hello i have to do a study as an analysis of "Ligeia" and "the murders in the Rue Morgue".please help me i have a great one on "Ulalume".thank u

-- Anonymous, December 28, 2003

Answers

COmparing those two works would be like comparing just about any random pair, but, as a stab, you might take the matter of solving the problem of death as a cue. The detective story enters into a mimetic reenactment of the crime in detail to get at the mystery, sticking to the obvious expalantions no matter how bizarre or minute theys eem at first. "Ligeia" reenacts the first marriage with an aim to bring Ligeia back, another victory(more cultic than rational) of mind and will over death. Both "satisfy" the drive of the man to deal with the mystery although at the conclusion the women's death could hardly be said to have been reversed to complete satisfaction.

Yet another example of the emphasis on the man striving with death in fantastic expepriences and achieving some extraodinary results. As for "Ulalume" there is a book that covers it concisely and in detail. "Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Poems" by Thomas Mabbott, still in print. Historical oringins and the story detailed with each allusion as far as possible. Other web sources might be selected articles from "Poe Studies"(selections from the print journal)or your local library online subscription services from such premium services as the Gale Group, etc. Extensive critical bibliography at www.eapoe.org.

-- Anonymous, December 29, 2003