Edgar Allen Poe, who is sometimes referred to as the master of the abnormal, skillfully incorporated themes of beauty, death, and the dark side into his writings. The representation of attractive deceased women stands out as one of his recurrent themes and is one of his most eerie and captivating literary legacies. Poe creates fascinating and mysterious characters in his poems and novels; he creates his characters personalities to lead to attraction beyond the afterlife and leave a lasting impression on readers as well as the history of literature. Poe’s poem “The Raven” has one of his most famous representations of beautiful, deceased women. In this poem, the narrator weeps at the death of his beautiful lover Lenore, whose memory follows him …show more content…
He explores the mysterious qualities of beauty and the infinite potential of the human soul beyond morality. “Here at least,” I shrieked aloud, “can I never-can I never be mistaken-these are the full, and the black, and the wild eyes of the lady-of the lady Ligeia” (Poe 749)! Basler recognizes that Edgar Allen Poe is so obsessed with Ligeia that the reincarnation of her is a description of his own opium induced hallucination (Jack and June Davis 171). I believe Poe was so insanely obsessed with Ligeia that he thought she was flawless due to the love he had for her soul and beauty. He saw no flaws in Ligeia, even when he said she had wide eyes. Those eyes are on me! Those large, those shining, those divine orbs” (Poe 741)! The only imperfection she had was unreal. “There is no exquisite beauty without some strangeness in the proportion” (Poe 740). Poe’s characterization of beautiful, deceased women is illustrated by “The Fall of the House of Usher.” In this instance, the famous house’s deterioration and downfall are represented by the pale and ghostly Madeline Usher. Her ghostly presence accompanies the narrator, symbolizing the terrible heritage of the Usher