Edgar Allan Poe's struggle with substance abuse

Alcohol played a significant and rather unfortunate part in the life of Edgar Allan Poe. Riddled with misfortune, Poe was often in a state of emotional turmoil. From the deaths of his young wife to being shunned by his father, Poe’s life is almost as dark and ill-fated as his stories (which is likely because he portrayed himself in his writing). To deal with the endless tragedies, Poe was said to have fallen into both alcohol and drug abuse.

His first experience with alcohol is estimated to be around the age of 17; during this period of his life, he began accumulating large debts from gambling. One of his peers said: "He would always seize the tempting glass, generally unmixed with sugar or water - in fact, perfectly straight - and without the least apparent pleasure, swallow the contents, never pausing until the last drop had passed his lips.”. After his father heard of his behavior, he was sent to the military. But the downward spiral into alcoholism had already begun. During his time in the military, his beloved stepmother passed away.

After returning from the military and finding a job as an editor the troubles continued. Despite his respected literary works, he was fired for coming to work drunk on various occasions. It seems clear through Poe’s depictions of alcohol in his literature that he had understood the repercussions of his binge drinking. Several times throughout his life he attempted to quit drinking; his attempts were futile. Poe continued his endless cycle of binge drinking. These destructive habits ultimately resulted in his death. The death of Edgar Allan Poe is shrouded in mystery. After leaving for a supposed trip to New York, he was found drunk and unconscious on the streets of Baltimore. Once in a hospital he relapsed and died.

Through the examination of Edgar Allan Poe’s struggles with alcoholism, I feel I have gained a better understanding of the context of Poe’s work and his mindset when writing a lot of his literary works. I think that building this contextual understanding of Poe’s work will aid me in reading and analysing his poems in the future. I certainly don’t condone alcoholism; but, I think that the amplified sorrow, grief, and state of hopelessness that was, in part, due to substance abuse allowed Poe to elevate the frightfulness and dreadful atmosphere which was expressed in many of his works.