imaginarycircus: sineadpersaud: For the post Halloween…
For the post Halloween blues….watch A Tell Tale Vlog all over again from the beginning?!!!
I love things that are absurd. This series does a wonderful job of piercing the over seriousness with which Poe’s work is often approached. It’s respectful in a tongue in cheek way, but also portrays a side of Poe that I think might be more accurate than a direct approach. Yes. It is satire. But let’s look at Poe’s lie. He was basically an orphan by age two. He was adopted by a very wealth family, educated—and then estranged from them at age 18. He became an alcoholic and was kind of a mess until he died at age 40 under extremely odd circumstances. The man was found dying on the streets of Baltimore wearing someone else’s clothes. He was never able to explain what had happened and died four days later.
His wife was 13 when they married and she was his cousin. They lied and said she was 16. And then she died of TB in her 20s. For all his gothic seriousness—this man’s life was absurd and seemingly anguished. But he inspired his fellow cadets at West Point to take up a collection to help him publish a volume of poetry. On the other hand he got himself court marshalled so he could leave the army. He accused Longfellow of plagiarism. His career was all over the place. I think his stories are just as odd and uncomfortable as his life was.
I think the part I love most is how the funniest lines are practically whispered. I mean, he just throws them away, like he’s making asides to himself, and that just makes it funnier.
Reposted from http://lies.tumblr.com/post/65767883500.
