Death has always been an inevitable event that all of us are doomed to face. It is something that we cannot escape and we are all certain of its occurrence, however one thing that we are not certain of is the cause of death. A perfect example of this is Edgar Allan Poe’s death. Many theories have speculated about his tragic death and the two main causes of Poe’s deaths argued at the moment are death from rabies and death from alcoholism. Any individual could see both sides of the argument but the opinion with the disadvantage is that alcoholism was the cause of his death. For instance, the article “Poe’s Final Days” suggests “Poe may have been too drunk to care about protecting himself against the wind and rain”(Kenneth Silverman). This is …show more content…
Poe’s death explanation of rabies seems to fit in the mystery of his death. For example in the article “Poe’s Death is Rewritten as Case of Rabies, Not Telltale Alcohol” it claims, “Poe refused alcohol and could drink water only with water. Rabies victims frequently exhibit hydrophobia, or fear of water, because it is painful to swallow”(The New York Times). This is an exceptional piece of evidence as it shows a symptom of rabies and it matches Poe’s actions of his last days. This is also the only logical piece of evidence that works for it as alcohol intoxication wouldn’t work for it or any other theory in that matter. Poe is actually seem to displaying symptoms of Rabies in this moment. The same article also says “ After an infection, the symptoms can take up to a year to appear. But when the symptoms do appear, the disease is a swift and brutal killer. Most patients die in a few days”(The New York Times). This goes along with Edgar Allan Poe’s sudden death. Accounts seem to show he was fine in the last month but then abruptly Poe’s health declined and later died. The logic of the situation is proved for if Poe got the Rabies infection before where no one knew about it why he suddenly seemed ill. This also ties in with the article “ Rabies Death Theory” in which it claims “ … in the United States there have been 33 reported cases of human rabies, yet only 24 percent of these victims could recall an appropriate history of animal exposure”( The New York Times). This would explain why Poe had never mentioned a Rabies Bite and couldn’t recall such an event. The small percentage rate of people that remember Rabies bites would also explain why in Poe’s time period no one would suggest his death to cause of rabies. They only had limited knowledge back then but now with extensive research and experience, the medical field can better infer an individual's death.Proving that all evidence points towards Edgar
There have been many theories about the death of Edgar A. Poe. Many of these theories includes brain tumor, heart disease, flu, alcoholism, rabies, etc. The stories have been supported but, how accurate are they? Out of all the different theories, alcoholism and rabies are the most accurate ones. But, the most common and accurate one is that Edgar A. Poe died because of rabies.
Benitez backs his rabies theory up with irrefutable scientific evidence, also Pollin and Benedetto try to disprove the scientific evidence provided by Dr. Benitez with false information that portrays them as unreliable sources. This all seems to point to the idea that Poe died of rabies. With all of this evidence pointing towards Poe dying of rabies, it is very likely that this was the cause of his death, but nobody can know for sure, which seems fitting for the man who is responsible for every fright a scary movie will ever give you. This is why he is widely regarded as the father of the horror
Edgar Allan Poe was an all around admired poet, but very few tend to actually learning about what made his horrific stories come to life. Many can say it was the loss of loved ones, including his parents and his wife. Others will argue that it was under the influence of alcohol. Although the reasoning is not written on paper, there is a worldwide assumption that all of these more than likely played a key factor in his dark
Edgar Allan Poe once said “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary.” On September 28, 1849 Poe arrived in Baltimore but had disappeared and no one knew where he was for a couple of days. He was given money by John R. Thompson before his trip over to Baltimore from Richmond but when he was found sitting outside of Ryan’s Tavern, a saloon that at the time was also a polling place for the elections, he was found by Joseph Walker with no money on him and had seemed to be intoxicated and weak. Due to the fact that Poe was found outside of the saloon/polling center seemingly drunk and delirious, with no money, weak, and strange clothes, “cooping” can be viewed as the most plausible cause for his death.
Edgar Allan Poe’s genealogy is important to understand Edgar Allan Poe's paternal grandfather is David Poe. He was born in Ireland around 1743, and his parents moved to Pennsylvania. In Pennsylvania, he met and married Poe's grandmother, Elizabeth Cairnes. Elizabeth was born in 1756. They moved to Baltimore together and set up a store; when the American colonies started to revolt, he fought in the Revolutionary War for his country.
Another reason of why I believe he died of rabies is because Dr. Benitez reported him having a hard time drinking water or alcohol. In the New York Times article, he states, "In the brief period when he was calm and awake, Poe refused alcohol and could drink water only with great difficulty." This supports the idea that he suffered from hydrophobia, the fear of water. It was painful for Poe to swallow the water, and this suggests that he prefered to drink nothing. Severe Intoxication will not keep someone from being near water, nor can it cause intolerable pain when water is drunk, so his death must be something more than just a story of a belligerent drunk.
Although some people feel that Poe was killed by Rabies. Evidence:The text states, “ On his fourth day at the
This online article reviewed the many theories that surround the death of Edgar Allen Poe to date. The articled emphasized that the alcohol theory is the most commonly accepted cause of death recognized by majority of people. Even Poe’s good friend J.E. Snodgrass felt binge drinking caused his death. Other critics argued Poe was a victim of cooping, a practice that entailed bribing him with alcohol, thus forcing him to vote repeatedly in polling booths for a particular candidate, as Balitmore’s elections were notorious for political uproar and extortion. This would explain the conditions under which Poe was foundOthers suggested Poe died of other medical ailments ranging from brain tumors, heart disease, tuberculosis, rabies, epilepsy,
The reasons people believe Poe died from rabies is because in one of the letters Dr. Benitez says “Poe refused alcohol and could drink water only with great difficulty, rabies victims exhibit hydrophobia”. If Poe had been drinking he would have taken the alcohol, this shows he may have had something else. Another thing that Dr. Benitez said was “there was no evidence of a bite but some rabies victims don’t remember being bitten”. This shows that he could have been bitten a long time ago and couldn’t remember.
It is ironic that the creator of the mystery genre died in the most curious way. The death of Edgar Allan Poe on October 7, 1859 in Baltimore is one which stumps historians and professors to this day (Semtner). Was his extreme alcoholism the cause of his downfall? Was he beat to death by those whose works he criticized? Or was he simply ill; both mentally and physically?
While some symptoms Poe exhibited matched rabies, doctors did not know enough about the disease back in the 1800’s. Dr. Benitez even admits the faults in his theory, “Lack of evidence of a bite or scratch. In those days rabies was known as to causes and symptoms, including itching and other sensations that could affect an entire limb or side of the body. . . Catrina [Poe’s pet cat], who, uninfected and and showing no signs of rabies” (qtd. In Pollin and Benedetto 189).
We also know this because, there is no evidence saying there was scratches or any bites. Another textual evidence from the story was, ''Rabies was well known as to causes and symptoms, including itching and other sentations that affect limb side of the body''. We know this because the Doctors that was taking care of Poe couldn’t have missed a rash on him or him itching his limbs or an entire part of his body.
The author writes, “The disease had sharpened my senses - not destroyed - not dulled them.” (Poe, 1843) This text describes that the killer has a mental disorder. Poe also writes, “‘Villains!’ I shrieked, “dissemble no more” I admit the deed! - tear up the planks - here, here!
He used his life experiences in his works such as The Masque of the Red Death and The Black Cat. Though Poe had a few other works such as The Tell-Tale Heart and The Raven; they did not portray much of his life experiences and feelings like these ones did. Poe’s themes of death, insanity, and emotion through eyes in his works reflect the actual themes in his life. Death throughout Poe’s life has had an impact in his work. In reading several of his works, the reader sees him using his experiences within those works.
Poe wrote in the “Masque of the Red Death,” “The scarlet stains upon the body and especially upon the face of the victim, were the pest ban which shut him out from the aid and from the sympathy of his fellow-men,” (Poe 1). It goes to show to what length people will go to survive. In “The Cask of Amontillado”, Montresor's cellar represented the embodiment of death