An online dictionary defines mental illness as "any of various disorders in which a person's thoughts, emotions, or behavior are so abnormal as to cause suffering to herself… or to others; ” a second definition is “any of various psychiatric disorders or illnesses, usually characterized by an alteration in thought, mood, or behavior” (Thefreedictionary.com). In the short story “Ligeia” by Edgar Allan Poe, the narrator perfectly satisfies both of the above definitions. In Poe's story, the unnamed narrator's beautiful wife, Ligeia, lives with him shortly before his death. After her death, the narrator remarries Rowena, who eventually dies as well. At the end of the story, his beloved first wife returns to him through Rowena's body. In reality, however, Poe's story is very different from what it appears at first glance. The narrator, under the influence of opium, creates Ligeia in his mind and, when she "dies", he kills Rowena himself to bring back his first wife. In the article "Poe's Ethereal Ligeia", Jack and June Davis describe "Ligeia" as the erroneous tale of a mad narrator who "knows Ligeia only through her opium hallucinations but wants to present her as a person real and credible” (171). . The narrator uses Ligeia to search for the elusive secret of eternal life. When she dies, instead of giving up his search, the narrator procures Rowena in order to present Ligeia with a corpse through which to return; thus, he commits murder to carry out his insane plot. Because the narrator of Poe's story fabricates the existence of his first wife, uses her to pursue eternal life, and kills his second wife to bring back Ligeia, he can be classified as mentally disturbed. The unreality of Ligeia is strong evidence of the instability... ... middle of paper ...... I am. What the deranged narrator once perceived as a victory over death is in reality nothing more than a drug-induced psychotic break. Works Cited Basler, Roy. “The interpretation of “Ligeia”.” University English. 5.7 (1944): 363-372.Web. April 7, 2012. Basler, Roy and James Schroeter. Poe's Ligeia. PMLA. 77.5 (1962): 675. the canvas. Apr 9, 2012. Davis, Jack L. and June H. Davis. “Poe’s ethereal Ligeia.” Newsletter of the RockyMountain Modern Language Association. 24.4 (1970): 170-176. Internet. April 9, 2012.Espejo, Roman. Mental illness. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2012. Print. “Mental illness – Definition”. The free Farlex dictionary. Farlex, Inc., 2011. Web. April 13, 2012. .Rabkin, Leslie Y. Psychopathology and literature. San Francisco, CA: ChandlerPublishing Company, 1966. Print.