Non-Dualism: Thanatos and Eros in Edgar Allan Poe’s Poetry

The life drive and its seemingly opposite, death drive, are inherent powers in man’s mind and psyche since the beginning of life on earth and will last for life. These powers, therefore, draw a great deal of attention in every aspect of life, the social, scientific, philosophical, and literary fields being the most prominent among them. The study is an attempt, through three sections and a conclusion, to elucidate the range of the interrelations between the two powers through several poetic works of the American gothic writer and poet Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849). It is supposed that for him as well, they could be complementary power drives. After critical analyses of extracts of some of his poems, the study concludes some main points, the most prominent of which is that Eros and Thanatos complete each other in many of Poe’s poems. The study used some newly disclosed up-to-date sources about the poet’s life and works to help in coming up with valuable conclusions that can help researchers who may be interested in writing about this poet’s works and poems in the future.Keywords: instinct, power, Eros, complementary, elucidate, prominent, Poe