Introduction: This explosive period in literature, which happens to be my favourite, was a direct and intense reaction to the "sensibility" and "rationalism" of the Age of Enlightenment. Writers in this period gloried in the beauty of wild, untamed and pure nature... and in the complexities of the human mind itself. Sometimes dark, always emotional and very evocative. Ah, this time period was passion: raw, painful and sometimes self-destructive passion. Everything in the arts, if it be musical or artistic or literary, was intense. And this intensity, which is most pronounced in the gifted, could push some over the edge...
Locations: The Life and Death of Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) What Romantic tour would be complete without him! He is the perfect example of the tortured genius. Our first location will be where he was born in 1809: Carver Street, Boston, Massachusets (yes, he was American). His father abandoned the family when Poe was one, and his mother died of consumption (TB) when he was two. In this location, a museum for him (like in many places he lived in) has been built. The second location we visit will be the University of Virginia, founded by Thomas Jefferson, where Poe started studying languages in 1826. At that time, the university was in total chaos, with a high dropout rate. Poe's gambling debts and excessive drinking finally caught up with him: having no money for schooling, he left after attending for one year. It's here that we can grab lunch. Sadly, for the next location we must fast-forward over his troubled and anguished life (which included time in the army, lost love, family deaths, writing, more debt, disownment, court-martialling, more death, alcohilism, incest, popularity, two marriages and an engagement, and penury) to the streets of Baltimore. It was on those streets, in October of 1839, that Poe was found delirious and incoherent... and not in his own clothes. There is a memorial where he was found. Our last location in his life will be, strangely, where he died: Washington College Hospital on Broadway and Fayette Street. Many theories exist on the causes of death: suicide, murder, delerium tremens (caused by alcohol), heart disease, epilepsy, meningeal inflammmation and rabies. We can eat supper at the Raven's Perch along the same road that the great Edgar Allan Poe breathed his last, and discuss the links between the literature and art of the Romantic Period.
Above: Edgar Allan Poe suffered from Manic Depression
Above: Edgar Allan Poe's Birth Memorial
Above: The Memorial in Baltimore
Mrs W (I'm nervous of commenting on your Literary Time Travellers blog, being the only one doing so, so I'll comment on mine :))
ReplyDeleteAbout the Phantasmorgia movie... not sure if its a good one or not, since I've never seen it: but I know, from interviews, that Marilyn Manson is a VERY smart guy. I'm not a fan of his music, and he derives his philosophy from Alistair Crowley(*snorts*)and Nietzche, but the man is genius-level clever. I find myself agreeing with a few things he says. Nevertheless, if the movie's horrible or gruesome, I'd hate to lower myself in your esteem... so I'm covering myself, basically.
Best
E
Hi Emma, don't worry about my esteem of you. I have a very high and sensitive regard for your own particular 'tortured-genius', your intellectual honesty, and your constantly active perspicacity. I think we should both watch PHANTASMAGORIA and then have a chat about it. I don't really believe in not venturing into unknown intellectual or artistic territory simply because 'it might be offensive' (thanks to Shelley's PROMETHEUS UNBOUND and Milton's PARADISE LOST). I would never have the love affair with English Literature I do have if that were the case!! As to MM, I value your comments. My opinion is not based on any fact, merely impression, so I shall duly go and do some research on the man, acknowledging that persona and person are not the same thing. Don't know much about Alistair Crowley (name is familiar, why? - or Nietzche, sadly.) Love what you have done with EAP: he was so dark, and yet another manic depressive genius. See you tomorrow. Keep following your curiosity: down the rabbit hole you go! Mrs W
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ReplyDeleteThanks for the reassurances: they are appreciated! Re MM: interviews are the best place to see his better side (which I first discovered in BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE, in which he featured). I will gladly watch the P movie: rumour is that Johnny Depp is the mad hatter. Alistair Crowley was a supposed magician, mysticist and his catchphrase was "Do what thou wilst"... he was also known as the Most Evil Man Alive. Frederich Nietzche was one of the fathers of existentialism: his philosophy was what the Nazis deformed to their own purposes... Social Darwinism. My favourite quote of him is: "The higher you soar, the smaller you appear to those who cannot fly." Hope this helps, and keeps you interested... I know we both love Lewis Carrol! See you tomorrow: I will be busy diving down that rabbit hole, head first.
E
Hi Emma, thanks for all that info and that stunning quote (I relate very well to it, having always been thought 'a little odd' by most people!) One of Nietzche's other quotes that I HAVE come across, and is a favourite of mine, is: "You need chaos in your soul to give birth to a dancing star." Bring on the chaos! Mrs W
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