Edgar Allan Poe's "Ligeia": An Analysis
Edgar Allan Poe's "Ligeia" is one of his most well-known and brilliant short stories. Poe's theory of composition is thoroughly exemplified in "Ligeia." In this narrative, some of Poe's most frequently used motifs and techniques contribute to the so-called "unity of effect." The analysis of "Ligeia" attempted here will lead to a better understanding of the matter.
Poe's Favorite Leitmotif: The Death of a Beautiful Woman
The tales of Edgar Allan Poe have a remarkable capacity to frighten, amaze, and excite the reader. Poe, as a poet, wrote his stories with a specific influence on the reader in mind. "Ligeia" exemplifies most of Edgar Allan Poe's theories and ideas regarding the composition of the short stories that are responsible for them being successfully meaningful and moving.
The Grief of the Narrator: Love, Loss, and Madness
In "Ligeia," Poe refers to his favorite leitmotif of the death of a beautiful woman. Poe considered this topic to be his favorite and most admirable subject of interest. He wrote poems and composed short stories about various cases involving deaths of beautiful women. In "Ligeia," the eponymous woman dies after which her lover, the unnamed narrator, falls into depression and suffers from melancholia (Hayes, 108). The narrator experiences deep loss and desperate grief. Passionate love changes to loneliness and sadness. In the story, the narrator's grief over the loving one is a central component. Love towards something taken away forever cracks the narrator's heart and almost drives him to obsessive madness (Quinn, 46). Critics considered that Poe depicted such stories because he himself was constantly losing women in his life. His mother and young wife both died early and were famous for their beauty. Being himself a lover in grief, Poe expressed his personal feelings through the characters in his stories.
Poe's Approach to Composition: Planning and Symbolism
According to Poe's theoretical studies exposed in his "Philosophy of Composition," a writer before starting to write a story should already plan ahead how the story is going to end. Moreover, details of set, scenery, and imagery alongside with characters, theme, and plot should also be well-developed before the writer starts writing a story. Poe considered that approach as such can bring "unity of composition" into play. Poe claimed that a well-developed and thoroughly planned story makes a particularly strong effect on a reader. In "Ligeia," everything works as Poe mentions it in his theoretical works. The plot in "Ligeia" centers on the death of a beautiful woman whose lover grieves desperately (Lippman, 122). Poe incorporates symbolism into the characters of Ligeia and Rowena, which could only be planned and done intentionally beforehand. Poe ends the story as if it was supposed to end exactly the way it ends – with Ligeia appearing in front of her lover even though she is dead.
The Continuing Presence of Ligeia: Love Beyond Death
Even though Ligeia dies in the beginning of the story, her presence can be felt anywhere at any point. Ligeia occupies all thoughts of the narrator and all reader's attention. Poe wrote the story as if Ligeia can be well expected to appear in the end even though she is long dead (Zimmerman, 89). It is not strikingly surprising that Ligeia appears in the end either as a ghost, an illusion, a dream or a mystic incarnation. The fact that matters is that her appearance is not surprising. The narrator's obsession and strength of his passionate love bring Ligeia back from the dead.
Symbols and Metaphors: Ligeia as a Gothic Figure
Poe successfully incorporates symbolical messages using characters as metaphors. For example, the character of Ligeia symbolizes everything Gothic as the elements of her personal story as well as her physical appearance introduce her as a woman of north origins from around the Rhine River (Germany) with strong will and intelligence (Poe, 78). By telling about Ligeia's power of will and intelligence, the narrator tells readers that perhaps Ligeia was able to outlive death and continue living despite being dead. Or, at least, this is what the narrator wants to believe himself – that his woman is alive and not dead (Poe, 78). The passion of the narrator is so strong he is only able to overcome it by imagining his lost love for real. Poe also claims a couple of times that the narrator used to take opium and see visions. This is one more reason to think Ligeia's appearance in the end of the story could truly happen if only it was a hallucination. In any case, the narrator's makes Ligeia's presence continue to prevail over the narrator, making his real life only a reflection of his dreamy states full of fantasy, death, and love.
The Figure of the Unreliable Narrator
One of Poe's often-used techniques is to use a first-person narrative with the narrator being also a main character of the story or its important participant. In Poe's most technically perfect and masterful stories, especially in those based upon his personal experiences, the narrators also act as the characters. The figure of an unreliable narrator who tells the story subjectively makes an important effect Poe succeeds to achieve. Among many other things, this, for example, makes the reader question whether what the narrator sees is really Ligeia's ghost or if it is a hallucination (Hayes, 110). The narrator's point of view, the only one imaginable, is not used by Poe accidentally. Logically speaking, only the dead beautiful woman's lover is able to feel and embody critical dynamics and extreme energy symbolized by the occasion Poe so admires. Therefore, the figure of narrator chosen beforehand also contributes to claiming "Ligeia" a story exemplary of Poe's literature criticism and theories of composition.
A Unique and Touching Story
All in all, "Ligeia" is without any doubt a story that is a good example of how Poe wanted his stories to be. This story illustrates a well-developed scheme aimed to produce a certain effect on a reader. With a lot of different details such as careful planning in advance, talented use of symbols, and a masterfully driven plot, Poe creates a unique story that touches readers. The narrator who tells his story uncovers mysteries of passion and deep corners of unforgettable experience. Grief and love, death and obsession all blend into an original mix of a Gothic story with a rich subtext. In light of all this, Edgar Allan Poe appears as a magnificent literary genius.
Works Cited
Hayes, K. Edgar Allan Poe in Context. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013
Lippman, B. Edgar Allan Poe – “The Philosophy of Composition”. Boston: GRIN Verlag, 2007
Poe, E., A. The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe. New York: Cosimo Inc, 2009. Print
Poe, E. Cassuto, L. Literary Theory and Criticism. Chicago: Courier Corporation, 2009
Zimmerman, B. Edgar Allan Poe: Rhetoric and Style. Boston: McGill-Queen’s Press – MQUP, 2005
Quinn, A. Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography. Columbia: JHU Press, 2011
