Compare Ligeia and Emily

In William Faulkner’s, “A Rose for Emily,” and Edgar Allan Poe’s “Ligeia,” the past strikes upon the present and creates an unending battle for the characters. In Faulkner’s “ A Rose for Emily,” the main character, Emily does not have the desire to live her life through the present. She lives her life through the past and is happier that way. In Poe’s, “Ligeia,” the narrator, who remains unnamed throughout the story, …

…for keeping. In Edgar Allan Poe’s, “Ligeia,” the narrator lives his life completely in the past as well. He is stuck in the time when he was with Ligeia. He is completely obsessed with her and that leads him to not allow himself to love another person or even to be loved by another person. He will not let go of the past, and as a result, it creates an unending conflict for himself.