Reading Guide: Poe’s "Ligeia"

A suggested tactic for working with the vocabulary -- Don't look the words up until you run across them in your reading through the works. Try to figure them out from the context and only if you can't make the meaning out, only then look them up.

The epigraph has to be understood before the thematics of the story can be understood. Did you notice it was repeated in part several places?

Don't you find it odd that he can't remember where he met this woman he loves so much?  What else does he not know about her?

Boy, does he spend a lot of time describing her or what? And those eyes. What did the eyes almost, but not quite, reveal?

Fill in the blank:

Ligeia, a calm woman, but still a prey to __________?

"I was sufficiently aware of her infinite supremacy to resign myself, with a ___________ confidence, _______________ through the chaotic world of metaphysical investigation. . . . . " [Remember the meaning of the word "metaphysician"?]

"Without Ligeia, I was but as a ___________________."

After filling in the above blanks how would you characterize their relationship?

How does the repeated Glanville quote relate to the Ligeia's struggle with death?
At her death bed how did their relationship change? He calls it her "more than womanly abandonment to a love, alas, all unmerited, all unworthily bestowed." What does he mean "more than womanly," "all unmerited"?

How is Rowena different from Ligeia?

How's her name different in tone from Ligeia's? If you were going to name a child "Rowena," what would you think the child would be like?
Would you like to have your bridal chamber decorated like theirs?
What influence did this bedroom and house have on their relationship, their marriage, their life?
What did he sit and think about while sitting next to the body of Rowena?

A List of Questions in no particular order:

According to the epigraph of "Ligeia," what defeats death?
Finish the following quote with the best paraphrase: "Without Ligiea I was but as a ___________________."
In "Ligeia" the narrator moves to an abbey somewhere in Europe. Which would be the best general description of the interior decoration style?
In "Ligeia", what fell in the wine?
[Ligeia] What strange object was in each of the corners of their bedroom?
What basically happens at the end of "Ligiea"?
What color is Rowena's hair?
What was Ligeia's most striking and memorable physical feature?
[Ligeia] What color is Ligeia's hair?
[Ligeia] What strange object was in each of the corners of their bedroom?
[Ligeia] What does the "husband" know about Ligeia's past?