Edgar Allan Poe's Rabies

Edgar Allan Poe was a genius who wrote brilliant stories and poems until the day he mysteriously. Many believe that Poe died from alcoholism. Poe was known for going on drinking binges. Poe’s symptoms during his final days help support the drinking theory. Others believe Poe died of rabies which is highly unlikely because Poe’s cat showed no sign of rabies. Poe died of alcoholism because there is more evidence towards this theory. During his time, Poe was known for his heavy drinking. In Silverman’s writing he states, “Dr. Sondgrass attributed his death to a lethal amount of alcohol (Silverman 186). This doctors opinion shoes that even upon his death, Poe was still drinking heavily. According to Benedetto, “Evidence of Poe’s chronic binges is strewn through his letters, in periodic admissions of ‘recovers’ and promises to his wife, Virginia, and her mother to reform” (Benedetto 189). The quote from Benedetto’s letter gives evidence of Poe’s alcohol abuse as seen in his letters to his
In a letter Benedetto wrote he states, “Dr. Benitez admits the primary weakness of his theory- lack of evidence of a bite or scratch” (Benedetto 189). Dr. Benitez’s statement of there being a lack of a bite or scratch shows that rabies could not be an option for Poe’s death. Robert Benedetto explains that Poe’s cat, Caterina, Showed no signs of rabies (189). Without any signs of rabies on his beloved cat, Caterina proves that Poe’s cat did not give him rabies. As said in Benedetto’s letter, “Dr. R. Michael Benitez, an assistant professor of medicine at Maryland University Medical Center, is wrong to ascribe the death of Edgar Allan Poe to rabies through animal infection than to the traditional maintained caused alcoholism (Benedetto 189). Dr. R. Michael Benitez was wrong to assign Poe’s death to rabies with the lack of proper evidence. With no evidence that proves that Poe died from rabies it is wrong to label the cause of from