Perhaps one of the very reasons people like vampires so much is because of the relative connection they share. Looking past their shadowy complexion, pointed teeth, and stealth-like movements, vampires are a lot like us humans. In Anne Rice’s Interview With the Vampire Louis and Lestat posses more human like qualities such as the Seven Deadly Sins of pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed, and sloth rather than gothic elements of fear, horror, death, and gloom. Though Louis is very modest, Lestat is Rice’s most prideful vampire in the novel. Lestat killed Louis and gave him immortal life as a favor, but also because he wanted something that was his, and he believed Louis was his creation “... through the blood he’d given him, in every tissue, every vein.” (Rice 25). Taking responsibility for Louis transformation, Lestat had then set himself higher than Louis. He was now the boss and the teacher. As Lestat told Louis, “I’m your teacher and you need me, and there isn’t much you can do about it either way.” (Rice 34). This is the hubristic prideful trait that humans have. According to Jessica Tracy and Richard Robins, “People connect pride to self-aggrandizement, arrogance, and conceit…” (APS: Herbert), which the reader can relate to Lestat. Arguably the most dangerous Deadly Sin, envy took over the life of Louis. After his transition to a vampire, he lost his sense of self. He didn’t see the point in living if he was going to live forever because how can he do anything
Louis would make the nobles do many embarrassing things, such as dress him, and even take out his chamber pot after going to the bathroom. Nobles would also be honored to see the king wake up in the morning, and watch him eat, things that had never been seen done by nobles for any other leader in history. By making the nobles do things like this, it made them feel less highly about themselves, less powerful, and less likely to try to overthrow him.
Humans for centuries have been drawn to vampires. From sitting around the fire in the time before the industrial revolution, to sitting around the table and in modern times watching it on the big screen. The folk tales of the undead that hunt at night, sucking the blood of the innocent has haunted and intrigued the human psyche for as long folklore has been in existence. Being afraid of what is being told to them, yet being unable to pull away. The pull and push affect that these mystical monsters have on the human aura is undeniable. Modern day vampires have a cult like following. When the Twilight series came out, the people where divided between team Jacob and team Edward. Teenage girls would swoon over these monsters, dangerous yet alluring.
Vampires have been around for centuries, they represent the fear of many things such as sexuality, race, gender, etc. and above all, they stand for the fear of diseases. Vampires have once been the symbol of horror due to their terrific depictions and were described as a threat to the humanity. Throughout time, the image of vampire has changed dramatically from a monstrous, inhumanely creature that doesn’t belong to human society to such an attractive and adaptive figure that expresses more of the human side than the evil. They developed human feelings, senses, and live within our society. Modern vampire movies are often more romantic and “sympathetic” comparing to the past. Vampires have abandoned their horror and evolved to a more
“Sometimes the really scary bloodsuckers are entirely human” (Foster 18). In How To Read Literature Like a Professor, Foster argues that vampires in literature are not always actual vampires, but can be figurative as well: “Using other people to get what we want. Placing our desires above the needs of others...as long as people act toward their fellows in exploitative and selfish ways, the vampire will be” (Foster 22). In essence, Foster illustrates that the act of using others to attain one’s personal goal is analogous to a vampire sucking the blood out of it’s victim. Foer’s protagonist in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Oskar, also shows these vampiric tendencies in his goal of learning about his father’s key. “‘Actually, I’m diabetic
I have enjoyed many vampire movies over the years, long before they became the popular pop-culture genre they have become due to the success of The Twilight Saga films. One movie I have enjoyed viewing many times since its debut in 1994 is Interview with the Vampire. This film is an adaptation of the book Interview with the Vampire written by Anne Rice in 1973 and published in 1976. The movie was directed by Neil Jordan who also co-wrote the script with Anne Rice.
An important part of the novel is Louis’ refusal to kill human to satiate his blood thirst. Giving in to his blood thirst is the equivalent of becoming like the stereotypical vampire. At one point in the novel the vampires Louis and Claudia journey to Eastern Europe on a quest to find others like themselves. Elegant, intelligent, and beautiful, Louis and Claudia are shocked to find that the fabled vampires of Romania are little more than zombies, rotten half-eaten corpses who suffer the fate of being animated. "I had met the European vampire, the creature of the Old World," Louis pronounces as he kills the last of these. "He was dead." (Pg. 322). The previous passage is literally a comparison of monsters.
This completely contradicts Louis’ stand point on wanting to observe the mortal life and he regrets taking it away. However, Lestat is more attached to mortal thoughts than meets the eye. Louis talks about how Lestat has all these intense feelings towards human mortality. He is not thoroughly detached from mortality, he is very much affixed to humanity. Feelings like “envy”, “hatred” are very passionate human emotions one can have; though emotions like this are not as positive as Louis’ view on life, it is still a very strong feeling about mortality. He has this strong, negative emotional connection to mortality because his was taken away, and he cannot get it back. The reason “nothing pleased him unless he could take it from others [and] once having it, he [was] dissatisfied” is because they are talking about the life and mortality he can never have again (Rice 46). Lestat so badly wants his mortality back, that he tries to take it from humans, but he cannot retain it. This want and need for his mortality back causes him to grow “cold and dissatisfied” (Rice
Since the beginning of time vampires have been categorized into different "types” and are portrayed in different ways throughout several books. This paper will focus on three vampires from the following books: Dracula by Bram Stoker, and I am Legend by Richard Matheson. Dracula is considered to be the traditional vampire, where it all started, and the vampires in Matheson’s book, follow somewhat Stoker’s concept, but is more of a modern “type” of vampires. Certain vampire elements have been presented, but others have been completely removed or altered. In addition, elements along with appearances are used to infer if the vampire is a form of “the other”. There are two types of vampires; the traditional or modern vampire which can be distinguished based on the elements present in their storyline.
Louis’ sense of humanity is present throughout the story. His choice to refrain from killing human and the care he shows for Babette and Claudia are just a few examples. It separates him from the rest of the vampires. Many of the others find it as a weakness, however a few commend him for
He has never been punished before for his malicious actions, therefore he has doubt that there is a greater power in the world which will punish him. Louis contrasts Lestat's views because he believes in a higher power and that he will be punished if he caves into committing evil deeds. Louis describes that: "I should have never started with human beings. But this was something I had to learn by myself" (Rice 28). Louis believes that the feeding on humans is evil and he will be punished by a higher power, which is God.
The generalization for vampires has been displayed in films and literature for hundreds of years. The stereotypical versions of vampires are that they have long fangs, sleep in coffins during the day, and suck the blood out of humans. Both novels contradict those stereotypes in different ways. To understand the diversity of the vampires described in both novels, one must examine the characteristics that the vampires display and the meaning and purpose behind them. David D. Gilmore’s book “Monsters” analyzes monsters and other mythical creatures. Gilmore describes why humanity invented the idea of
In addition, his love was so weak that it could not stand strong in the battle of love and hate. Armand’s self-pride and racial separation are more significant than his
In other words, reign and glory does not last forever. “Seas would rise when I gave the word. Now in the morning I sleep alone…” (Coldplay 2-3). While he was king, King Louis XIV felt like he had control over everything, but now he does not. The songwriters used a hyperbole to exaggerate the king's authority over his people. While he couldn’t actually make seas rise it adds to the effect of how he had all he wanted, and now he does not. Some people might not even know who King Louis XIV was or what he did, and that is because it does not last forever. Old kings are replaced and we adapt and change. “Who like Satan, believed himself for an instant to be equal to God…” (Dumas 530). While the Count manipulates his enemies, he believes he is justified in his actions against them and goes so far to think he is doing the works of God. By the end of the novel he realizes that he has done too many wrongs, and is not godly. He thought he had control over world, and more than that he felt like he had the power of God, but in reality he did not. Alexandre Dumas uses a simile to describe how Dantes feels about himself after his reign is over. He realizes that while he did have the domination he did not use it all for good, and it meant nothing in the end. It went all went
Some people think that King Louis XIV did more harm to France than good. They cite his lack of moderation in managing his money. They also point out that Louis denied religious liberties to the Protestants of France and tightened control over his Roman Catholic subjects by revoking the Edict of Nantes. They also claim Louis’ war efforts were very costly and drained the treasury of France. Some say his arrogance, including his emblem of the “Sun King”, turned “his” people away from him. They think that Louis only cared about himself and what he wanted and didn’t think about future France.
The legend of the vampire has emerged countless times within human imagination over the past few centuries. The first available representation of the mythical creature in prose fiction can be found in John Polidori’s “The Vampyre” (1810). It was not until eight decades later that Bram Stoker popularized the existence of this figure with the publication of “Dracula” in 1897. The folklore of the vampire has come a long way since and can be found in today’s popular media more frequently than ever before. However, with due course of time, the representation of the creature has taken alternate routes and today’s vampires are noticeable different – socially and physically – from their predecessors. One effective path to trace this