Vampire for Our TimesThe definition of cultural criticism, that it "is the point at which we take stock of all those elements of art that have traditionally been 'non-aesthetic' or outside of art, i.e. politics, social values, gender, class, religion, economics, psychology, history, etc." (my class notes), is remarkably like the marxist view of art as a product of complex political, economic, and social relations; a work of art must be considered within these contexts in which it is produced and experienced. Therefore, I have taken what can be considered both a marxist and cultural critical approach to The Vampire Lestat written by Anne Rice. Published in 1985, it is a successful and popular novel in the Gothic literary tradition in which a vampire, Lestat, relates the story of his life, both human and non-human. As part of the overall literary analysis, I also employ a psychoanalytic approach in examining how and in what ways this particular popular vampire character may reveal symbolic aspects of our cultural imagination. The Vampire Lestat was published by Anne Rice in 1985. It is the first person account of the life of Lestat de Lioncourt, told from the present day. Lestat announces that he is writing his biography in order to repudiate the portrayal of him by his vampire companion Louis in Interview with the Vampire and to announce to the world the existence of real vampires. He also has a band in which he sings songs about being a vampire and announces his intention to stage a concert, which he does at the novel's end. Except for this present day frame story which comprises 18 pages at the beginning of the novel and 30 pages at the end, the narrative is primarily the tale of Lestat's life. Born the son of an 18th century French nobleman, Lestat runs away to Paris to become an actor. But at the age of twenty he is transformed into a vampire by Magnus who then destroys himself by fire, leaving Lestat to learn about his new vampiric life alone. Using the fortune Magnus left him, Lestat sends money home to his family and friends and begins to live the life of a wealthy gentleman. But unable to bear losing his beloved mother Gabrielle who is dying from consumption, Lestat then transforms her into a vampire also and soon does the same for his friend Nicholas. However, Nicholas goes mad and destroys himself and Gabrielle leaves him to explore the mysteries of nature. After doing battle with a vampire coven called The Children of Darkness led by the vampire Armand, Lestat goes into the earth out of despair and stays there until found by the powerful, 2000 year old vampire Marius. Marius tells Lestat all he knows about the origins of vampires and shows him the 3500 year old mother and father of all vampires who are now more statue than human and no longer need to drink blood. But Lestat drinks the mother Akasha's blood when Marius is away and this awakens her. Lestat soon learns she has dangerous intentions of making all out war against humans and he vows to stop her by trying to make mortals aware of the vampiric threat so that they can be prepared for her assault. She forestalls his intention by showing up at the concert and this is also where he is reunited with Louis and his mother. The book ends here and the battle with Akasha takes place in the third of the five novels in Rice's vampire series. I first became interested in writing about Rice's vampire novels while reading them. Learning of their popularity and drawn especially to the figure of Lestat myself, I was struck by how philosophical the books were and how much they probed into the questions of human nature and human existence. There seemed to be more here than just a scary story and the way Rice weaved in mythic and historical themes only increased their complexity. Also, I never really got over the weirdness of a hero like Lestat who nevertheless seemed able to tap into something very deep in the cultural imagination. But not knowing much about the Gothic tradition in general, I felt ill-equipped to analyze Rice's novel without learning about the tradition itself. Therefore, this paper consists of an examination of the Gothic as a genre, a look at the historical significance of the vampire figure itself and how Rice elaborates on earlier representations in terms of history and religion, and an exploration of the metaphoric significance of Lestat as hero/protagonist; what does his popularity as a character reveal about our culture? |
