In his essay entitled "The Philosophy of Composition," Poe writes, "the death... of a beautiful woman is undoubtedly the most poetic of the world, and equally there is no doubt that the lips best suited to such a subject are those of a lover in mourning." Here Poe suggests that from the death of something beautiful comes poetic inspiration. In a Poe story or poem, the death of a beautiful woman creates a "deficit" of beauty. In turn, Poe fills the void with his "beauty", manifested in the narrator's own words. Since the dead can no longer speak to affirm or contest the truth, the grieving lover finds himself in a position of considerable power; she can tell the story of her lover's death any way she wants. In “Ligeia,” Poe explores the relationship between death and creation through the power of the narrator. From Ligeia's death a new story is born, of which the narrator is the master. Poe uses the analogy of Ligeia's awakening to represent the idea of ​​narrative creation coming out of death. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay At the beginning of the story, Poe's narrator increases his agency as a narrator by erasing that of Ligeia. He does this by describing it as still, immobile and, at times, almost non-existent. For example, he recalls how she placed her "marble hand" on his shoulder, and of its movement he says, "it came and went like a shadow" (27). Furthermore, the narrator refers to her as the "outwardly calm Ligeia...always placid" and particularly the "placidity" of her voice (29). In his Elizabethan-style cataloging of his features, there is no trace of movement or even life. The way the narrator isolates and meditates on each of his characteristics achieves a chilling effect that suggests he is describing his 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 drowsy, 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 evidence of his power to dictate what is told in the story. It calls the reader's attention to his power to shape the narrative by creating the story about himself. First of all, the story is called "Ligeia", but the reader never knows much about her; the person about whom the reader is given more information 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, as an outlet for his soul. There is very slight but clear evidence of confession in the ambiguous deaths of Ligeia and Rowena. After reading the poem composed by Ligeia, she repeats the epigraph on the nature of the will and dies mysteriously. Since we are never told what causes Ligeia's illness, the reader is left a little suspicious about the exact cause of her death, and also, perhaps, suspicious about the narrator's intervention in causing it. We are given no direct clue as to the narrator's motivation in wanting to kill her, but he says, "...only in death, I was fully struck by the strength of her affection" (31). The effect of this statement is to arouse the slightest suspicion in the reader that the narrator may have been dissatisfied with Ligeia's outward affection for him, and was driven to end his life. However, there is noit is enough evidence to lead the reader to draw concrete and quick conclusions. In essence, the narrator exercises his power in constructing the narrative. He strings the reader together, including selective details and deliberately arousing the reader's suspicions whenever he wishes. Rowena's cause of death is also uncertain; we are only told that "she was struck by a sudden illness" (35). Immediately before his death, the narrator says he "saw falling into the chalice, as from an invisible source in the atmosphere of the room, three or four large drops of a brilliant, ruby-colored fluid," causing a "rapid change for the worse " (36). This also arouses the reader's suspicions. The narrator would like the reader to believe that he saw someone or something else drop the liquid into his cup. However, the reader may suspect that the narrator actually placed poisonous liquid in his chalice and, in his retroactive memory of the incident, imagined that he witnessed it from an external source. The only thing the reader knows for sure is that the narrator was "mad with the excitement of an excessive dose of opium" (36). As a result, the reader is left with free judgment in evaluating the narrator's story, which is exactly what Poe wants. The narrator calls attention to himself, raising suspicions 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. However, the rise of suspicion about his guilt is evidence of the narrator's power in telling the story. He draws attention to himself – the narrator – to question his own validity and to draw a connection between death and creation. The other important instance where the narrator calls attention to himself is in the 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 his large black eyes, he is able to see himself. In reality, this is not far from the truth; the narrator's obsession with his eyes is analogous to his obsession with himself, literally the Self. The contemplation of certain objects arouses a strangeness felt when looking into her eyes: "a moth, a butterfly, a chrysalis, a stream of running water" (29). He also states that that certain feeling is aroused "not infrequently by passages in books". Here the narrator draws particular attention to himself by being self-referential. Excerpts from books - for example the one he is writing - arouse the feeling he feels when looking at Ligeia's eyes, which for him are mere analogies. Once again, he calls attention to himself and his narrative agency. The most significant detail, however, is the passage purportedly by Joseph Glanvill, which, according to the narrator, "never failed to inspire him with feeling" (29). This particular quote, which Ligeia utters before dying, and which constitutes the epigraph of the story, is the key to understanding the narrator's strength in drawing the connection between death and creation. The idea that "Man does not surrender to the angels, nor to total death, except through the weakness of his feeble will" suggests that, by harnessing the power of the will, man can accomplish much and even fight against death itself. The quote also mentions that God is "but one great will pervading all things", adding the suggestion that the will is omnipotent. At the end of the story, the narrator, through his narrative powers, brings him back to life Ligeia out of Lady Rowena's body The logic is as follows: Glanvill's quote about willpower reminds the narrator of the eyes of.