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(2017
midterm assignment) Sample Student Midterm Answers 2017 #2a: Short Essay (Favorite Passage) |
LITR 4328 |
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Alisha Blue
Poe’s Literary Devices Used in
Ligeia
“Of
all the women whom I have ever known, she, the outwardly calm, the ever-placid
Ligeia, was the most violently a prey to the tumultuous vultures of stern
passion. And of such passion I could form no estimate, save by the miraculous
expansion of those eyes which at once so delighted and appalled me—by the almost
magical melody, modulation, distinctness and placidity of her very low voice—and
by the fierce energy of the wild words which she habitually uttered.”-Edgar
Allan Poe, Ligeia
As we’ve seen, there are numerous terms that are associated with the
American Renaissance literary era. By specifically focusing on Edgar Allan Poe’s
Ligeia, as seen by the passage above,
we are then able to dissect the passage to see examples of many different terms
that he illustrates. These terms include: romantic rhetoric, aspects of the
gothic, and lastly, the sublime. By interchangeably using these terms, Poe gives
us insight to the various ways of writing that erupted from this time period.
Of course, Ligeia is abundant with romantic rhetoric. One of the beauties
of reading Ligeia is that, while Poe
writes her as unrealistically perfect, we thrive on that type of love. The
various ways Poe describes Ligeia physically as having “skin rivaling the purest
ivory,” he also elevates her personality equally by saying, “[the learning of
Ligeia] was immense-such as I have never known in a woman.” Truly then,
Ligeia is faultless and the portrait
of perfection through our narrators eyes. The romantic rhetoric associated with
her, then elevates her status as seemingly divine. Her perfection and his love
for her are insurmountable; a key aspect for romantic rhetoric.
On the other hand, in this passage we also get a glimpse of the darker
side to Poe’s writing. The very fact that Poe describes Ligeia as “calm” and
“ever-placid” greatly contrasts against “the most violently a prey to the
tumultuous vulture.” Of all the animals, and even narrowing that down to birds
that Poe could have used, he purposefully illustrated a vulture. The image that
ought to appear in his reader’s minds then typically consist of is: ugly,
darkness, death. Through this little snippet of imagery, we get a glimpse of the
gothic. The vulture, much like the gothic style writing, is metaphorically
lurking and is the epitome of the dark side.
Finally, another term used in this passage refers to the sublime. So far
we’ve established that Poe certainly elevates Ligeia onto a pedestal of
perfection. Then, there is a presence of darkness. By illustrating these two
contrasting ideas, Poe equips the use of sublime, or the idea of beauty being
mixed with terror and danger on an elevated level. The two ideas conflict with
one another and create a type of elevated feeling for the reader.
From our passage above: “The miraculous expansion of those eyes which at
once so delighted and appalled me,” we get a glimpse of the way the sublime is
created. Ligeia, we take it, is so perfect and adored that it’s scary. Surely,
in some aspects of our lives we can see how this type of juxtaposition creates
the sublime. Have you ever been so happy that you were afraid something was
going to go off the rails and mess everything up? Or perhaps you’ve experienced
an element of nature (like thunderous clouds rolling in) that was breathtakingly
beautiful, but also imminent danger. These two ideas, then, work to illustrate
the sublime, much like Poe is doing with the elevation of Ligeia.
From just this passage of Ligeia,
we conclude that many literary aspects are included from the American
Renaissance era. The romance, the darkness, and the sublime are just a few
examples of Poe’s choices to include in his work. Together, they work to create
literature that we can appreciate and understand today.
