Edgar Allan Poe: Strange Dreamer or True Genius?
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Edgar Allan Poe has been seen by critics as either a poet who wrote nonsense about fantasy lands and lived to dream, or as one who’s writing did have much deeper implications. The first opinion could be backed by the course of his life which contained much tragedy and hardship. Some say this factor contributed to him only wanting to write about ventures into a place far from reality. The second opinion claims that Poe, through use of his poetry, aimed to stir the imagination of man in order for an active realization to occur of a more intricate universe, ultimately obliterating material thoughts. Poe tended to expect more from human existence than just life on earth. He believed in the idea that the reality humans see in life is just a distraction from true reality. Poe redefined all existence and reality as the “Ideal” (Eddings 6), and denied the limitations of time and space. Poe creates a paradox by naming the physical world a dream while portraying the world of sleep as a glimpse of true reality (6). Also, by using literary tools such as images and figurative language, Poe represents how dreams unlock unconscious states of the mind (Ljungquist). As opposed to the first, the second opinion gives Poe much more credit as a writer. Although both can be supported with substantial proof, only one analysis of the poetry of Edgar Allan Poe makes more sense as to why he became obsessed with the world of sleep.
The tragic and depressing stages of the life of Edgar Allan Poe could have influenced him to think and write in a gothic or unrealistic state of mind. Born early in 1809, Poe was orphaned during his third year, along with