“Ligeia” (1838), considered by Poe his best tale (

2:305), is narrated in the first person by an unnamed narrator, whose first wife, the intellectual, mysterious and idealized Lady Ligeia, dies. After her death he is left confused, addicted to opium, and still fantasizing about his deceased bride, even after he has left Germany for England. There he settles in an abbey he repairs and marries the Lady Rowena, but this second marriage is an unhappy one. It is Ligeia’s own superhuman will for life, and love for her husband, even in death, that still drives the narrator along, giving him what little inspiration he has left. Eventually, Rowena dies an unexplained death and Ligieia returns, transforming Rowena’s body into her own, with the narrator triumphantly shrieking at the close…

1869 words

Citation: Sucur, Slobodan. "Ligeia". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 07 August 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=3964, accessed 26 November 2024.]