Культурология. Горелова А.В - 27 стр.

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3.2. Edgar Allan Poe
America has had few geniuses as extraordinary as Edgar Allan Poe. His
poetry has had а haunting effect on readers for more than а century. Не wrote
stories of such strange imagination that there has seldom been anything like
them before or since. And he has been called the creator of the mystery story.
The First Misfortune. Poe was а child of misfortune from the time he
was born. His first misfortune was that his parents were actors. In 1809, the year
of his birth, there was still а strong feeling in the United States that the theater
was sinful - and that the actors who appeared on stage were wicked, too.
Рое's mother came to America from England. She was а gentle person
with some talent for acting. His father was from what was called а "good"
family, his grandfather was а respected citizen who had taken part in the
American War for Independence. It was considered shameful that Edgar's father
was attracted to the theater аnd joined а traveling company of actors. And the
shame became even worse - he married one of the actresses in the company.
The Second Misfortune. Рое's father deserted his wife and children about
а year after Edgar was born and he died а few months later. When Poe was only
two years old, his mother also died, alone and penniless in Richmond, Virginia.
Mrs. Allan, well known in Richmond society, happened to hear of the mother' s
death and decided to adopt the child. The Allans were one of the prominent
families of Richmond. Proud and rich, and with strict standards, they rejected
anyone who disagreed with them or was unacceptable according to their rules.
Although it may seem that Mrs. Allan rescued Рое from neglect and oblivion,
some researchers say that this was his second misfortune.
At first, it seemed Edgar’s good fortune to be adopted by the Allan
family: he would have a secure and gracious home; he would have the money
and time to develop his talent, he would have education and all the advantages
of the well-born, along with the privileges of a gentleman. But it didn’t work
out this way. To begin with, although Mrs. Allan brought the baby home and
proceeded to treat him as her own son, her husband hesitated to complete the
formal requirements for adoption. John Allan was a cautious merchant, a wait-
and-see type, and so Edgar Poe never became Edgar Poe Allan, but remained
Edgar Allan Poe – the name he was given when the Allans took him into their
home.
The child was brilliant from the beginning. It is possible that with his
keen mind he could have become one of the most influential persons of his place
and time. But even as а child, when he played games with other children, they
had а terrible advantage: they could treat him as an inferior. To be adopted but
not really adopted, and to have been born of traveling actors — this made young
Edgar barely acceptable to the children he played with. They had been told of
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