Ligeia

During the story Ligeia the narrator is constantly discussing and bringing up the character Ligeia, however, I argue that she is not a real character. The first reason that Ligeia is probably not real is that the narrator is on drugs. The narrator states that he "was habitually fettered in the shackles of the drug" (pg. 9.) Therefore, it is very possible that he was merely experiencing an "opium dream" (pg. 9) and did not really see Ligeia.Due to his drug use we also start to doubt how honest he is being with us. Another reason Ligeia might not be a real person is that the narrator "cannot . . . remember how, when or even where" (pg. 1) he met Ligeia. Next, latter on, he realizes that he had "never known the paternal name of her who was . . . [his] friend and. . . finally wife" (Pg. 1.) Is this not a little odd that the narrator could not remember where he had met the love of his life, or even her name? Therefore, it is possible that rather than being a real person Ligeia was merely an idea that the narrator dreamed up to fanaticize about.