Irving, Poe, and “The Man of the Crowd”

Abstract

Poe’s early literary inspiration as a fiction writer was clearly Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine and other popular periodicals. However, one of the most significant sources critics have left out of critical consideration is Washington Irving. While Irving’s influence on other literary figures such as Longfellow and Hawthorne is relatively well documented, his influence on Poe’s work has gained little attention in the scholarly circle. When Poe turned from the creation of poetry as his literary mainstay to the writing of fiction in 1832, the short story as the peculiar magazine form was already flourishing in the hands of Irving. Poe was well aware of Irving’s tales and envied his reputation as one of the day’s most famous and well-paid American writers. In this study, I have explored the specific intertextual connections between Poe’s “The Man of the Crowd” and Irving’s Mysterious Stranger tales such as “The Little Man in Black,” “The Stout Gentleman,” and “The Adventure of the Mysterious Stranger.” Poe carefully studied Irvingesque Mysterious Stranger stories with special reference to their construction and subject matter, and thus effectively perfected his own techniques in writing “The Man of the Crowd.”