Analysis Essay on Ligeia
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Return From the Dead: Ligeia
The word ambiguous describes that which is capable of two or more contradictory meanings. This word perfectly portrays the Poe story Ligeia in a nutshell. Throughout the text the reader is expected to interpret the story and make distinctions between which of the two possible meanings is in all actuality the “true” reading. But unbeknownst to a vast majority of the scholars who attempt to interpret and analyze the text, both of the conclusions to which the reader can venture are relevant. The author wants to lead the reader astray and therefore uses as much evidence as possible to make the multiple angles from which the reader can view the text as “correct”. What many do not pick up on is the fact that no amount of evidence from either of the viewpoints out weighs that of the other. Some may believe the narrator only wished Ligeia would return so he completely imagined the events contained throughout the story. While other readers may believe that Ligeia did actually return and it was through her own will that this event happened. The goal of this essay is to disprove the misconception that there is only one way to view the story.
The first examination of the story to be discussed is the possibility that Ligeia has returned as a result of her own will from beyond the grave as an attempt to “tie up” loose ends with her former husband who did wrong by her. This theory has much to support it as in the fact the blood mysteriously drops into the cup from which she is drinking along with other events, which can only be described as “supernatural”. What one fails to realize is that the narrator describes himself as unreliable from the beginning of the story. He is an alleged opium user, he is greatly paranoid, and seems to experience a deal of guilt from the events that led to Ligeia’s untimely death. The author would like the reader to analyze the story along these particular lines because then the narrator could not be portray as insane, merely forsaken. This reading, however, holds no more weight in truth than the other possible readings of the story and for several particular reasons: The narrator is quite unreliable, Ligeia as an person may have felt a need for retribution but would not go about it in a way that would harm another, and it is fanatical to say that a person returned from the dead to take over another’s body only to destroy their lover’s life. By no means am I attempting to suggest that this view of the story is impossible I am merely stating that according to character analysis’ given and all the information complied it is highly unlikely due to the fact the other readings have just as many viable points as this one does.
The Second view of the story to be discussed is the possibility of Ligeia’s return merely being imagined by the narrator. This was briefly discussed in the previous paragraph when the fact the narrator is an alleged opium user and suffers from paranoia. This interpretation does make much sense, because it allows the reader to read beyond what is