Egaeus and Berenice are explicit foils for one another. In many ways they are very similar: the two characters are part of the same ancient family; they grow up together; they both suffer from misfortune and illness; and they are isolated from the outside world. However, when Berenice is first introduced, Egaeus is occupied with comparing the differences in their paths to adulthood:
Yet differently we grew—I, ill of health, and buried in gloom—she, agile, graceful, and overflowing with energy; hers, the ramble on the hill-side—mine the studies of the cloister; I, living within my own heart, and addicted, body and soul, to the most intense and painful meditation—she, roaming carelessly through life, with no thought of the shadows in her path, or the silent flight of the raven-winged hours.
Despite their similarities, Egaeus and Berenice are divided by a few key differences: their genders, their temperaments, and the type and timeline of their illnesses. Interestingly, the progression of the couple’s illnesses occurs in parallel—while Egaeus has always been in poor health, the more Berenice succumbs to her physical illness, the further Egaeus descends into his monomaniacal obsessions, especially with her teeth. This mirrored development seems to reinforce the idea that Poe is playing these two characters off of each other.
The fact that the disease Berenice contracts is physical, while Egaeus develops a mental disorder, is important: their illnesses are significantly gendered. Berenice’s illness consumes more than her health, as it destroys her beauty and femininity (this, at least, is the case in the world of the story). Egaeus, on the other hand, loses his passion for scholarly pursuits, along with his very ability to reason—two expected and stereotypically masculine qualities, especially for someone of his economic and social class. By assigning the different maladies of Egaeus and Berenice in this way, Poe is able to explore the intricacies of mental and physical illness and their impact upon the performance of gender roles.
