The mystical first wife of the narrator of "Ligeia", her fascinating intelligence and ghostly, wild appearance makes theirs an extreme romance. Though in many ways she seems quite unreal, on her deathbed, Ligeia begs for life and reveals her true love for the narrator. She haunts him thereafter in memories and in moments when the narrator’s second wife, Rowena, reminds him somehow of her. At the end, whether it is the narrator’s altered state influencing his senses, or whether she really has escaped the grave, Ligeia appears in Rowena’s place and the lasting image of the story is her paranormally large eyes.
Ligeia Quotes in Poe's Stories
The Poe's Stories quotes below are all either spoken by Ligeia or refer to Ligeia. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Ligeia
Quotes
They were, I must believe, far larger than the ordinary eyes of our own race. They were even fuller than the fullest of the gazelle eyes of the tribe of the valley of Nourjahad. Yet it was only at intervals – in moments of intense excitement – that this peculiarity became more than slightly noticeable in Ligeia.
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Ligeia Quotes in Poe's Stories
The Poe's Stories quotes below are all either spoken by Ligeia or refer to Ligeia. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Ligeia
Quotes
They were, I must believe, far larger than the ordinary eyes of our own race. They were even fuller than the fullest of the gazelle eyes of the tribe of the valley of Nourjahad. Yet it was only at intervals – in moments of intense excitement – that this peculiarity became more than slightly noticeable in Ligeia.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis: