Throughout "Ligeia" and especially at the story's climax, there is an emphasis on the eyes of the Lady Ligeia. The narrator is profoundly affected by them. It is as though he has no concept of this world except through the eyes of the Lady Ligeia; thus, because he relied on her so completely for his metaphysical experiments, he relies on her eyes at the end of the story to make clear to him the things of the other world.
For a brilliant interpretation of this story in terms of the spiritual versus the material, as the Romantic's search for the ideal and as an escape from the mundane, see Richard Wilbur's introduction to Poe's selections, printed in Major Writers of America, Harcourt and Brace, publishers. This story, obviously, is so rich in detail that it lends itself to many and varied interpretations. For this reason, it remains one of Poe's finest contributions to the genre of the short story.
