Analysis Of Ligeia By Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe described himself as a poet, who created a unique technique that he achieved through his writings, which he claims separates him from all the other famous writers in his line of work during his era. We see his personalized technique through his work such as “Ligeia” and many other short stories he has written throughout his life. He mixed in a fantasy based on reality including his signature gothic style that leaves us in confusion to which whether or not the whole story was simply a drug induced hallucination conjured by the narrator or a genuinely supernatural experienced that unfolded before him. Through his eyes and words, the story unfolds as well as his true feelings towards the women involved with him between his first …show more content…
In the excitement of my opium dreams (for I was habitually fettered in the shackles of the drug) I would call aloud upon her name, during the silence of the night…” (Poe 650). As he is by the side of his second wife the narrator starts to become under the influence of the drug and sees objects moving throughout the corner of his eye; however, he ignores what is going on and continues to obsess over the drug. This sentence gives evidence that the numerous incidents of what he has seen could have been the work of being under the influence of opium. Therefore, since the narrator is using the drug throughout the story is can be seen that even though he claims to have seen supernatural events, it can just be hallucinations brought upon the constant use of the drug. Carrie Zlotnick-Woldenberg wrote “Edgar Allan Poe’s “Ligeia”: An Object –Relational Interpretation. Her understanding of the story is quite similar to mine regarding of that the narrator’s mind was under the influence of opium which caused him to believe he saw supernatural occurrences as she wrote “hallucinates that Ligeia kills Rowena and herself returns from the dead. In this interpretation it is the will of the narrator—expressed through his fantasy, which enhanced by the use of opium rather than the will of Ligeia that …show more content…
The evidence that supports that statement on why it adds a personal feeling is because he continuously sees countless things that cause the memory of his beloved Ligeia to return to him. “I turned my glances to the pallid and rigid figure upon my heart, with the turbulent violence of a flood, the whole of the unutterable woe with which I had regarded her thus enshrouded” (Poe 651-652). This statement shows how he truly doesn’t have any desirable feelings towards his second wife Rowena because it strengthens the idea that she isn’t an important character to the story to him in his life. As the narrator tells the story, he drops hints that he does not care about or love Rowena because all he thinks about is his Ligeia even while his wife is there sickly on the bed with one foot out the door. John C, Gruesser wrote “If the closed off world of the abbey parallels the mind of the narrator, the way he decorates the bridal chamber for himself and his new bride conjures up those things associated with Ligeia. (Gruesser). This is more evidence that the narrator himself really loves his Ligeia and does anything to keep her in his life, even by decorating his newly purchased home with personal touches of Ligeia herself, leaving his