Character Analysis
Oh Lady Rowena Trevanion, how little we knew you! Nope, really, we don't you at all. The narrator barely tells us anything at all about her. Here's what we do know for sure: she's light-haired and blue-eyed, her family is money hungry, and she's shorter than Ligeia. Also, we know her last name, whereas we don't know Ligeia's. Oh yeah, and the narrator loathes her "with a hatred belonging more to a demon than a man" (21). What does this all add up to? It's simple, really: Rowena is the anti-Ligeia. She's the passive, fair-haired, blue-eyed, be-hated wife to Ligeia's strong-willed, raven-haired, dark-eyed beloved one. She's a classic foil, the yin to Ligeia's yang. Without her, Ligeia would have no body to take over, and so we couldn't really have a story.
Lady Rowena Trevanion Timeline