I have to do a project and i was wondering if anyone knew of how Poe's life was related to his works of A Tell Tale Heart. If anyone knows or has links to a page, or even knows of a book i can get information from please let me know. Thankyou.

-- Anonymous, January 19, 2003

Answers

Poe eventually developed a heart condition and linked to his own hypersensitivity may have given him insights for the story. The danger here is identifying the character with Poe instead of Poe's experiences giving credibility to the plot and character development. People will insist on that naive identification no matter what. See www.eapoe.org for his poem on being treated for his irregular heartbeat(long after this tale was written) and numerous other dark romantic types as protagonists in other stories. "The Imp of the Perverse" or the irresistible temptation to ruin oneself by a destructive act then confessing seems more a Poe essay but may also be another exagerration for the purpose of fiction.

Certainly Poe was not insane and did not kill anyone.

-- Anonymous, January 20, 2003