Discuss how Poe’s personal life affected the way he wrote about women. Mention both matters from his personal life as well as his work.

I'm not an expert on Poe's life but I can make a general comment. Poe certainly did not see women in the same way that progressive Western society might view women today. He got married to his cousin, Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe, when she was thirteen years old and he was twenty – seven. Poe was a product of his era when women were often subjugated: their roles were mainly to support their husbands, bear children and be a mother. Most of Poe's women characters personify a sense of nurturing and gentle loyalty to their husbands. Marilla of course is an exception.