The Process of Spirit Possession in Edgar Allan Poe’s “Ligeia”
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“Ligeia” reenacts the possessed psyche of the narrator, which develops through his bewildering experiences of the three significant stages: being obsessed with the trace of Ligeia, mixing and confusing her with Rowena, and finally, identifying Ligeia with himself. The narrator’s obsession with his late wife in reincarnated form is revealed mainly through his memories and reflection on the past. Believing in the rebirth of Ligeia, he also mixes the images of Ligeia with those of Rowena and reaches a conclusion that the two incommensurable characters are one, undermining most of the classical rules and regulations about the life of humans. Finally, he realizes that Ligeia is everywhere as a free soul, revealing his protestations of love and identifying her with himself. Exacerbated by the three stages of possession, the fragmentation of his mentality constantly affects the way he reacts with the Ligeia’s spirit. The fragments may be construed as symptoms of demonic possession or schizophrenia, but his capacity for madness challenges the secure boundaries of absolute truth, since in some respects insanity is supposed to mean resistance against totality. Considering her fragments as parts of himself, he finally realizes that he has never been separated from Ligeia, and that he will go on living with the splits and fragments of her soul. In place of the separation between humans and spirits, Poe’s narrative may include the most trenchant criticism on reality, highlighting a mysterious process that legitimates conversations between humans and spirits. Ligeia still lives as a powerful human being as he strives for the process of self-identification.
Abstract
“Ligeia” reenacts the possessed psyche of the narrator, which develops through his bewildering experiences of the three significant stages: being obsessed with the trace of Ligeia, mixing and confusing her with Rowena, and finally, identifying Ligeia with himself. The narrator’s obsession with his late wife in reincarnated form is revealed mainly through his memories and reflection on the past. Believing in the rebirth of Ligeia, he also mixes the images of Ligeia with those of Rowena and reaches a conclusion that the two incommensurable characters are one, undermining most of the classical rules and regulations about the life of humans. Finally, he realizes that Ligeia is everywhere as a free soul, revealing his protestations of love and identifying her with himself. Exacerbated by the three stages of possession, the fragmentation of his mentality constantly affects the way he reacts with the Ligeia’s spirit. The fragments may be construed as symptoms of demonic possession or schizophrenia, but his capacity for madness challenges the secure boundaries of absolute truth, since in some respects insanity is supposed to mean resistance against totality. Considering her fragments as parts of himself, he finally realizes that he has never been separated from Ligeia, and that he will go on living with the splits and fragments of her soul. In place of the separation between humans and spirits, Poe’s narrative may include the most trenchant criticism on reality, highlighting a mysterious process that legitimates conversations between humans and spirits. Ligeia still lives as a powerful human being as he strives for the process of self-identification.
참고문헌 (15)
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