Biographical background
Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston on January 19th 1809. Both of his parents were actors and this engagement required frequent traveling. Poe, his brother and sister lost both of their parents in the period between 1810 and 1811 and Poe was adopted by John and Frances Allan. Unlike his biological parents, they were wealthy and able to provide a comfortable life for young Poe. They took him to an educational journey to Scotland, Ireland and England where he attended school. They came back to the US and Poe went to university to study languages. This is the period in which disagreements between him and his foster parents, especially his foster father, begun. They escalated when John Allan refused to pay his gambling debts. After only one year of studying Poe joined the U.S Army and Military from which he was later dismissed. He went to Baltimore to live with his aunt and fell in love with his first cousin Virginia. The couple got married in 1835 when Virginia was only 13. Poe began to write when he was 15 and created ever since. During his marriage with Virginia he was very productive. He wrote for newspaper “Evening Mirror” and editor of “Broadway Journal”. He published his works including his famous poem “The Raven” which brought him fame and success. In 1840 his wife got sick from tuberculosis and died seven years later. During this period of time Poe started to drink and use drugs. After Virginia’s death his addictive behavior got worse. He was devastated and tried to commit suicide. Since this attempt was unsuccessful he tried to socialize and eventually married Elmira Royster Shelton. In 1849, after he was found in delirium on the street in Baltimore without any money, he was sent to hospital where he died 4 days later.
Psychosocial development
Since Poe’s biological parents died when he was very young, one of them during the first stage of psychosocial development, it is questionable whether his other parent was able to be responsive to the needs of the child. This is the period in which parents failed to instill confidence into young Poe, probably due to stress they were coping with. Child’s needs were neglected and he began to look at the world as an unreliable and hopeless place. His suicide attempt and self-destructive behavior can be associated to unsuccessful resolution of this stage. Since Poe turned to alcohol every time he had a problem, it is assumable that he had no self-control over such behavior. This indicates that he didn’t pass successfully through the second stage of his life. In this period of time he needed to adjust to the new environment and new parents. This distress resulted in developing feeling of shame and doubt in his capabilities. During the third stage of his life he was living with his foster parents and developed the feeling of quilt probably because they didn’t tolerate child’s play and didn’t engage too much in playing with him. This caused his frequent change of jobs (orientation toward meeting objectives). In the period of latency Poe was creating new social connections at school and became competent due to his high intelligence. It is obvious that he had identity crisis during adolescence since he first went to college and then decided to join the army. This wandering from one engagement to another indicates his search for personal identity. His young adulthood is characterized by his marriage and strong connection to his wife. This is the stage that Poe had passed successfully and developed a meaningful intimate relationship. During his middle adulthood he was very productive, particularly if his earlier work was taken into consideration. He created new sensational art but lost his loved one and due to earlier experiences and unresolved conflicts completely turned to alcohol. His self destruction came as a result of misfortunate childhood.
References
Erikson, E. H. (1998). The life cycle completed. Extended version with new chapters on the ninth stage by Joan M. Erikson. New York: Norton.
Quinn, A. H. (1997). Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography. JHUP.
