Eliza Poe
Eliza Poe | |
---|---|
St. John's Episcopal Church (Richmond, Virginia ) | |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1796–1811 |
Spouses |
Eliza Poe (née Elizabeth Arnold; formerly Hopkins; 1787 – December 8, 1811) was an English actress and the mother of the American author Edgar Allan Poe.
Early life
Arnold was born to Henry and Elizabeth Arnold in London in the spring of 1787.[1] Her mother was a stage actress in London from 1791 to 1795. Her father Henry is thought to have died in 1790. In November 1795, Eliza and her mother sailed from England to Boston, Massachusetts, where they arrived on January 3, 1796.[1]
Career
Boston
In Boston, Arnold debuted on stage at the age of nine, only three months after her arrival in the United States.[2] She played a character named Biddy Blair in David Garrick's farce Miss in Her Teens and was praised in the Portland Herald:[1] "Miss Arnold, in Miss Biddy, exceeded all praise.. Although a miss of only nine years old, her powers as an Actress will do credit to any of her sex of maturer age".[2] Later that year, Elizabeth married musician Charles Tubbs, who had sailed with the Arnolds from England. The small family joined with a manager Mr. Edgar to form a theater troupe called the Charleston Comedians. Elizabeth, Eliza's mother, died sometime while this troupe was traveling through North Carolina.[3] Little is known about her death but she disappears from theatrical records in 1798 and it is presumed she died shortly after.[2]
After her mother's death, Eliza stayed with the theater troupe. She followed the tradition at the time for actors to travel from city to city to perform for as long as several months before moving on. The actors, theaters, and audiences had a wide range of sophistication. One of the most impressive venues at which she performed was the
Marriage and children
In the summer of 1802, at the age of fifteen, Eliza married Charles Hopkins.[2] Hopkins died three years later in October 1805, possibly of yellow fever, leaving Eliza an 18-year-old widow.[4] The Baltimore-born David Poe Jr. saw Eliza performing in Norfolk, Virginia, and decided to join her acting troupe, abandoning his family's plans for him to study law.[5] Poe married Eliza only six months after Hopkins's death in 1806.[6]
The couple traveled throughout New England and the rest of the northeast, playing in various towns such as Richmond, Philadelphia, and at an outdoor summer theater in New York City before finally settling in Boston. They stayed in Boston for three consecutive seasons of thirty weeks each in a theater that fit an audience of about one thousand.[4] Reviews at the time often remarked on Eliza's "interesting figure" and "sweetly melodious voice".[5]
Though times were difficult, the couple had two sons;
New York City
The family relocated to
Death
In 1811, while staying at a boarding house in Richmond, Virginia, for a performance, Eliza began spitting blood.[12] Her performances became less frequent until October 1811 when she stopped appearing altogether.[13] Her last performance was on October 11, 1811, as Countess Wintersen in a play called The Stranger.[14]
Friends and fellow actors Mr. and Mrs. Luke Usher (the name may have inspired Poe's tale "The Fall of the House of Usher"[15]) took care of the children during Eliza's illness and many in the Richmond area took an interest in her health. On November 29 of that year, the Richmond Theater announced a benefit performance on her behalf. A local publication, the Enquirer, reported her need for help: "On this night, Mrs. Poe, lingering on the bed of disease and surrounded by her children, asks your assistance and asks it perhaps for the last time".[10]
Eliza finally died on Sunday morning, December 8, 1811, at the age of twenty-four,[13] surrounded by her children.[7] It is generally assumed that she died of tuberculosis.[1][16] She is buried at St. John's Episcopal Church in Richmond. Though her actual burying place is unknown, a memorial marks the general area.[17]
After her death, her three children were split up. William Henry Leonard Poe lived with his paternal grandparents in Baltimore, Edgar Poe was taken in by John and Frances Allan in Richmond, and Rosalie Poe was adopted by William and Jane Scott Mackenzie in Richmond, Virginia.[18]
Legacy
Though he was young when she died, Edgar Allan Poe was heavily affected by Eliza Poe's death and many of his works reflect her influence. His first published work "Metzengerstein" features a fire burning down a large home, possibly reflecting the fire that destroyed the Richmond Theatre, where she had performed. The fire occurred in December 1811, only three weeks after her death.[19]
The early loss of his mother and other women, including his wife Virginia, may also have inspired Edgar Poe's often-used literary theme of dying women.[20] This theme is readily present in works like "The Raven".[21]
Notes
- ^ a b c d e Sova, 192
- ^ a b c d e Meyers, 2
- ^ a b Silverman, 2
- ^ a b c Silverman, 3
- ^ a b Stashower, 34
- ^ a b c Meyers, 3
- ^ a b Stashower, 35
- ^ Silverman, 5–6
- ^ Silverman, 7
- ^ a b Meyers, 6
- ^ In an 1835 letter, Edgar Allan Poe wrote that his father died when Edgar was two years of age.
- ISBN 0-8071-2321-8
- ^ a b Silverman, 8
- ISBN 0-7838-1401-1
- ^ Allen, Hervey. Israfel: The Life and Times of Edgar Allan Poe. New York: Farrar & Rinehart, Inc., 1934: 683.
- ^ Stashower, 7
- ISBN 978-0738567143
- ^ Sova, 193
- ISBN 1-57806-721-9
- ISBN 0-521-79727-6
- ISBN 0-521-79727-6
Sources
- Meyers, Jeffrey. Edgar Allan Poe: His Life and Legacy. New York City: Cooper Square Press, 1992. ISBN 0-8154-1038-7.
- Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance. New York City: Harper Perennial, 1991. ISBN 0-06-092331-8.
- Sova, Dawn B. Edgar Allan Poe: A to Z. New York: Checkmark Books, 2001. ISBN 0-8160-4161-X.
- ISBN 0-525-94981-X.
Further reading
- Smith, Geddeth. The Brief Career of Eliza Poe. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press: April 1988.
External links
- "Market Lass: The Myriad Roles of Elizabeth Poe" by Maggi Smith-Dalton at Boston Singers Resource
- Eliza Poe at Poedecoder.com