payment page
What is the relationship between the narrator and Ligeia like?
The narrator adores Ligeia with an almost overwhelming devotion. He describes himself as a child before Ligeia as she guides him through the occult mysteries she studies. The narrator also treats her as a kind of mystery, speaking of her eyes as containing profound depths he longs to understand. According to the narrator, she confesses on her deathbed that she loves him to an almost idolatrous extent.
What is the significance of Ligeia’s poem, “The Conqueror Worm”?
Ligeia writes “The Conqueror Worm” to lament the unfairness of mortality. The poem describes how humankind is, according to religious doctrine, made in the image of God, and yet, ultimately doomed to die. No matter what they do in their lives, in the end their bodies decay and become food for worms. Ligeia sees this reversal of fate as being so tragic that even angels weep as they look on.
How are Ligeia and Rowena different?
The narrator portrays Ligeia and Rowena as complete opposites. Ligeia has dark hair and eyes, and she comes from a mysterious background with her family lineage unknown. She studies with an intensity considered unusual for women, and she also pursues the occult. Furthermore, she is dominant in her relationship with the narrator, who says he is a child without her. By contrast, Rowena falls into conventional beauty standards, with blonde hair and blue eyes. She is introduced with her complete and explicit noble lineage. From the narrator’s description of her as virginal and maidenly, we readers may infer that she is submissive and naïve.
How does the narrator decorate Rowena’s bridal chamber?
The narrator has a taste for decor associated with the occult and Eastern cultures. This is the style he uses to decorate the bridal chamber, making it look more like a tomb or Gothic cathedral than a bridal chamber. The chamber is therefore associated with death rather than life. The walls are dark, and sarcophagi adorn every corner. It only has a single window tinted so that the light let in has an eerie glow. It has curtains with depictions of werewolves on them that a draft blows into frightening shapes.
What happens to Rowena?
Rowena becomes gravely ill. The narrator observes what appears to be three drops of red liquid in her wine, the consumption of which hastens her illness. His implication is that Ligeia’s spirit is behind this poisoning, but it’s also possible the narrator either hallucinates the poison or else carries out the poisoning himself. After Rowena’s death, the narrator sees her body stirring and tends to her. When she removes her bandages, she reveals she is not Rowena, but Ligeia, who has used her will to possess Rowena and take her body. However, it’s unclear whether this possession is real or whether the narrator merely believes it is.
