Edgar Allan Poe (10 page)
Authors: Kevin J. Hayes
Brooks solicited additional contributions from Poe for the
American Museum
. He especially wanted a review of Washington Irving’s works. It is a testament to Poe’s literary integrity that he declined. Feeling he could not write the review in the time frame Brooks gave him, he turned the offer down, turning down, too, the remuneration he would have received for it. He did suggest a possible approach: ‘Irving is much overrated, and a nice distinction might be drawn between his just and his surreptitious and adventitious reputation – between what is due to the pioneer solely, and what to the writer.’
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Poe’s refusal to write quickly for the sake of a few more dollars indicates the care he took in shaping his literary reputation. Despite the nagging poverty, he hesitated to risk his name with anything less than his best. Having started to make his name at the
Messenger
, he wanted to sustain and expand it. But what did establishing a name really mean? Poe pondered the question himself in a story he published in the November issue of the
American Museum:
‘The Psyche Zenobia’.
‘Keenly sarcastic and exquisitely humorous’, according to one contemporary reviewer, ‘The Psyche Zenobia’ is better known in revised form as ‘How to Write a Blackwood Article’.
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Both versions parody the characteristic style of articles from
Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine
. As a parody, ‘The Psyche Zenobia’ marks a vast improvement over Poe’s earlier
Blackwood’s
spoof, ‘A Decided Loss’, which is better known in revised form as ‘Loss of Breath’. Whereas ‘A Decided Loss’ had taken for granted the reader’s familiarity with
Blackwood’s
, ‘The Psyche Zenobia’ makes no such assumptions. Instead, it satirically defines the Blackwood style before spoofing it. Ultimately, the story scrutinizes what it means to have a personal name so closely associated with a particular literary style.
Poe split ‘The Psyche Zenobia’ into two parts. In the first, the title character, who is also the narrator, leaves her native Philadelphia for a trip to Edinburgh to meet the famous Mr Blackwood and learn how to write in the Blackwood style. The second part, titled ‘The Scythe of Time’ (better known in revised form as ‘A Predicament’), presents a story she has written based on his principles.
‘The Psyche Zenobia’ starts with the narrator identifying herself: ‘I presume everybody has heard of me. My name is the Signora Psyche Zenobia. This I know to be a fact. Nobody but my enemies ever call me Suky Snobbs.’
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She then begins a long-winded explanation of the meaning of the name ‘Psyche’ but interrupts herself to blame Tabitha Turnip for spreading a rumour that her real name is Suky. Her defensive attitude suggests that her name really is Suky and that Psyche Zenobia is an invention. Having carefully constructed this public identity, she now wants to sustain it, even within her private circle of acquaintances.
Though Psyche guards her personal identity at first, she soon seems willing to sacrifice it for the sake of her literary style. Having been assured that the finest writing appears in
Blackwood’s
, she now wants to write ‘an article of the genuine Blackwood stamp’. When she meets Mr Blackwood, he uses similar language to characterize the style of his magazine’s articles. He tells her to ‘pay minute attention to the sensations’. Only then can she compose ‘what may be denominated a genuine Blackwood article of the sensation stamp’.
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Satirizing the literary style associated with
Blackwood’s
, Poe questions whether a magazine’s publisher should determine a contributor’s style. Must authors sacrifice their individuality for the sake of getting published?
Taking Mr Blackwood’s advice, Psyche considers different sensations she might describe. When she suggests hanging herself with a pair of garters and then describing how it felt, he tells her that hanging has become clichéd. His comment forms an example of self-parody on Poe’s part. Revising ‘A Decided Loss’ into ‘Loss of Breath’, he had added a lengthy passage describing the sensations of a man being hanged. Instead of hanging herself, he suggests she take a dose of Morrison’s pills and then describe her sensations. Morrison’s pills were a popular cure-all in the 1830s, but some people self-medicated so thoroughly they poisoned themselves. Poe’s nurse friend Mary Louise Shew knew a man with a pill mania who took Morrison’s pills for every little ailment and accidentally killed himself.
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To keep the story current, Poe changed his reference to Brandeth’s pills in its revised version. The revision shows how quickly brand names could date.
At first glance, Poe’s reference to Morrison’s pills seems nothing more than a satirical jab at a popular fad, but the phrase – a possessive form of a proper name linked to a commercial product – sounds strangely familiar. Structurally the phrase ‘Morrison’s pills’ is identical to ‘Blackwood’s magazine’. Both the pills and the magazine are products endorsed and sanctioned by their originator and proprietor. When magazine contributors write according to identical principles, then their articles become, so to speak, nothing more than drugs on the market.
In ‘The Scythe of Time’, Psyche Zenobia relates how she leaves Mr Blackwood’s Edinburgh office in search of sensations, climbs a clock steeple and pokes her head from a hole in the clockface. The minute hand soon presses upon Psyche’s neck, first popping out her eyeballs and then severing her head but never preventing her from seeing or thinking. (At times, Poe’s clocks could be more surreal than Dalí’s.) The experience gives her many sensations to describe and much to ponder: ‘With my head I imagined, at one time, that I the head, was the real Signora Psyche Zenobia – at another I felt convinced that myself, the body, was the proper identity.’
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Despite the outrageous humour, Zenobia’s words reflect a serious purpose, one that runs through much of Poe’s
oeuvre
: the meaning of identity. Can the body retain its identity even after a part has been severed from it? Perhaps Psyche’s decapitation literalizes what she has already done figuratively. By choosing to write in the Blackwood manner, she has already sacrificed her personal identity.
Around the time ‘The Psyche Zenobia’ appeared, Poe offered his name to Thomas Wyatt, who used it for
The Conchologist’s First Book
. Poe’s textual contributions to Wyatt’s book display none of his characteristic literary style. He contributed to the book solely for the fifty dollars Wyatt offered him. This sum provided welcome relief, but Poe could not continue relying on piecework to survive. He needed steady employment. In May 1839, the month
The Conchologist’s First Book
appeared, he approached William E. Burton for a job.
Born and raised in England, Burton had developed a fine reputation as a comedian on the London stage. In 1834 he settled in the
US
and became ‘the reigning king of comedy in America’.
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With a lifelong ambition to edit a magazine, he took advantage of his celebrity status to gather magazine subscriptions. He also interested Charles Alexander, the publisher of
Alexander’s Weekly Messenger
, in the venture. With Alexander as publisher and Burton as editor, the
Gentleman’s Magazine
was launched in 1837. Two years later Burton bought out Alexander and changed the title to
Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine
. The new title reinforced Burton’s association with the periodical, further helped him capitalize on his fame, and let him brand the magazine as his own.
William E. Burton,
c
. 1855.
Burton recognized Poe’s talents and agreed to take him on as assistant editor, a magnanimous gesture in light of his severe critique of
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym
the previous year. In his review, Burton had observed, ‘We regret to find Mr Poe’s name in connexion with such a mass of ignorance and effrontery.’
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Since Burton greatly appreciated the critical work Poe had done for the
Southern Literary Messenger
, he regretted Poe’s role in a fictional narrative purporting truth. From Burton’s perspective,
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym
damaged the name Poe had made for himself at the
Messenger
.
Their working relationship got off to a rocky start. The first item Poe wrote for Burton was a scathing retrospective of contemporary poet Rufus Dawes. Burton refused to publish it, encouraging Poe to treat fellow authors with camaraderie: ‘We shall agree very well, but you must get rid of your avowed ill-feelings towards your brother-authors.’ Since, in Burton’s opinion, the magazine had already established a reputation for its independent book reviews, there was no need for undue criticism.
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I welcome your help, Burton essentially said, but do not forget whose name is in the magazine’s title. Burton set a convivial tone for its reviews, an approach that prevented Poe from cultivating his unique critical voice.
A frequent contributor to
Burton’s
, Thomas Dunn English met Poe for the first time at the magazine’s office. The two would later quarrel viciously, but Poe made a good initial impression on English, whose recollection provides a good picture of Poe at this time in his life:
I was impressed favorably with the appearance and manner of the author. He was clad in a plain and rather worn suit of black which was carefully brushed, and his linen was especially notable for its cleanliness. His eyes at that time were large, bright and piercing, his manner easy and refined, and his tone and conversation winning. In a short while we went out of the office together and remained in conversation as we walked along the street. We parted in Chestnut Street some few blocks above Third, apparently well pleased with each other.
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When the June 1839 issue of
Burton’s
announced Poe’s association with the magazine, his name caught the attention of other magazinists. The editor of the Philadelphia
Saturday Courier
, for one, commented: ‘Mr. Poe was very favourably known as editor of the
Southern Literary Messenger
in its early days; and he has produced several works, which prove him a man of letters and industry. His accession is very valuable.’
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Speaking of Poe, Charles Alexander said, ‘He is a gentleman of superior ability and character, and we are glad to see that his name is associated with Mr Burton in the future direction of the
Gentleman’s Magazine.’
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Working for
Burton’s
, Poe chose submissions, contributed verse, prepared manuscripts, proofread copy, supervised production at the printers and, in short, did everything involved with editing the magazine. Though the tight control Burton exercised over the review section frustrated Poe, Burton was doing him a favour. By preventing Poe from committing too much thought to criticism, Burton gave him the opportunity to channel his energy into his fiction. While working for Burton, Poe wrote some of the best tales of his career. The August issue of
Burton’s
includes ‘The Man that was Used Up: A Tale of the Late Bugaboo and Kickapoo Campaign’. This story continues to work the humourous vein Poe had mined with ‘The Psyche Zenobia’. He even included a recurring character to link the two tales. Tabitha T of ‘The Man that was Used Up’ bears a striking resemblance to Tabitha Turnip. In addition to its use of humour, this new tale also resembles ‘The Psyche Zenobia’ as it explores the relationship between name and identity.
‘The Man that was Used Up’ tells the story of Brevet Brigadier General John A.B.C. Smith. Despite his common name, General Smith is a fine figure of a man with a distinguished air about him and a distinguished career behind him. Curious about the general, the story’s narrator approaches different people on different occasions to learn more. He anticipates the reporter in
Citizen Kane
, who approaches Charlie Kane’s friends to understand him, only to be frustrated in his quest. When people try to tell the narrator something about General Smith in ‘The Man that was Used Up’, their conversations get interrupted, and he walks away dissatisfied.
He gradually recognizes the impossibility of knowing someone solely by reputation and decides to see General Smith in person. Shown into the general’s chamber while he is dressing, the narrator notices on the floor ‘a large and exceedingly odd-looking bundle’. As he kicks it aside, the strange bundle addresses him in a funny little voice. Soon, Pompey, General Smith’s servant, hands the bundle a prosthetic leg, which it screws on, thus enabling it to stand. The bundle
is
the general. Next Pompey screws on General Smith’s prosthetic arm. The general speaks to the narrator as he gets himself together. ‘Thomas’, he recommends, ‘is decidedly the best hand at a cork leg; but if you should ever want an arm, my dear fellow, you must let me recommend you to Bishop.’
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As Pompey supplies the manufactured body parts, the general mentions the brand names of each: Pettit for shoulders, Ducrow for bosoms, De L’Orme for wigs, Parmly’s for teeth, Dr Williams for eyes, Bonfanti’s for the palate.
