David and Elizabeth died before Poe turned three, and he was separated from his siblings Henry and Rosalie. He was sent to live with a wealthy tobacco merchant, John Allan in Richmond, Virginia. John Allan and his wife, Frances, sent Poe to many good schools where he excelled academically and raised him to become a successful businessman. However, Poe did not want to become a Virginia business gentleman. He dreamed of becoming a writer, and there is even evidence of his early poetry written on the back of Allan’s ledger sheets (Edgar Allan Poe Museum). This caused much conflict between Poe and Allan that remained evident until Allan’s death in 1834. The most extreme example of how Allan would not support Poe’s aspirations is when Poe started at the University of Virginia in 1826. Poe excelled academically and was a promising student, but was at risk of being dismissed due to a lack of funding. Allan had sent Poe with only one-third of the money he needed. He lived in what was almost poverty, and was even known to burn furniture to keep warm during the winter. In an effort to stay at the university Poe resorted to gambling, only to acquire more debt in the process. He was forced to move back to Richmond before completing a full term. To make matters worse, Poe returned home to find his fiancée, Elmira Royster, engaged to another man (Edgar Allan Poe Museum). The …show more content…
It all started with the death of his mother in 1811, due to tuberculosis. The empty maternal role in his life was quickly filled, however, by his adoptive mother Frances. The two were known to be very close while Poe lived with the Allans, having bonded under the controlling patriarch John Allan. Although she did not physically die, Poe also lost the love of his first fiancée, Elmira, to another man. Later in his life he lost his wife, Virginia, to tuberculosis. After all of these losses, it is no wonder that Poe was wracked with such extreme grief that it presented itself in his obsession with the deaths of young beautiful women in his literature. This theme is so reoccurring in his works that it has become one of the most well-known characteristics of his publications. The most famous and clear example of this is his poem Annabel Lee. This poem is told from the perspective of Annabel’s husband, who is heavily lamenting the death of his wife. It starts with telling of how powerful, eternal, and deep their love for one another was. The narrator even goes as far to say; “The angels, not half so happy in heaven,/ went envying her and me-/ Yes!- that was the reason (as all mean know,/ in this kingdom by the sea)/ that the wind came out of the cold by night,/ chilling and killing my Annabel Lee (Poe)” stating that their love was so great that she had