on in years, the young girl was nearly sent away to live
with distant relatives. One month later, after a frantic Poe had begged both his aunt and cousin to
refrain from sending the girl away, Virginia and Poe were married. He was twenty six, and she
was twelve. By all accounts, it was an extremely happy marriage.
Poe continued to write. His pieces were steadily becoming darker even as he lived what
was most likely the happiest time of his life. Even though he had a steady job, Poe continued to
struggle with poverty, and though his works were steadily gaining popularity, he hardly made a
dime off of them due to the lack of copyright laws at the time (A&E). Finally, eight years after
his marriage, tragedy struck Poe yet again. Virginia contracted TB, and struggled with it for six
long years before she died. During this time, Poe struggled with poverty, his inability to buy food
and medicine for his ailing wife was a frustration that continued to fuel his Anti-
Transcendentalist views, and he wrote some of his most haunting pieces, including The Mask of
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the Red Death and The Raven. The poem he wrote after she died, Annabel Lee, was written in
memory of her (A&E). After Virginia died, Poe became unhinged in a few ways. In his last year
of life, Poe continued to struggle with the alcohol addiction that began during his first wifes
illness, and he became obsessed with the idea of dying with someone, preferably a beautiful
woman. He became engaged twice in that year, one time proposing in a cemetery, and courting
several affairs at the same time. In the end, he most likely became the victim of a political
kidnapping and eventually died of alcohol poisoning.
Poe is a part of the Romantic period, which was a literary movement that dealt with the
ideals of the past, and often dealt with the nature of guilt and sin, among other things. Other
authors involved in this movement were Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville, authors of
The House of the Seven Gables and Moby Dick, respectively. All three, however, were Anti-
Transcendentalists, also known as Gothics. This means that, unlike Transcendentalists, they did
not believe in the inherent goodness of Man and Nature, rather that sin and evil were
unavoidable aspects of human existence. The Anti-Transcendentalism movement was a reaction
to the largely Transcendentalist period of which these authors lived. One of the main proponents
of the Transcendentalist movements was Henry David Thoreau, who Poe very publicly criticized
as being too idealistic. It was a self-sabotaging move on Poes part. Thoreau cut down Poe at
every available opportunity as a result, and it hampered Poes popularity immensely.
The Raven, arguably Poes most famous piece, was written during Virginias demise. It is
also a prime example of Poes Anti-Transcendental opinion. In it, the narrator begins by
lamenting the loss of his lover before hearing a knock at his window and opening it, before a
raven flew in, able to speak but saying only the word and name nevermore. The narrator
continues to speak to the raven, asking about his lover, Lenore. As the poem progresses, the
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questions that the narrator asks become more and more personal and also more painful until, at
the end, the narrator loses his sanity. By using his narrators lack of sanity as an example, Poe is
explaining the dangers of being obsessed with illusion imagination, instead recommending
reality (Aalaa). The actual meaning of the raven in the poem is something known only to Poe,
but most scholars agree on one of three things: An omen of evil doings, an angel, or nothing at
all, instead becoming whatever the reader desires. Most support the omen theory, like David
Baguley, author of Guiomar's Poetics of Death-'The Raven' in Poe Studies, who said The raven
becomes a harbinger...irretrievable, even diabolical or infernal in Poes poem. (38) The omen-
theory would be most keeping with Poes Anti-Transcendental tone that the poem seems to use.
It would suggest that Death is inescapable, for the loved and those left behind, reinforcing the
idea that Nature and Man are inherently evil.
Edgar Allan Poe, one of the most renowned authors of the 19
th
century, led a tragic life
that ended prematurely. His many works and interesting ideas still enthrall men and women all
over the world today and though devastatingly sad, his hardships helped to define him and his
writing as a part of the Dark Romantic or Anti-Transcendental movement. In fact, Poe said it
best himself in The Raven.
"Doubtless," said I, "what it utters is its only stock and store,
Caught from some unhappy master, whom unmerciful disaster
Followed fast and followed faster, till his songs one burden bore,---
Till the dirges of his hope that melancholy burden bore
Of "Never---nevermore."

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Works Cited

AlMajnouni, A'alaa. "Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven as an Anti-Transcendental Poem."
Wordpress. 9 Jun 2011. Web. 13 Feb 2013.
Baguley, David. Guiomar's Poetics of Death-'The Raven' in Poe Studies. Vol. 15. 2nd ed. N.p.: Blackwell
Publishing Ltd., 1982. 38-40. Print. 13 Feb. 2013.
Edgar Allan Poe-The Mystery. 1994. A&E Television. Web. 13 Feb. 2013.