This paper will deal with the phenomenon of transmutation, what it consists of, and how it is understood today.
The resulting analysis will be applied to the work of Edgar Allan Poe in which it is most clearly evident: “Ligeia.”
Many scholars have focused on Poe’s concept of death and dying, but this article instead explores the idea of transmutation, or undying, portrayed by Ligeia’s possession of the maiden in the story: Rowena. This analysis will be conducted from three different but interconnected perspectives: anthropological, scientific, and psychological.
With the help of criticism, both of Poe’s contemporaries as well as modern scholars, it will analyze why these undeaths occur in Poe’s work, what different meanings they have, and what they represent in the cultural and literary context of the time.
About the presenterCristina Perez Arranz
Cristina Pérez earned her BA in English Philology and her MA in Literary Studies from Universidad Complutense de Madrid. She is currently a GSAS Visiting Fellow at Harvard University, and a third year Ph. D. candidate in Literary Studies at Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Cristina specializes on the new science and pseudosciences of the late 18th and 19th centuries, their impact on the work of Edgar Allan Poe and their influence on modern science.