Video: The Passion of Edgar Poe: A Writer's Marriage to a 12-Year-Old Cousin
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
The life of creative people can hardly be called boring. They always get into some kind of trouble, have their own oddities or inclinations. So, the writer Edgar Poe was known not only for his works, but also for his life, accompanied by scandals. One of them was the love of the writer and his marriage to a 12-year-old cousin.
Edgar Poe grew up in a family of adoptive parents. He was never denied anything, so he was a very spoiled child. When the future writer grew up, he led a wild life and often found himself in delicate situations. The stepfather constantly paid off the gambling debts of his adopted son. But when he once again did not want to get Edgar out of the alteration, he, offended, moved to live with his aunt in Baltimore.
Mrs. Clemm happily accepted her nephew, despite the fact that she could barely make ends meet with two children in her arms. It was then that 26-year-old Edgar Poe developed a love for his 12-year-old cousin Virginia. The girl blossomed quickly, turning into a pretty girl, and the writer begged her aunt to consent to marriage with her daughter. Mrs. Clemm yielded to him, but on the condition that Edgar will enter into intimate intimacy with Virginia only when the girl reaches physiological maturity.
All relatives were against this union, so the marriage between the lovers was concluded secretly on September 22, 1835. The only witness was Mrs. Clemm and the priest. The credibility of the incident is confirmed by a mark in the municipal register.
As for Virginia herself, the girl wanted to be as important a married lady as she saw around her. But the girl could not understand why her wedding did not correspond to the magnificent receptions that always accompany such events, and why everything should be kept secret.
After some time, Edgar Poe married his wife again, but now openly. The news that the writer was dependent on his aunt aroused sympathy among the relatives, so they often sent Mrs. Klemm money. Over time, they would still have learned about the wedding of Edgar and Virginia and realized that they were simply deceived. Therefore, on May 16, 1836, another ceremony took place. But here, too, Poe had to resort to trickery. In one of the municipal books there is a record that Miss Virginia E. Clemm has reached the age of 21, although in fact the girl was no more than 14. Edgar Poe and his aunt convinced officials that the girl simply looked young.
After the wedding, Edgar Poe finally found peace. Family life was like an idyll: when he walked down the street, she called out to him from the window and waved her hand. In the evenings, Poe read his writings to Virginia. But happiness cannot last forever. Virginia contracted tuberculosis. With each new attack of his wife, Edgar Poe's psyche was shaken more and more. He ran as fast as he could to the doctor, and he did not know who to help first: a consumptive wife or a distraught husband. The writer began to drink, literary activity did not bring a constant income, and the family was in need. Sometimes Virginia would lie chilly on the straw mattress, hugging the cat, Edgar warming her arms, and Mrs. Clemm's legs.
When Virginia died, Edgar Poe survived her by only a couple of years. He would not have held out to them if it had not been for the parental care of Mrs. Clemm. She literally nursed a sleep-deprived writer. But Edgar Poe was never able to recover from the loss of his wife until the very end. The sudden death of Edgar Poe still remains a mystery, over the solution of which historians are struggling to this day.
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