Ligeia
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"Ligeia" is an early short story written by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1838. The story follows an unnamed narrator and his wife Ligeia, a beautiful and intelligent raven-haired woman. She recites "The Conqueror Worm" before she dies and suggests that life is sustainable only through willpower. After her death, the narrator marries the Lady Rowena. Rowena becomes ill and she dies as well. The distraught narrator stays with her body overnight when Rowena slowly comes back from the dead - though she has transformed into Ligeia. The story may be the narrator's opium-induced hallucination and there is debate if the story was a satire. After the story's first publication in The American Museum, it was heavily revised and reprinted throughout Poe's life.
Major themes
- Death of a beautiful woman (see also: "Berenice", "The Fall of the House of Usher", "Morella")
- Resurrection (see also: "The Fall of the House of Usher", "Morella", "Metzengerstein")
- Substance abuse (see also: "The Black Cat", "Hop-Frog")
