Ligeia In The Yellow Wallpaper

When reading a story written in first person, the reader is taken on a journey inside the mind of the narrator. The story is observed from his/her perspective. Whether or not the elements of the story are believable, the reader is able to capture its true essence from the narrator’s point of view. As the story unfolds, I will show you how the narrator is incredibly important and how his personality and persona is vital to the way this story is told. Without him, there is no Ligeia.

In the beginning of the story, the narrator introduces Ligeia to the reader but his recollection of how he met her is vague. It’s been a long time and he says, “My memory is feeble through much suffering; or, perhaps, I cannot now bring these points to mind, because, in truth, the character of

He says, “In stature she was tall, somewhat slender, and in her latter days even emaciated.” Arguing there has never been a woman of her equal he compares her beauty to “the radiance of an opium dream – an airy and spirit-lifting vision” (Poe 645). His description of her hair is compared to a hyacinth, describing it as “raven-black, glossy, luxuriant and naturally-curling tresses” (Poe 645). Her nose, lips, dimples, teeth, chin and eyes are noteworthy in his eyes. He spends a great deal of time describing Ligeia’s eyes concluding they were “far larger than the ordinary eyes of our race…fuller than the fullest of the Gazelle eyes” (Poe 645); however the strangeness of her eyes were only experienced at times of extreme excitement. The narrator’s inflated description of Ligeia is biased and mind-boggling as the reader contemplates how to perceive such a person; however, with his description, he is able to capture and charm the reader into his reality of Ligeia’s undeniable beauty. As you can see, the description of Ligeia from the narrator’s view is relevant because the reader needs to see her as he