Part one of term paper
A Poe story which fuses the themes of transcendence and lost love is "Ligeia," Poe's own favorite of his tales. The story's narrator marries a woman of exquisite beauty--a woman named Ligeia. To the narrator (and to Poe, naturally), she is the perfect woman, for she possesses classical beauty, expanded intellect, and spiritual purity. He make ...

Part two of term paper
... sentiment which would not admit of analysis. "In 'Ligeia' it is the lady's eyes which represent, to her husband, the total knowledge embodied in her person" (Hoffman 228). Ligeia's knowledge exceeds that of anyone whom the narrator has met. The acquisitions of Ligeia were gigantic, were astounding; yet I was sufficiently aware of her infinite supremacy to resign myself, with childlike confidence, to her guidance through the chaotic world of metaphysical investigation at which I was most busily occu ...