Often, elements of the mind and past developments play a key role in understanding events and writings. In Edgar Allan Poe's short stories "Ligeia" and "The Fall of the House of Usher," Poe writes stories that reveal the inner desires that motivate action and perception. In “Ligeia,” Poe orchestrates his story to comment on his own family history as well as to demonstrate the complex elements of a mother-child relationship. Its themes of love and obsession suggest an Oedipus complex in its narrator, which creates an even more convoluted story that demonstrates the complexity of family. Additionally, Poe's three characters in "The Fall of the House of Usher" represent the three elements of the human mind: the id, the ego, and the superego. This demonstration of psychoanalytic motivation explains the functions of the mind and suggests the strength of desire. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Edgar Allan Poe led a tumultuous life filled with loss. At a very young age, Poe lost his mother, and while he was still young, Poe's adoptive mother died. This tragic life led Poe to have a strong need for maternal love which is seen in his literary works (Jones 446). In “Ligeia” by Edgar Allan Poe, Poe creates a form of Oedipus complex between the narrator and his wives. Although the story does not involve a mother-son relationship, Poe creates a mother-child-like relationship between the narrator and his two wives. Poe uses the themes of obsessions and the repetition of youthful words in reference to the narrator to emphasize the role of women as mother figures. Through the characterization of Ligeia and Rowena, Poe portrays a loving and interesting mother and an uninvolved and carefree mother. This dynamic arises from Poe's unresolved difficulties with his own parents and involves the complexity of the relationship between a mother and son. Throughout the story, the narrator attributes childlike qualities to himself, affirming his role as a child in his relationship with his wife. When speaking of Ligeia's vast knowledge, he explains that "[I] resign myself, with childlike confidence, to her guidance" (Poe 8). This is a very common feeling of trust that a child has towards their mother, but does not reflect the traditional position of a husband and wife. Later, after Ligeia's death, the narrator admits that "without Ligeia, I was only a groping child plunged in the night" (Poe 12). The speaker explains his complete dependence on Ligeia, just as a child must be entirely dependent on its mother to survive. The narrator goes on to assert once again that he “gave way, with childish perversity” (Poe 13). This repetition of the word child in reference to the narrator depicts the dynamics of the relationship and implies that the narrator relates to his wife the way a child relates to his mother. The narrator depends on Ligeia and needs her advice. The speaker expresses feelings of obsession and attachment to the mother figure, which Freud explains as the early stages of the Oedipus complex. To describe Ligeia, the narrator uses words such as “majesty,” unparalleled beauty, and “inspiring vision” (Poe 3). These words reflect strong worship and suggest that the narrator views Ligeia as somewhat divine. This description closely matches Freud's view of how children perceive their parents. A child sees his mother with unwavering love and supernatural qualities. The narrator associates himself with the juvenile language and respects Ligeia as a child a mother affirming her role and emphasizing Poe's allusion to thecomplexity of family dynamics. An additional element that suggests that the relationship between the narrator and his wife represents a mother-son relationship is found in the first line of the text. The speaker admits that “I cannot, for my soul, remember how, when, or even precisely where, I became acquainted with Lady Ligeia” (Poe 2). It's a very strange feeling to express about a woman, but a very natural relationship to have with a mother. Individuals may not recount the moment they met their mother, but almost everyone has a meaningful story that describes meeting their significant other. This oddity suggests that there is no traditional relationship between the narrator and his wife but rather one of maternal influence. Once this relationship is established, it is clear that Ligeia represents a preferable mother while Rowena represents neglect. When describing Ligeia, the narrator spends paragraphs praising Ligeia's every characteristic, but when referring to Rowena, the speaker explains "that she avoided me and loved me little" (Poe 21) . This dynamic strongly references Poe's relationship with his adoptive mother. Lorine Pruette, author of A Psycho-Analytical Study of Edgar Allan Poe, expresses that "[Poe's] adoptive mother pursued his desires...but in no way seemed to have satisfied his passionate desire for love and approval." (Pruette 378). Poe grew up longing for the relationship and approval of a caring mother and projects these feelings of inadequacy and abandonment in his writing. Using characterization, Poe demonstrates feelings of obsessive love as well as feelings of neglect which allude to Poe's own feelings towards the mother figures of his childhood. Poe expresses a confused view of maternal relationships that fits with Freud's beliefs that children experience feelings of love, jealousy, and obsession toward their mothers. Just as the actions and feelings of the character in "Ligeia" are based on the functions of the human mind and instinct explained by Freud, the motivations of the character in Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" can be explained by Freud's belief that the mind is composed of the id, the ego and the superego. The narrator, approaching the house, explains that “from the first glimpse of the building, a feeling of unbearable sadness invaded my mind” (Poe 3). This house represents its tenants, and the narrator's dislike of the dark and gloomy house is based on the fact that the narrator embodies opposing qualities such as goodness and morality. This characterization implies that the narrator is the superego and symbolizes the unconscious part of the brain that psychologists describe as the "system within the total psyche developed...by incorporating the moral standards of society" (Strunk 318). The narrator represents established societal rules about kindness and opposing selfish desires. The juxtaposing element of the unconscious is the id which is defined as “the division of the psyche from which blind, impersonal and instinctive impulses lead to the immediate satisfaction of primitive needs” (Strunk 317). This part of the mind is represented by Madeline and represents instinctive and selfish desires. Although her physical character is barely visible in the story, the malignant effect that Madeline had on her brother, Roderick, is very evident throughout the narrative. Roderick is the owner of the house and represents the ego or conscious part of the mind. The ego regulates between the id and superego, balancing innate desires with social morality. In Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher," Poe constructs a story in which the id has taken control of the ego, leading to its complete demise.Roderick represents an individual whose id has dominated his superego. Early in the story, the tale's narrator and superego received a letter of a "savagely unwelcome nature" that expressed Roderick's illness and "sincere desire to see" the narrator in person (Poe 4). This implies that Roderick has been overwhelmed by his identity and is now descending into illness and defeat. In an effort to create balance and save himself, Roderick invites the narrator to compensate for Madeline's effects. Once the narrator arrives home, Roderick explains, "that much of the peculiar sadness which thus afflicted him could be attributed to... [his] tenderly beloved sister" (Poe 10). This further shows that Roderick's identity is represented by his sister, Madeline, who caused Roderick's sick condition. As the story continues, Madeline dies and Roderick and the narrator place the body in a safe (Poe 17). This action symbolizes Roderick's attempt to rid himself of the id and escape his desires. Roderick locks away his identity in a natural effort to resist the powers of human desire. Ultimately, the ego is unable to avoid the id's hold on desire that is represented by Madeleine's hold on Roderick's physical body. Madeline escapes from her safe, alive, and rushes to Roderick. Madeline collapses and dies, which causes Roderick to also collapse and die of fear (Poe 25). Madeline is the cause of Roderick's illness and eventual death, representing the id's ability to take control and destroy the mind. Roderick is unable to escape his innate desires and it is killing him. He tries to compensate by familiarizing himself with his superego but it is too late and Roderick is defeated. Poe attributes overwhelming force to the darker aspects of the mind and suggests that the id is incapable of being buried or fought by the ego. “Ligeia” and “The Fall of the House of Usher” as well as many other Poe short stories. , centered on the themes of death and regeneration. These themes stem not only from the deaths of Poe's mother and adoptive mother, but the writer also survived the deaths of his friend Jane Stith Stanard and his wife Virginia Clemm. Poe himself wrote: “I could only love where Death mingled his own with the breath of Beauty. » (Jones 446) This considerable loss inevitably played an emotional role in Poe's writings. Freud explains that part of the human death instinct is the need to express aggression related to the emotions of death. This expression can generally occur internally in the form of self-sabotage or externally in the form of violence against others. Poe demonstrated various forms of aggression towards himself and others throughout his life, but his writings constitute another form of treatment of the death instinct detailed by Freud. Despite this preoccupation with death, Poe's writings on disappearance are often intertwined with a kind of rebirth of life. Pruette explains that this repetition of the theme of history in Poe's writing alludes to the idea that Poe believed "that the dead are not entirely dead to consciousness" (Pruette 378). This can be seen in Ligeia's takeover of Rowena as well as Madeline's escape. the safe. In both cases, the characters are able to achieve a type of afterlife that calls into question the finality of death. This notion is supported by Freud's belief that "in our unconscious we are immortal." These two suggestions made by Freud and Poe imply that there is more to the mind than life and death and explain the themes of the return of life after death in Poe's work. In Edgar Allan Poe's "Ligeia" and "The Fall of the House of Usher", the elements of. 23,.