Abstract

Women, especially deceased women have played a significant role in Edgar Allan Poe’s life and have been frequently reflected in Poe’s works. Among more than four hundred works related to women from Poe, Ligeia is the best depicted and most loved one by Poe and his readers. The heroine in Ligeia represents the perfect woman in Poe’s point of view and she is considered to be the combination of physical beauty and spiritual beauty. Since the short story Ligeia was first introduced to China, it has caught great attention of many Chinese scholars and critics. Based on surveys and researches from both home and broad, this thesis aims to try to explain the symbolic meanings of death of beauty in Poe’s profound work Ligeia from four parts. Part one is the introduction to Edgar Allan Poe and his work Ligeia and the general academic attention to Ligeia in China. Part two introduces the theme Death of Beauty, which highlights Poe’s literary contribution. Part three explains the image of the perfect woman Ligeia from Poe’s most famous short story. Parts four represents a sharp comparison between Poe’s views of beauty in 19th century and views of beauty in 21st century.

Keywords: Edgar Allan Poe; Ligeia; Death of Beauty

Contents

Abstract

摘  要

1. Introduction1

  1.1 Three Stages of Poe’s Eventful Life .1

1.1.1 A Unplanned Child (1809-1811)1

1.1.2 A Rebellious Young Man (1811-1828).1

1.1.3 An Unrecognized Maverick Genius of Literature (1828-1949)1

  1.2 Women in Poe’s Life.1

1.2.1 Two Mothers of Poe: Elizabeth Poe and Fanny Allan.1

1.2.2 Poe’s lovers: Jane Craig Stanard and Virginia.1

  1.3 Literature Review1

  1.4 Introduction to the Thesis1

2. Poe’s Literary Proposition of Death of Beauty.1

  2.1 Beauty1

  2.2 Death1

  2.3 Death of Beauty1

3. Analysis of Ligeia1

  3.1 The Image of Ligeia.1

  3.2 Death of Ligeia1

  3.3 The Symbolic Meaning of the Death of Ligeia.1

4.Poe’s Views of Beauty in Ligeia and Views of Beauty in 21st Century of China.1

  4.1 Poe’s Views of Beauty.1

  4.2 Views of Beauty in 21st Century of China.1

5.Conclusion1

6.Reference1