This week we read the short story, Morella.
The narrator marries a smart, beautiful woman named Morella. She shuns society, choosing to spend all her time with her husband and her studies. As she delves deeper and deeper into her chosen field - mysticism - her body weakens, but her soul cannot die. Her husband begins to be frightened of her, and wishes for her death. She dies in childbirth, and her soul passes into the body of her daughter. As the girl grows, she becomes more and more the likeness of her mother. When her father has her baptized, he gives her the name Morella, and she answers, "I am here." Her father takes her to her mother's grave, where she dies as well, and he discovers that her mother's bones are missing from the grave.
This story is much more what I expect from Poe. Weird and creepy, with a beautiful but doomed woman. I thought Poe's take on the idea of reincarnation was quite interesting, and fit in well with the tone of the story. I'm not sure I agree with the daughter having to die - after all, she didn't ask to be the reincarnated soul of her mystic mother. All in all, I found this to be a good, scary read.
Poe Fridays is hosted by Kristen at WeBeReading. I don't know what we'll be reading next week, but I'm sure Kristen will have something interesting - make sure to stop by her blog and see what's up her sleeve!
2 comments:
I totally agree about the kid dying. That was really shocking. But I guess that maybe she was a bit *too* reincarnated? ;)
It's so good to see you participating in Poe Fridays too!! I'm always a little late (or a lot late!) in posting, but have not missed one yet!! Kristen has a hit on her hands in my book!! :)
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