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LITR 4232 American
Renaissance 2010 Student Midterm Samples 2. Short essay (4-6 paragraphs) on 1 of 2 options (or combinations as inspired) :
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Meagan Hamlin,
Part 2: Ligeia
Edgar Allan Poe’s
Ligeia was one of the very first
texts we studied in American Renaissance.
The text was truly romantic in many aspects, and I believe the reason I
enjoyed it so much was because it reminded me of another piece of romantic
literature, Wuthering Heights by
Emily Bronte. Both pieces of
literature utilize the gothic aspects of Romanticism.
Poe is known for
his gothic works of art, and Ligeia
is no different. Our narrator is wildly
in love with Ligeia, though he knows little about her life.
The story begins by explaining that our narrator met Ligeia in, “Some
large, old, decaying city near the Rhine.”
She had pale ivory skin, but jet black curly hair.
Ligeia was dark, mysterious, and completely romantic.
However, after he loses her, he must leave the city for a dark and
ominous part of the country where he marries, “The fair-haired and blue-eyed
Lady Rowena Trevanion, of Tremaine.”
Poe used almost
every aspect of gothic writing in this short story, including the allusion to
the light and dark characters of Ligeia and Lady Rowena.
Lady Rowena, with her fair skin and light eyes, was an innocent bystander
in this almost sick love affair between the narrator and his Lady Ligeia.
While Ligeia was his true love, she haunted his life after she passed,
and never leaving his thoughts, she slowly took over his life.
The passage in this story that struck me most was the very
last passage, “Shrinking from my touch, she let fall from her head, unloosened,
the ghastly cerements which had confined it, and there streamed forth, into the
rushing atmosphere of the chamber, huge masses of long and dishevelled hair; it
was blacker than the raven wings of the midnight! And now slowly opened the eyes
of the figure which stood before me. "Here then, at least," I shrieked aloud,
"can I never—can I never be mistaken—these are the full, and the black, and the
wild eyes—of my lost love—of the lady—of the LADY LIGEIA."
This passage gives the reader the sense of suspense and fear he was
feeling at the moment he is watching his dead second wife transform into his
first dead wife. In romantic
literature, usually, the dark character is the evil character.
While the narrator clearly loved Ligeia, it almost came across as more of
a sick obsession. He remembered
little about her, except that he loved her.
Her wild black eyes and hair made her even more haunting.
Ligeia was mysterious and unexplainable, almost as if she had come from
nowhere into his life.
While reading, in my mind, I connected Ligeia to Heathcliff
of Wuthering Heights.
They were both dark characters who seemingly came from nowhere.
Not much was known about either character; although, they were
unforgettable and passionate. I am not completely sure what drew me in to this
story, but I found it compelling to read. I
loved the use of color and the gothic elements, which I find intriguing.
I love the suspense that comes with a gothic story, and I find it
somewhat irresistible. I also love
that this story can be interpreted in many ways, and one has the ability to make
the story whatever they want. It is
open to interpretation, and that makes it appealing to many audiences.
