The Two Personalities of Edgar Allan Poe - 800 Words

The Two Personalities of Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most famous writers in the American literary world. His stories and poems are known for their gothic style and having the common theme of death. This is certainly seen in his short story â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado.† It is speculated by many that Poe suffered from the mental illness known as bipolar disorder. In a letter to James Russell Lowell, Poe said, â€Å"I am excessively slothful, and wonderfully industrious — by fits. There are epochs when any kind of mental exercise is torture, and when nothing yields me pleasure but solitary communion with the â€Å"mountains the woods† — the â€Å"altars† of Byron. I have thus rambled and dreamed away whole months, and awake, at last, to a†¦show more content†¦The mania stage is characterized by having inflated self-esteem, increased energy, increased talkativeness, and reckless behavior. (Healthline Editorial Team, and Kr ucik, MD, MDA) Fortunato displays an inflated self-esteem by thinking he was the best of the best when it came to wine tasting. â€Å"He prided himself on his connoisseurship in wine.† (Allan Poe 226) Throughout the story Fortunato is extremely talkative, even up until the end of his presence in the story, he doesn’t fall short of words. He displays reckless behavior by following Montresor deep into the catacomb and also with his excessive drinking. Montresor describes Fortunato by saying he is â€Å"†¦ respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as once I was. You are a man to be missed.† (Allan Poe 228) When someone is in a mania stage they can come across as happy and popular among their peers because of their optimistic, talkative traits. Montresor, on the other hand, displays some of the characteristics of someone suffering from a mixed stated. A mixed state, commonly seen only in type one bipolar disorder, is when a person has mania and depression si multaneously or has rapid switches from mania and depression throughout the day. Some of the mixed state symptoms Montresor displays are guilt, resentment, agitation, and feelings of worthlessness. In the opening line of the story Montresor says, â€Å"The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne asShow MoreRelatedThe Father Of The Detective Story1593 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"The Father of the Detective Story†: How Edgar Allan Poe Developed and Influenced the Detective Fiction Genre Edgar Allan Poe has become a household name in the literary world. His unique writing style has earned him much-deserved respect and recognition. Poe s poetry and short story oeuvre follows a consistent, melancholy theme of death and darkness that has captured and haunted readers for years (Baym, et al. 683). 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