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Literary Analysis of Edgar Allan Poe

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Literary Analysis of Edgar Allan Poe
Julian Leyva
ENGL 1302
04/04/2013
Edgar Allan Poe: Literary Analysis

The Cask of Amontillado is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe in the 19th century. ”The Cask of Amontillado” is a classic tale of revenge and murder, somewhat familiar in most of Poe’s works. In “The Cask of Amontillado” Protagonist Montressor has a vendetta against Antagonist Fortunato for apparently the thousands of “Injuries” Fortunato has caused him, leading to Montressor killing Fortunato. (Poe 74-79) While reading this short story you began to understand the Gothic style that Edgar Allan Poe developed behind his works and gives you a view on what kind of writer Poe really was.
Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1809 to Elizabeth and David Poe Jr. His father abandoned the family at a young age for Poe, unfortunately also having his mother die shortly after that. After the passing and leaving of his parents Poe was adopted by a wealthy Scottish merchant Frances and John Allan, which was how he was given his middle name.(Minor pg 5-8) Edgar was very spoiled but was still given discipline and strict ruling while growing up as an adoptive son to John Allan. It was then in England where Poe began attending school and was then first exposed to the style of Gothic at the time. He later returned to America to continue his studies.
Edgar Allan Poe attended the University of Virginia in 1826, at the age of 17 at the time. Even as wealthy as his stepfather was, they supported him with only a third of tuition leaving Poe to fund the rest. As successful as Edgar Allan was in French and Latin, he drank heavily which landed him in debt, thus leading to him dropping out of the University of Virginia in less than a year. With no Job, not very much support and no skills Poe was left to make it on his own. Poe did what many young Americans with no skills or no job would do, He joined the US ARMY in 1827.
At the age of 18 he was already able to have his first Volume of



Cited: Poe, Edgar Allan. "The Cask Of Amontillado." Works of Edgar Allan Poe -- Volume 2. 74-79. n.p.: Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, 2006. Literary Reference Center. Web. 27 Mar. 2013. Minor, Mark. "Biography Of Edgar Allan Poe." Critical Insights: The Poetry Of Edgar Allan Poe (2010): 8-12. Literary Reference Center. Web. 27 Mar. 2013. May, Charles E. "THE TALES AND THEIR AUTHOR: Biography Of Edgar Allan Poe." Critical Insights: The Tales Of Edgar Allan Poe (2010): 8-14. Literary Reference Center. Web. 27 Mar. 2013. May, Charles E. "Edgar Allan Poe." Critical Survey Of Mystery & Detective Fiction, Revised Edition (2008): 1-5. Literary Reference Center. Web. 27 Mar. 2013. Merriman, C. D. "Edgar Allan Poe." The Literature Network N.p., 2006. Web. 21 Nov. 2009. <http://www.online-literature.com/poe/>.

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