The second wife of the narrator of "Ligeia", she marries him for the money he inherited from Ligeia. She cannot compare to Ligeia in any way and the marriage is full of hatred. Her death mimics the death of Ligeia, and Rowena undergoes a night-long pattern of awakening and dying until Ligeia (either in fact or the narrator's mind) takes her over completely.
Lady Rowena of Tremaine Quotes in Poe's Stories
The Poe's Stories quotes below are all either spoken by Lady Rowena of Tremaine or refer to Lady Rowena of Tremaine. 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
The night waned; and still, with a bosom full of bitter thoughts of the one only and supremely beloved, I remained gazing upon the body of Rowena.
Related Characters:
Narrator (Ligeia) (speaker), Lady Rowena of Tremaine
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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Lady Rowena of Tremaine Character Timeline in Poe's Stories
The timeline below shows where the character Lady Rowena of Tremaine appears in Poe's Stories. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Ligeia
...important room of the abbey, the bridal chamber, where he married his new wife, Lady Rowena of Tremaine. He isn’t sure how it happened that the family of the bride allowed...
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...new couple pass their first month. The narrator of "Ligeia" can’t help but notice that Rowena isn’t very loving towards him and dreads his moods. He remembers the beauty and spirit...
(full context)
In the second month of the marriage, Rowena becomes ill, and she has feverous nights, and mumbles and moans strange words, which the...
(full context)
One night, Rowena wakes the narrator of "Ligeia", who has been sleeping fitfully beside her. She tells him...
(full context)
The narrator of "Ligeia" brings back the wine and Rowena begins to come to her senses again. But as she brings the wine to her...
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The fourth night that the narrator of "Ligeia" watches over Rowena indeed turns out to be her last. As he sits with the body, he sees...
(full context)
...corpse for any change. Eventually he thinks he detects a slight change in color on Rowena’s cheeks. For a moment he is stunned but duty takes over and he knows he...
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...him. Hours of this pass until another sign of life comes to the body of Rowena, a sigh. The narrator rushes to her and sees her lips quiver, then the same...
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...a third time, the narrator of "Ligeia" dreams of Ligeia and for a third time, Rowena seems to awaken. He can’t bear to describe every occasion of this terrible transformation, but...
(full context)
