15. Edgar Allan Poe’s macabre tales were borne of genuine mental illness
Perhaps Baltimore’s most famous resident, Edgar Allan Poe (1809-49) produced a wonderful literary oeuvre which contains much-loved poems, such as The Raven, and the world’s first detective story, The Murders in the Rue Morgue. Elements of his work, such as the doomed House of Usher, and the pendulum in the nightmarish Pit and the Pendulum, still occupy the darkest corners of Western cultural consciousness. Though largely ignored in his native United States, Poe was an instant hit in Europe, and especially France, where his biggest fans included none other than Charles Baudelaire. Sadly, though, he died in poverty in Baltimore.
Poe suffered from depression, earning him the nickname of ‘the man who never smiles’. Consistent with bipolar disorder, to his loved ones he was ever-indulgent, but to those who criticized his work he was combative and intolerant. His stubborn attempts to make a living from his self-acclaimed writing alone, as well as his hatred of criticism, are also consistent with being bipolar. ‘I do believe God gave me a spark of genius’, conceded Poe, ‘but He quenched it in misery’. Nonetheless, it is easy to see how his poor mental health helped to colour and create his wonderfully macabre literature.
