Ligeia: Analysis of Major Characters
"Ligeia: Analysis of Major Characters" delves into the complex interplay between memory, love, and the supernatural through its exploration of key figures in Edgar Allan Poe's narrative. Central to the story is the unnamed narrator, who is deeply haunted by the memory of his first wife, Ligeia. His obsession with her transcends death, leading him into a state of grief and addiction after her passing. Although he attempts to move on by marrying Lady Rowena, his unresolved feelings for Ligeia resurface, ultimately driving him to madness and violence.
Ligeia is depicted as an extraordinary woman, characterized by her beauty, intellect, and intense will. She embodies a sense of otherworldliness, with striking physical features and a profound knowledge of metaphysics. Her struggle against death emphasizes the theme of willpower, as she asserts that humans succumb to mortality due to a lack of strength of will. In contrast, Lady Rowena represents a more fragile existence; she is physically delicate and becomes increasingly affected by her fears and ailments, paralleling the decline of Poe's own wife, Virginia.
The narrative culminates in a haunting twist where Ligeia seemingly transcends death, reclaiming existence through Rowena’s body, which underscores themes of identity and the enduring power of love beyond the grave. This analysis invites readers to reflect on the psychological and philosophical dimensions of the characters, while also considering the broader implications of grief and memory in human experience.
Ligeia: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Edgar Allan Poe
First published: 1838
Genre: Short fiction
Locale: Germany and England
Plot: Gothic
Time: Early nineteenth century
The narrator, a learned man enslaved to the memory of a woman whose powerful will once triumphed over death itself to return to him. Half insane through grief after Ligeia's death, and addicted to opium, he nevertheless remarries. Forgetful of Ligeia for a month, he abandons himself to Lady Rowena; but memory returns, and love turns to hatred and loathing. He witnesses (or so he believes) the dropping of poison into some wine he gives Rowena when she is ill. After Rowena's death, he is awed by the rising of her corpse, which he recognizes not as that of Rowena but of his lost Ligeia.
Ligeia, his first wife, a beautiful woman of rare learning and musically eloquent voice. Tall and slender, she is quietly majestic whether in repose or walking with “incomprehensible lightness and elasticity.” Her features are “strange” rather than classically regular: the skin pale, forehead broad, luxuriously curly hair glossy and black. Her nose is slightly aqui-line; when her short upper lip and her voluptuous under one part in a radiant smile, her teeth gleam brilliantly. Her eyes are most notable: unusually large and luminously black, with long and jetty lashes and slightly irregular black brows. Though Ligeia is outwardly calm and speaks in a low, distinct, and melodious voice, a passionately intense will shows in the fierce energy of her wild words. Her knowledge of classical and modern European languages leads her (and her worshiping husband) into extensive metaphysical investigations. When Ligeia falls ill, her wild eyes blaze, her skin turns waxen, and the veins in her forehead swell and sink. With her dying breath she murmurs that humans submit to death only through feebleness of will. When Lady Rowena later dies, Ligeia, through the power of her will, returns from death and enters the body of her successor.
Lady Rowena Trevanion, the second wife, fair-haired and blue-eyed. She falls ill and slowly dies, wasting away while she becomes increasingly irritable and fearful, her fear being increased by mysterious sounds and sights. (Her illness may be compared to that which for five years tortured and finally killed Virginia Poe, the author's young wife.)