In his essay entitled "The Philosophy of Composition", Poe writes, "the death... of a beautiful woman is undoubtedly the most poetic subject in the world, and there is also no doubt that the lips best suited to such a subject are those of a grieving lover Here Poe suggests that from the death of something beautiful comes inspiration. poetic. In a story or poem by Poe, the death of a beautiful woman creates a "deficit" of beauty. In turn, Poe fills the void with her "beauty", manifested in the narrator's own words. dead can no longer speak to assert or challenge the truth, the bereaved lover finds himself in a position of considerable power; he can tell the story of his lover's death in any way he wants. Poe explores the relationship between death and creation through the power of the narrator. From the death of Ligeia comes a new story of which the narrator is the master. Poe uses the analogy of the rebirth of Ligeia to represent the idea of ​​a narrative creation arising from death. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay At the beginning of the story, Poe's narrator increases his agency as a storyteller by erasing that of Ligeia. He achieves this by describing it as still, unmoving, and at times almost non-existent. For example, he remembers how she placed her "marble hand" on his shoulder, and of her movement, he says, "she came and went like a shadow" (27). Additionally, the narrator refers to her as the "outwardly calm Ligeia...always placid" and specifically to the "placidity" of her voice (29). In his cataloging of her features, in the Elizabethan manner, there is no evidence of movement or even life. The way the narrator isolates and meditates on each of her features produces a frightening effect that suggests he is describing her corpse. He tells of her “high and pale” forehead, her skin that rivals “the purest ivory,” the “soft and voluptuous sleep” of her lip, and her “serene and placid” smile (27). The adjectives pale, serene and placid, as well as the nouns ivory and sleep suggest an absence of movement or life, and could easily be used to describe a corpse. The subtle way in which the narrator manipulates the reader by describing Ligeia as if she is dead is proof of his power to dictate what is told in the story. He draws the reader's attention to his power to shape the narrative by making the story of himself. First, the story is called “Ligeia,” but the reader never knows much about it; the person the reader receives the most information about is the narrator himself. This tactic appears in many of Poe's poems about dead women. The implication is that the narrators care more about themselves than women. Secondly, the story acts as a kind of confession, that is, a relief of one's soul. There is very slight but noticeable evidence of confessions in the ambiguous deaths of Ligeia and Rowena. After reading the poem that Ligeia composed, she repeats the epigraph about the nature of the will and dies mysteriously. Since we are never told what caused Ligeia's illness, the reader is left somewhat suspicious of the exact cause of her death, and also, perhaps, suspicious of the narrator's action to achieve it. We have no direct clue as to the narrator's motivation for wanting to murder him, but he does say, "...in death only was I fully impressed with the strength of his affection" (31). The effect of this statement is to arouse the slightest suspicion in the reader that the narrator might have been dissatisfied with Ligeia's outward affectionfor him and was driven to end his life. However, there is not enough evidence to allow the reader to draw firm conclusions. Essentially, the narrator exercises his power in the construction of the story. He ropes the reader in, including selective details and deliberately arousing their suspicions whenever he sees fit. The cause of Rowena's death is also uncertain; we are only told that “she suffered from a sudden illness” (35). Immediately before his death, the narrator says he "saw falling into the goblet, as if from an invisible source in the atmosphere of the room, three or four large drops of a brilliant, ruby-colored fluid", which caused a "a rapid change for the worse" (36). This too arouses the reader's suspicions. The narrator would like the reader to believe that he sees someone or something else dropping the liquid into his cup. However, the reader may suspect that in reality the narrator placed a toxic liquid in his cup and, in his retroactive memory of the incident, imagined that he had witnessed it from an outside source. reader is sure is that the narrator was "mad with excitement from an immoderate dose of opium" (36). Therefore, the reader must use judgment in evaluating the narrator's story, which. is exactly what Poe wants The narrator draws attention to himself, arousing suspicion that he may have been responsible for the deaths of Ligeia and Rowena. However, this is done carefully and the story is, at best, a secret confession. Nevertheless, the arousal of suspicion about his guilt testifies to the power of the narrator in telling the story. He draws attention to himself – the storyteller – in order to question his own validity and establish a connection between death and creation. The other major example in which the narrator draws attention to himself is in his description of Ligeia's eyes. His magnificent “orbs,” which are “much larger than the ordinary eyes of our race” (28), are the constant subject of his reflections. One would imagine that when he looks into those big black eyes, he is able to see himself. Actually, that's not far from the truth; the narrator's obsession with his eyes is analogous to his obsession with himself - literally, the I. The contemplation of certain objects arouses a strangeness felt when looking into one's eyes: "a moth, a butterfly, a chrysalis, a stream of running water". " (29). He also mentions that this certain feeling is aroused "quite often by passages from books". Here the narrator particularly draws attention to himself by being self-referential. Passages from books - for example the one that he is writing - awaken the feeling he experiences when looking at Ligeia's eyes, which are for him only simple analogies. Once again, he draws attention to himself and to his. narrative agency, however, is the supposed passage from Joseph Glanvill, which, according to the narrator, "never failed to inspire [him] with this feeling" (29). before his death, and which appears as an epigraph to the story, is the key to understanding the narrator's power to establish the link between death and creation The idea that "man does not hand him over to the angels", nor. to total death, except through the weakness of his weak will" suggests that by harnessing the power of will, man can accomplish many things, and even fight death itself. The quote also mentions that God is "but one great will which permeates all things", adding to the suggestion that the will is omnipotent. At the end of the story, the narrator - thanks to his powers.