Ligeia Argumentative Essay

Known for his tales of mystery and horror, Edgar Allan Poe published Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque, which included one of his major works, “Ligeia.” While he is better known for some of his other works, such as “The Raven,” Poe has once been quoted as saying that “Ligeia” was his best story that has been written. With this work, Poe is able to both show and answer that the only reason that people die in the first place is due to them not trying to stay alive enough and that love becomes the one ability to truly revive a dead body. From the beginning of the story, the unnamed narrator tells of how much he doesn’t know about Ligeia. He starts listing off how he can’t remember when they met, or where she was from, not even her last name. But in spite of all the things about her that he can’t remember, he does know the passion that he feels for her and her character. According to the narrator, Ligeia “was tall, somewhat slender, and, in her latter days, even emaciated.” He continues on with telling how she was able to tread lightly, and how beautiful she was. The narrator makes sure to tell that she didn’t tread the ideals of
The whole story is about how the narrator and Ligeia are having a battle of the wills. The narrator is consumed in Ligeia’s beauty, while Ligeia is consumed with wanting to simply be identified with her husband. All he sees is her beauty while she is alive, and when she comes back, the story ends with him seeing her raven-black hair. When the narrator married Lady Rowena, he was still thinking of Ligeia. In his mind, it was Ligeia who poured the poison in her cup, and it was Ligeia who’s will was so strong, it was able to destroy the other woman’s. Finally, when Ligeia once again rises, they are both able to identify with each other, in that the two of them together are