Ashley Guffey April 7th 2015 Project Three Professor Milburn Page One Going Goth Possibly one of Poe’s most haunting stories, Ligeia merges the American Romance with the grotesque. While a beautiful story of love and its ability to overcome all, Ligeia’s method of conquering all for love can be described as nothing but grotesque. Without an exact definition the grotesque may be hard to describe but Poe is a good place to start. In today’s modern times the word grotesque makes one think of the word disgusting or even sometimes frightening. When speaking in literary terms grotesque may include disgust or fright but it is not necessarily entirely either. The grotesque typically contains a fusion of human with animal, vegetable, or even other …show more content…
A phantom appears upon the stage and chases but ultimately a crawling shape intrudes and the mimes become its food. The poem, titled “The Conqueror Worm”, appears to be key to Lady Ligeia’s obsession with life beyond death. This can be deduced by the fact that the worm is said to be mankinds most potent symbol of death. After the narrator is finished reading the poem Ligeia fervently reaffirms the idea that man does not yield to death except “through the weakness of his feeble will.” Ligeia succumbs to her sickness and the narrator can no longer endure the loneliness of his decaying dwelling. He sets out for months of aimless wanderings before settling in a remote part of England where after a time he marries Lady Rowena. Rowena seems to be the exact opposite of Ligeia in all except beauty. The narrator admits to her beauty but otherwise thinks of her as simple and unsophisticated. While Lady Ligeia was described as superior to this world, Lady Rowena is seen as extremely earthly and temporal. Compared to the metaphysical and spiritual qualities of the Lady Ligeia, Lady Rowena embodies the material and mortal qualities of the physical world. This can …show more content…
The narrator spends his time thinking only of his lost love Lady Ligeia and in the second month, Rowena falls deathly ill. Lady Rowena becomes terrified of what the narrator believes to be death but after closer inspection it becomes clear that she is terrified of the strange and unknown presences she feels in the room. As Lady Rowena drinks a glass of wine the narrator notes the sudden appearances of several drops of brilliant fluid suddenly appear in the glass of wine. Startled he believes that because of the late hour and through his opium haze that he has imagined it. Three days later, Lady Rowena is dead and on the fourth day we hear the narrator profess at the body of his deceased wife that he is only able to think not of Rowena, but of Ligeia. At midnight, the narrator hears a low sob come from the bed where the corpse of his wife lay. He then studies the shrouded form of Lady Rowena and after some time notices a very slight color appear in her face. It appears that the Lady Rowena is alive however shortly after she resumes the ghastly expression of death. This occurs a second and third time and each time the corpse seems to struggle more. Between each of these horrible experiences the narrator sinks into visions only of his previous wife Lady Ligeia. The revivificaition continues until the corpse struggles
In the text “The Life You Save May Be Your Own” by Flannery O’Connor, a common mood emerges from the somewhat humorous yet unfortunate work. A mood of grotesqueness among the characters and overall story as it presents itself, generally, making the audience feel quite uneasy and uncomfortable while reading it. Grotesque is a literary style, which comically and somewhat repulsively represents a distorted character or a series of twisted actions or thoughts that embody a character. The text creates a grotesque mood simply because the actions carried out by the characters resemble an extreme sense of despair and uneasiness, yet the way in which it is executed is somewhat funny and jocular to the reader, therefore creating an awkward overall mood
Within the confines of the movie, before the reading of the novel, this writer found the following several elements of the story confusing: who is Fergus and how does he fit in; Sarah’s standing on the hill looking toward her mother’s house seems unfinished; why does the Reverend Sorleyson treat his wife, Victoria, with such distain; what is the significance of the meal in which Hamilton orders Sarah to cook the fish for the Catholic woman; why does Frank voice no objections at the marriage of Sarah and Hamilton? Read on and ye shall uncover the answers.
...In her death-throes, she lands on her brother, causing him to die of fright. The narrator escapes only to see the entire
The writing style of Edgar Allan Poe shows the writer to be of a dark nature. In this story, he focuses on his fascination of being buried alive. He quotes, “To be buried alive is, beyond question, the most terrific of these [ghastly] extremes which has ever fallen to the lot of mere mortality.” page 58 paragraph 3. The dark nature is reflected in this quote, showing the supernatural side of Poe which is reflected in his writing and is also a characteristic of Romanticism. Poe uses much detail, as shown in this passage, “The face assumed the usual pinched and sunken outline. The lips were of the usual marble pallor. The eyes were lusterless. There was no warmth. Pulsation had ceased. For three days the body was preserved unburied, during which it had acquired a stony rigidity.” page 59 paragraph 2. The descriptive nature of this writing paints a vivid picture that intrigues the reader to use their imagination and visualize the scene presented in the text. This use of imagery ties with aspects of Romanticism because of the nature of the descriptions Poe uses. Describing the physical features of one who seems dead is a horrifying perspective as not many people thing about the aspects of death.
Zlotnick-Woldenberg, Carrie. "Edgar Allan Poe's "Ligeia": An Object-Relational Interpretation." American Journal of Psychotherapy 53.3 (1999): 403-12. ProQuest. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.
Louisa’s feelings for her lover have disappeared throughout the years and when her lover returns to marry her, she feels very uncertain of the marriage. Similarly, many engagements are broken due to the fact that the feelings between couples fade after there is a distance between them, for years. Another example that relates to life is, “[i]n that length of time much had happened. Louisa's mother and brother had died, and she was all alone in the world” (Freeman p). When immigrants return to their country, many deaths have occurred in the time period of their absence and sometimes the deaths include their own relatives. To their misfortune, they never have a chance to say a last good bye. The story, A new England’s Nun is very similar to the lives of many people and in many cases the same.
“It was a large, beautiful room, rich and picturesque in the soft, dim light which the maid had turned low. She went and stood at an open window and looked out upon the deep tangle of the garden below. All the mystery and witchery of the night seemed to have gathered there amid the perfumes and the dusky and tortuous outlines of flowers and foliage. She was seeking herself and finding herself in just such sweet half-darkness which met her moods. But the voices were not soothing that came to her from the darkness and the sky above and the stars. They jeered and sounded mourning notes without promise, devoid even of hope. She turned back into the room and began to walk to and fro, down its whole length, without stopping, without resting. She carried in her hands a thin handkerchief, which she tore into ribbons, rolled into a ball, and flung from her. Once she stopped, and taking off her wedding ring, flung it upon the carpet. When she saw it lying there she stamped her heel upon it, striving to crush it. But her small boot heel did not make an indenture, not a mark upon the glittering circlet.
The methods of character description in these stories are quite different. Ligeia is a beautiful smart woman that the narrator loved and describes in a positive light. She is very similar to Poe’s own mother, Eliza Poe. Rowena, the narrator’s second wife, is used as an object in the story to bring Ligeia back to him. She is seen as a substitute for Ligeia, similar to Poe’s foster mother, Frances Allan. Berenice is a beautiful woman whom Eageus loved out of consequence, she was around when he was sick, and no one else was. However, he objectified her, piece by piece, and identified her in comparison to him self. In the end, although he doesn’t appear to love her, he still tries to hold onto a beautiful memory of her when he pulls out her teeth. This appears to be similar to most of the women in Poe’s life. They were beautiful women who were around because he needed them. Each woman is an attempt to fill an existing void, such as his foster mothers attempt to fill the void of his mother. Poe’s bevy of beauties, some of whom he becomes engaged, fill the void after his first wife, Virginia Clemm died. As each of them leave him, either by death or circumstance, he desperately tries to hold on to their memory, while continuing to search for what he truly wants, which is to be part of a family
The definition of ‘monstrosity’ and what it means to be ‘monstrous’ can be understood to mean something that is visually unattractive, malformed and/or terrifying. However, monstrosity is not exclusively about something aesthetically ugly, it can also apply to what differs from what is considered ‘normality’. What is ‘normal’ versus what is ‘monstrous’ is closely linked when exploring ideas about the human condition. The representations of monstrosity in Frankenstein and in The Tempest reveal how what is monstrous and what is normal are often found side by side, challenging the idea that it is limited to outcasts who do not ‘fit-in’, and that deep down, a desire to be understood, accepted and included and to live life with meaning are central to the human condition and that monsters in society often reveal our deep seated fears and anxieties about our own existence.
Edgar Allan Poe has a unique writing style that uses several different elements of literary structure. He uses intrigue vocabulary, repetition, and imagery to better capture the reader’s attention and place them in the story. Edgar Allan Poe’s style is dark, and his is mysterious style of writing appeals to emotion and drama. What might be Poe’s greatest fictitious stories are gothic tend to have the same recurring theme of either death, lost love, or both. His choice of word draws the reader in to engage them to understand the author’s message more clearly. Authors who have a vague short lexicon tend to not engage the reader as much.
In restless sleep and longing for contact with those outside of Bly-- particularly her employer-- the governess placed hope in chance meetings of random individuals. In her walk in the yard, the governess began to wish for the sight of her employer who she was still madly in love with. The governess's desire to see him and receive his reassuring approval conceived the ghost of what was later revealed to be Peter Quint she believed she had seen. Later in her climax of interaction with her ghosts, the governess is afraid that the master will come home, for she is fearful of what he will think of her.
When looking out the window "she was drinking in a very elixir of life” (Chopin). The short story comes to an end with her husband walking through the door and Louise falls dead at the sight of her diminishing dreams. This well known short story is comprehended in many ways deciding the reason of Louise’s death and what “freedom” she experiences.
The literary comparison shall explore the following pieces: Plath’s “Lady Lazarus,” Woolf’s “A Haunted House,” and Atwood’s “Siren Song,” and “Happy Ending.” The first comparison is between Lady Lazarus and Siren Song, both poems contain themes of manipulation and the role of women in a patriarchal society. Furthermore, Plath’s “Lady Lazarus” contains two major ideas to be studied: role of women and manipulation. The role of women can be seen as the speaker struggles in her life as revealed by her suicide attempts. The quotes, “I have done it again / one year in every ten” and “I am only thirty / And like the cat I have nine times to die” reveal that she has tried it, it is now a tradition for her to attempt and cause her own death (Plath 1-2,
She now wants to carry a candle with her at all times, to have the light with her always. She is now trying to get the stench of blood off her hands, but is unsuccessful. The guilt of murdering Duncan eats away at her.
Two weeks after her father’s funeral, our protagonist Annie sees his ghost in her bathroom. Knowing he is dead, they small talk about her boyfriend, their farm, their deceased family etc. until he suddenly vanishes. Her father makes occasional appearances after that. They keep talking about everyday life until one night at the Opera House, where she not only sees her father, but her brother and mother as well. Knowing where to find them, she takes her goodbye with her dead family.