Edgar Allan Poe Alcoholic

So, I’m pretty sure we all know the great Edgar Allan Poe. The mysterious, and deadly writer Poe. Now, there is many well thought out reasons on how he died. In my case, it is obvious this will never be solved completely.

Edgar Allan Poe indeed was an alcoholic. He admitted this in his letters to his wife Virginia, and there are many reports to prove he drank alcohol way too much. According to the Biography of Poe called “Poe’s Final Days” written by Kenneth Silverman, Silverman states that Poe refused to live with his own family in Philadelphia because he was “abusive and ungrateful” when drunk (185). That proves that Poe knew he was an alcoholic, and didn’t know to handle himself when he was drunk. Also, Silverman states that Poe got sent to Washington Medical College, and Medical students, nurses and other physicians noticed there was something odd about him (185). While Poe was there he saw things, talk constantly, was very sweaty most of his stay and got abusive and violent with the nurses that tried to keep him in bed (185-186).
According to the researcher and writer of “Poe’s Death is Rewritten as Case of Rabies, Not Telltale Alcohol” Dr. R Michael Benitez believes it was because of rabies. Dr. Benitez states in his article that Poe was indeed hallucinating, and shouting at imaginary companions (187-188). Also, when woken up one day Poe refused to drink alcohol and could only drink water with great difficulty (187). Dr. Benitez also states that is a common case of rabies because “Rabies victims frequently exhibit hydrophobia or a fear for water because it is painful to swallow” (187). Poe didn’t know where he was, and couldn’t remember anything as well. Dr. Benitez also states when Poe came to him he was not drunk, and there was no evidence of him being bitten. Statistics show that most human rabies victims do not remember being bitten, and bites takes about a year to appear