Edgar Allen Poe

Paper Summary:

This paper takes a look at the life and work of Edgar Allen Poe, focusing on his works where the plot included a protagonist that is buried alive. According to the paper, being buried alive was a very controversial topic of the time.

From the Paper:

"Berenice," another one of Poe's stories that shows signs of premature burial, starts off with the main character, Egaeus, describing his childhood and also making mention of his cousin Berenice. Egaues is in poor health as he suffers a mental disorder and so is Berenice who suffers from a physically deteriorating disease. One day while meditating in the library where his mother died, Egaeus, now engaged to Berenice becomes fascinated with her teeth. Several days pass and Egaeus cannot take his mind off Berenice's teeth. After receiving word that Berenice is dead, Egaeus visited her grave and with the physicians instruments in hand. While at her grave she begins to move and the bandage on her mouth broke, Egaeus took this as an opportunity to remove all thirty-two of Berenice's teeth. A servant finds him back at the library with his clothing all messy and muddy, and tells him that he heard screams the night before, the box with Berenice's teeth then falls to the floor and exposes his crime. This story shows the death of a loved one, a tragedy that happened to Poe himself so many times throughout his life. Poe was continuously loosing his lovers to death. First was Mrs. Standard and in the end Virginia. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Alexander, Mark. "The Rigid Embrace of Narrow House': Premature Burial & the Signs of Death." The Hastings Center Report 10.3 (1980) 25-31. JSTOR. 12 Sept. 2006 <http://www.jstor.org/search>
• Bailey, J.O. "What Happens in the Fall of the House of Usher." American Literature 35.4 (1964) 445-466. JSTOR. 24 Nov. 2006 <http://www.jstor.org/search>
• Baraban, Elena V. "The Motive for Murder in the Cask of Amontillado." Rocky Mountain Review of Languages and Literature 58.2 (2004) 47-62. JSTOR. 12 Sept 2006 <http://www.jstor.org/search>
• Brown, Arthur A. "Literature and the Impossibility of Death: Poe's Berenice." Nineteenth-Century Literature 50.4 (1996) 448-463. JSTOR. 16 Sept 2006 <http://www.jstor.org/search>
• Rein, David M. "Poe's Dreams" American Quarterly 10.3 (1958) 367-371. JSTOR. 9 Sept 2006 <http://www.jstor.org/search>

More papers on Edgar Allen Poe:

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• Analytical Essay # 40036 : "The Darkness Within: Imagining Edgar Allen Poe"
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• Analytical Essay # 8827 : "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allen Poe"

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