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A Brief History of Edgar Allan Poe

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In Poe’s creative works he shows all the tendencies towards a movement which our century has come to know as expressionism. “Poe’s comments on production and acting were equally thoughtful and far in advance of the practices in the theaters in his days”. (Fagin 120) He objected to the changing and rehanging of the characters on stage, from them coming down the footlights when important relaying of communication were supposed to be made; to private letters being read in the same loud tone. He basically objected to the entire style of how the theater would go about the play, stories and show. That was his reason for welcoming and incorporating innovations in realistic staging by creating the illusion of real life scenario. He considered real life objects like a chandelier capable of saving or salvaging a bad play like Boucicault's London assurance which had surprisingly survived five hundred performances. Professor Odell who was an analyst of the New York stage once remarked and commented on Poe’s reviewed fashion, stating that one of his works fashion was that of breaking a butterfly on the wheel. Fagin stated “Fashion was a huge success in 1845, was revived professionally as recently as 1929, and is still being played from time to time in our community and college theaters”.(121) It does not constitute a reflection on Poe’s judgment any more than the popular Abie's Irish Rose. It was a reflection on contemporary dramatic critic which nearly all of whom that this stage confection could hardly be called a specimen of high end drama. Neither was the effect of Poe’s other animadversions. It’s certain that one of Poe’s work, The Taming of the Shrew, survived, “in spite of Poe’s belief that all of Shakespeare’s comedy was” not only odd but completely impossible. (Fagin 121) It seemed that this comment or rather thought was expressed by the Virginia men of the 1840's which was more expressed by the dramatic cri

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