The Conversation - How Edgar Allan Poe became a cult hero

Every time College of Charleston English professor Scott Peeples sees a tote bag or a T-shirt adorned with Edgar Allan Poe’s face, he wonders what the writer, who would have turned 214 years old this past week, would have thought about his status as pop culture phenom.

During his life, the ornery Poe accumulated a host of enemies. And most of his fictional characters – sociopathic, abusive, vengeful, neurotic and thin-skinned – aren’t exactly avatars of likability.

What is it about the guy that makes him such a cult hero today?

Peeples explains how Poe’s legacy as a perennial underdog who was underestimated and underappreciated during his lifetime was reinforced in 20th-century plays, movies and books about the writer. Over time, he became a hero to all writers, artists and students who felt maligned and misunderstood.

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