The Raven and Ligeia a comparison Essay examples -- English Literature

The Raven and Ligeia a comparisonAlthough the two tales are presented in different literary forms thetales themselves deal with remarkably similar subject matter. So such(prenominal)so that it is possible to compare the style of each with but a littlereference to the general themes of the two works.The Raven and Ligeia are both about loss. The bank clerks of both taleshave lost the dearest thing to them, a charwo small-arm of incomparable talentsand beauty. That the loss of this woman has happened for differentreasons does not matter for it is how this loss manifests itself inthe lives of the narrators that provide the drama and the poignancy ofthe stories. In each we discover the narrator is dwelling upon thatwoman that he adored and in each we find the peculiar way in whichthey deal with this.In the Raven a man sits alone in his chamber reading ancient tomestrying desperately to keep his mind from thoughts of his lost Lenore.But he hears the sounds from without the chamber that could be perchancethe ghost of his be whopd. It is this irrational hope and fear that thebounds of death can somehow be transcended and that he might once morespeak with his love that begins to lead to his irrational behaviour.When the titular Raven makes its appearance the narrator is workedinto such a f ever of imagination guilt and fear that he perceives thebird as some emissary from beyond. So it is that its constantrepetition of nevermore are taken as both confirmation that thespirit of Lenore lives on and denial of him to ever speak to heragain. The narrator leaves us still locked with the bird projectingupon it his own feelings of self-loathing and hate.Ligeia on the other hand is a statelier version of the narrat... ...e thing he identifies with inhis current situation. When after the raven appears to have refutedhis fantasy of Lenore he finds that he hates the raven as an extensionof himself and perhaps the raven is nothing more than the narrators metaphor for himself or at least some darker aspect of his mind.The main difference between the two tales is that while Ligeia iscouched in very descriptive prose the Raven makes much more use ofmetaphor. That said the style of the poem is very much that of arhyming tale and as such is also similar to the prose building of theshort story. In conclusion it should be noted that both are excellentattempts to tackle a difficult and provocative subject and they managethis in two similar but unique ways. It is the similarity, which lendsthem both power and the stylistic differences that mark them as beingexceptional.