Guide Mentor

Ligeia

Ligeia's "presence," the narrator tells us, "her readings alone, rendered vividly luminous the many mysteries in which we were immersed" (8). It's clear right there: Ligeia is the driver this relationship: she's the teacher and he's the pupil. Without her, the narrator says, "I was but as a child groping benighted," and without her, we must assume, he wouldn't have been able to even begin to understand Ligeia's situation.