Poe and Virginia

The relationship between Edgar Allan Poe and Virginia Clemm has been speculated by many biographers for many years; multiple theories about whether Poe saw Virginia in a more platonic manner than wifely are the most common.

Edgar Allan Poe and Virginia Clemm were first cousins and got married in 1835 when Virginia was only 12 years old. Poe was 27 and loved Virginia dearly, he’d met his cousin in 1831 when he left his foster father John Allan to move into the Clemm house. Over the course of Poe’s early years at the Clemm house, a dependent nature would soon arise in Poe thanks to Virginia. The Clemm family provided Poe with a place in which he could work on becoming a successful writer, but also gave him the loving and supporting family he’d been seeking all his life. Virginia especially was very fond of Poe.

In 1832 Poe became smitten by a neighbor named Mary Devereaux and had Virginia become the messenger between the two; the young Virginia, of course was all too happy to be of assistance to her busy cousin. It’s not really known when Poe’s feeling for Virginia became romantic, but around 1835 Poe had began exchanging letters with Maria Clemm, (Virginia’s mother) about marrying Virginia and moving the family out to Richmond. It was also around 1835 when Poe wrote the short story “Berenice,” a horrid tale about Egaeus, a rather sickly boy who grew up in a mansion with a gloomy, solitary

temperament. Egaeus soon became enamored with his cousin, Berenice. He was planning to marry her unfortunately, Berenice begins to fall ill to a unknown disease. As her body deteriorated the only thing that remained healthy were her teeth leading Egaeus to become obsessed with them. Egaeus soon starts to have vivid fantasies about acquiring the pristine teeth and eventually succumbs to his own twisted desires, ripping the teeth from Berenice’s corpse with dentist equipment, only to wake up from what he thought was another dream to find it as reality.   

“....and then his tones grew thrillingly distinct as he whispered me of a violated grave — of a disfigured body discovered upon its margin — a body enshrouded, yet still breathing, still palpitating, still alive! ...He directed my attention to some object against the wall — I looked at it for some minutes — it was a spade. With a shriek I bounded to the table, and grasped the ebony box that lay upon it. But I could not force it open, and in my tremor it slipped from out my hands, and fell heavily, and burst into pieces, and from it, with a rattling sound, there rolled out some instruments of dental surgery, intermingled with many white and glistening substances that were scattered to and fro about the floor.”

I find the story to be quite interesting considering it was written a few months before Poe married Virginia. The main character’s name Egaeus sounds oddly familiar to Edgar, and what is even more convincing is that he becomes enamored with his cousin, even planning to marry her, until she falls ill. The story of “Berenice” is almost an exact mirror to Poe’s own life with Virginia. It’s almost as if Poe had predicted Virginia’s fall to tuberculosis. Egaeus was unable to control the dark and carnal monster within himself from taking the teeth from Berenice’s corpse. It is highly possible that Poe wrote this piece while thinking of his own affections and maybe guilt for having such romantic feelings for Virginia when she was such a young age.

Poe himself had already moved to Richmond, Virginia to take a job with the Southern Literary Messenger. However Poe soon caught wind of Neilson Poe, (another cousin of his) offering to take Virginia away from the Clemm family in an attempt to prevent her marriage to Edgar at such a young age. Suggesting that, even for the 1800’s Virginia was considered rather young for marriage. This would later be proven true when Virginia’s age was changed from 12 to 21 on her and Poe’s marriage certificate.

However it also wasn't that odd to marry a first cousin back in the 1800’s. The practice of people marrying their first and second cousins had been around since as early as 500 AD with an estimated 80% of marriages in human history being between first and second cousins. It wasn't uncommon at all for royal linage to marry their cousins in order to keep the bloodline pure ,and the practice only fell out in the US and England around 1860; a somewhat 30 years after Poe’s marriage to Virginia. In fact, Charles Darwin, the inventor of Natural Selection himself, was married to his first cousin Emma Wedgwood. The practice however most likely fell out of favor in the US thanks to its poor reputation as something immigrants or poor people did, and it’s higher increased risks for birth defects in the children of married cousins.

After hearing the news of Neilson's plan, Poe considered him to be his “bitterest enemy” and interpreted his cousin’s actions as an attempt at breaking his connection with Virginia. Falling quickly into depression, Poe became distraught over the idea of losing Virginia, writing to Maria Clemm begging her not to let Virginia go. Poe even wrote to Virginia in the letter addressed to Maria, his words were filled with panic and despair, the deep love and dependence he’d developed for Virginia ingraining themselves in his words.

“For Virginia,

My love, my own sweetest Sissy, my darling little wifey, think well before you break the heart of your Cousin, Eddy.

I open this letter to enclose the 5$ — I have just received another letter from you announcing the rect. of mine. My heart bleeds for you. Dearest Aunty consider my happiness while you are thinking about your own. I am saving all I can. The only money I have yet spent is 50 cts for washing — I have 2.25 left. I will shortly send you more. Write immediately. I shall be all anxiety & dread until I hear from you. Try and convince my dear Virga. how devotedly I love her.

Kiss her for me —— a million times”

E A P.

- Letter to Maria Clemm & Virginia Clemm August 29th 1835

In the letter, Poe talks about saving up money to support Virginia, and refers to her as sissy, wifey and cousin. Many biographers have suggested because of this, Poe and Virginia’s relationship was more akin to that of a brother and sister rather than a husband and wife. However in my opinion, based off Poe’s letters, actions and poems/short stories, he loved Virginia with not only the affection of a brother, but also with the passionate devotion of a lover and husband.

I think Poe saw Virginia as a cousin, sister and wife, the ultimate soul mate who he could give all his affections to, in just not a wifely, or sisterly manner but both. Virginia truly provided Poe with the support, home and love he’d been missing his entire life. Feeling alone in the world since the death of his parents when he was only 2 years old, it doesn't actually come off as too surprising that Poe would need someone like Virginia in his life. He was completely devoted to Virginia even after her death, and continued to obsessively look for a replacement for her in the later years of his life.

A question that one might feel vulgar asking oneself is “Would Poe’s marriage to Virginia be considered pedophilia?” Most would shy away from the question, but I was genuinely curious as to the answer.

Some scholars, including Marie Bonaparte, have read many of Poe's works and have concluded that Virginia died a virgin. It has been speculated that she and her husband never consummated their marriage. This interpretation often stems from Poe’s poem “Annabel

Lee” written by Poe in 1849 in the last year of his life after Virginia's death. Virginia is obviously the one represented by the title character in the poem "Annabel Lee", Poe’s last gift to Virginia from her grave. The poem talks about the “maiden” Annabel Lee who lived by a kingdom near the sea with her lover. However she eventually grew ill and died leaving her lover all alone. The Poem is a representation of Virginia’s illness and death, Poe being the lover left alone at the grave of the beautiful Annabel Lee.

“And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side

Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,

  In her sepulchre there by the sea—

  In her tomb by the sounding sea.”

Poe dubs Annabel Lee as being a “maiden”. The word maiden most commonly means a young girl or woman who is pure, which could support the earlier statement of Poe never consummating his marriage with Virginia.

Poe biographer Joseph Wood Krutch,suggests that “Poe did not need women in the way that normal men need them", but only as a source of inspiration and care, and that Poe was never interested in women sexually. Poe was quoted as saying in a letter to John R. Thompson that, “Women have been angels of mercy to me, and have tenderly led me from the verge of ruin while men stood aloof and mocked. [[. . .]]” Poe also spent the remaining years of his life after Virginia’s death looking for a feminine soul mate in which to end his life with. Both of these examples could support Krutch’s theory, however  friends of Poe have been documented as saying that the couple did not share a bed for at least the first two years of their marriage, but after Virginia turned 16, her and Poe had a "normal" married life. This which could suggest they did end up consummating the marriage and that maybe the word “maiden” used in “Annabel Lee” was just that; a word.

In my opinion, Poe had a finer appreciation for most women than the average man, having lost so many motherly figures growing up, he was more sensitive to the heart of a women; however I don’t believe he was asexual or anything of the sort. Most of the women Poe pursued before and after Virginia were actually much older than him. When he was 15 Poe had lost his first love Mrs. Jane Stith Craig Stanard. Mrs. Stanard died on April 28, 1824, supposedly of brain cancer. She was an eccentric women and later prone to bouts of insanity no doubt the symptoms of her disease. Poe had met her through a classmate and was enamored with her. Struck with a case of first love,

Sarah Helen Whitman another older woman who Poe pursued much later in life wrote about Poe’s first love: "This lady, on entering the room, took [Poe's] hand and spoke some gentle and gracious words of welcome, which so penetrated the heart of the orphan boy as to deprive him of the power of speech, and, for a time, almost of consciousness itself." Poe himself wrote to Whitman that Mrs. Stanard was "the first purely ideal love of my soul."

However Poe’s love for Mrs. Standard was more akin to that of puppy love in my opinion. Mrs. Standard was twice his age and a married women. Poe being an orphan most likely saw her as more of a motherly figure to comfort him; Maria Clemm Poe’s aunt later wrote about the relationship, "It is true dear Eddie did love Mrs. Stannard with all the affection devotion of a son. When he was unhappy at home he went to her for sympathy, and she always consoled and comforted him."

Through a physiological standpoint, Poe had lost his mother at such a young age that he was probably looking for a women to fill that role most of the time. This attitude could be akin to the Freudian theory of a son desiring his mother.

Ultimately because of this I don’t consider Poe’s relationship with Virginia to be pedophilia but rather a more pure love. Virginia was out of the norm for Poe’s normal romantic targets, she was special, providing Poe with a sister, cousin, and loving wife, which may seem like an odd statement but when we look at other literature of the same time period like “A Doll’s House” a play by Henrik Ibsen created in 1879, a somewhat 50 years after Virginia and Poe’s marriage, we can see almost the same outlook between Nora and Torvald. When Torvald refers to Nora as “Not only his wife but his child now.” It makes me feel like this attitude was more common place back in the 1800’s. It seemed to be more common and accepted

for women to play the roles of more than just a wife for their husbands. Men wanted to take care of their women in every way possible, paternally and romantically.

Poe especially was very attached to Virginia, taking it upon himself to educate her personally in the classics and mathematics even teaching her how to play the flute. Virginia excelled during singing and piano lessons, developing a beautiful voice. Poe once wrote to a friend, "I see no one among the living as beautiful as my little wife." Poe was extremely devoted to Virginia in this way leading me to believe that his love for Virginia was far less psychical until she turned 16.

Virginia and Poe were by all accounts a happy and devoted couple. Poe's one-time employer, George Rex Graham wrote of their relationship: "His love for his wife was a sort of rapturous worship of the spirit of beauty." Poe loved Virginia dearly and wanted to keep her by his side always, which could be another reason for him marrying her at such a young age; with Virginia married to Poe he could keep her as his own and throw away his worries of Virginia being taken away from him by his cousin Neilson Poe.

Virginia in turn, nearly idolized her husband, calling Poe affectionately by the name of “Eddie,” while he in turn dubbed her “Sissy”. She often sat close to him while he wrote, keeping his pens in order, and folding and addressing his manuscripts to the proper publishing houses. Virginia would later show her love for Poe in an acrostic Valentine poem she composed in 1846, a year before her death on January 30th 1847.

    Ever with thee I wish to roam —

Dearest my life is thine.

Give me a cottage for my home

And a rich old cypress vine,

Removed from the world with its sin and care

And the tattling of many tongues.

Love alone shall guide us when we are there —

Love shall heal my weakened lungs;

And Oh, the tranquil hours we'll spend,

Never wishing that others may see!

Perfect ease we'll enjoy, without thinking to lend

Ourselves to the world and its glee —

Ever peaceful and blissful we'll be.

Ultimately, it is really up to interpretation on whether Poe and Virginia’s relationship was of a sexual nature or not. However I do believe that no matter what the case was, they loved each other very intensely and devotedly. Many of Poe’s works such as “The Raven”, “Annabel Lee” and “Berenice” were inspired and from Virginia, involving a young women dying from sickness and leaving her lover behind. After Virginia’s death, A friend of Poe’s, Charles Burr, wrote, “Many times, after the death of his beloved wife, was he found at the dead hour of a winter night, sitting beside her tomb almost frozen in the snow.” Virginia’s death brought Poe to the brink of madness, the despair he experienced during and after her death unlocked the potential in him to explore the macabre of the human psyche like no one before or after him. I truly believe Virginia shaped Poe into the greatest gothic writer in history.

“But we loved with a love that was more than love—

  I and my Annabel Lee— “

“But our love it was stronger by far than the love

  Of those who were older than we—

  Of many far wiser than we—

And neither the angels in Heaven above

  Nor the demons down under the sea

Can ever dissever my soul from the soul

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;”

Link to “Annabell Lee” https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/44885

Link to “Berenice” https://www.eapoe.org/works/tales/bernicea.htm