Читать книгу Morality and the Construction of Religion in Anne Rice's "Vampire Chronicles" - Christina Beyer - Страница 4

One of the reasons why the Vampire has undergone extreme changes can easily be found: The perspective has changed. Whereas in former times Dracula was presented as a deathly threat to anyone who encountered him, Anne Rice gave the vampire a platform to expose his own perception of (after-)life. Having done that, the reader is now confronted with different questions. Instead of asking “How can this thing be killed most effectively?“, we feel for Louis when he tortures himself with the fear of being damned.

Even with a changed perspective the vampire stays a monster. His well-being heavily depends on the misfortune of others. It is impossible for Rice’s vampires not to act on their inner drive to kill. Considering this aspect, in combination with their physical appearance, which is very similar to that of a human, but still somehow different (extremely pale skin, visible veins), it is therefore impossible not to categorize these vampires as monsters.

Jeffrey Jerome Cohen‘s attempt is to understand culture through its monsters (Cohen 4). His first thesis is that the monster’s body represents a cultural body. As a metaphoric being, it represents cultural moments which say more about the contemporary Zeitgeist than about the being itself. Cohen states: “The monster’s body quite literally incorporates fear, desire, anxiety, and fantasy (...), giving them life and an uncanny independence.“ This uncanniness has a reason: Since the monster always manages to escape, the potential victim can never be sure when and where it might encounter it the next time. All that is left of it are remains that are hardly enough to even count as evidence for his existence (Cohen 4). So, on top of the uncertainty of the next appearance, there is the vague idea that the monster does not exist at all. This idea is emphasized by the human looking appearance that Rice’s vampires have. Hardly distinguishable from anyone else, the fear of a sudden reappearance of evil is always there. Lestat is aware of that phenomenon. “Try to see the evil that I am. I stalk the world in mortal dress. – the worst of fiends, the monster who looks exactly like everyone else.“ (The Vampire Chronicles Collection 651)

However, having changed the perspective, Anne Rice also gives a reason for the vampire to stay hidden. Since he is vulnerable at daytime, it is best not to reveal his true identity. Therefore, the vampire is not only a threat to others, but also has to fear his own discovery, since he himself is vulnerable.

Moreover, Cohen points out that the time of the monster’s occurrence plays an important role: “Because of its ontological liminality, the monster notoriously appears at times of crisis as a kind of third term that problematizes the clash of extremes – as “that which questions binary thinking and introduces a crisis.““ (Cohen 6)

The chronicles begin in the 18th century, a time in which dramatic changes in society introduced a new epoch, which must have been a challenge for contempories. (These changes had to do with the occurrence of the French Enlightenment, which will be examined in a later chapter in this thesis). Therefore, the crisis itself requires rethinking the conceptions of boundary and normality (Cohen 6). This aspect is exactly what Lestat is concerned with throughout the chronicles. In a long conversation he explains to the older vampires that the world has changed and that therefore the definitions of good and evil have changed, as well. “Don’t you see?“ (...) “It is a new age. It requires a new evil. And I am that new evil. (...) I am the vampire for these times.“ (The Vampire Chronicles Collection 651)

Cohen discovers that the monster is “difference made flesh“ (Cohen 7). Therefore, it represents the personification of otherness, an “incorporation of the Outside, the Beyond“. These differences tend to indicate political, racial, economic and sexual changes in culture. Keeping that in mind, it might be interesting to think about Lestat’s perception of the world, since he is this personified otherness that Cohen talks about (Cohen 7), not only due to his vampire nature, but also because of his very unique way of thinking. Lestat does not have any concept of religious or moral ideals. More than anything, he trusts his instincts and realizes that moral standards change over time.

Taking into account the boarders crossed by the monster mentioned already, Cohen’s fifths statement that the monster’s intention is to cross boarders of the possible does not come as a surprise (Cohen 12). “The monster stands as a warning against exploration of its uncertain demesnes.“ (Cohen 12) The message behind the monster’s ability to cross boarders is, according to Cohen, that “curiosity is more often punished than rewarded.“ (Cohen 12)

“(...) one is better off safely contained within one’s own domestic sphere than abroad, away from the watchful eyes of the state. The monster prevents mobility (intellectual, geographic, or sexual), delimiting the social spaces through which private bodies may move. To step outside this official geography is to risk attack by some monstrous border patrol or (worse) to become monstrous oneself.“ (Cohen 12)

As an example, the monster’s sexuality represents something forbidden that would not be permitted in society (Cohen 14). As we can see in the Vampire Chronicles, homosexuality is not portrayed as a problem, but instead taken for granted. Still, taking into account that the gay protagonists are representatives of otherness, it is questionable if this portrait of a gay relationship is beneficial. George Haggerty is very critical of that representation of queer culture for various reasons:

“The vampire represents the return of the repressed in a culturally significant way: both inside culture and outside, both a charmingly honest man and a wickedly deceptive one, both the phallic aggressor and the always already penetrated one, the vampire represents everything that the culture desires and everything that it fears.“ (Haggerty 9)

Having in mind that the vampire represents otherness, the outsider who is an outcast of society, he has enough reasons as a homosexual man to feel more offended by the portrayal of a gay relationship than to be glad about seeing a minority presented in Rice’s books. The naturalness in which the relationship of Louis and Lestat is narrated in the books might strike the reader as something very positive at first sight. But Haggerty has his doubts.

“For those of us who are gay, it may seem almost too good to be true that these queer figures go down so well, that they leap out of their darkened hiding places into the hearts of millions. I argue that it is too good to be true. I think Rice's vampires express our culture's secret desire for and secret fear of the gay man; the need to fly with him beyond the confines of heterosexual convention and bourgeois family life to an exploration of unauthorized desires, and at the same time to taste his body and his blood; to see him bleed and watch him succumb to death-in-life.“ (Haggerty 6)

The vampire, as mentioned previously, is everything that does not fit into main society. Therefore, the gay monster shows the reader what he should stay away from by his actions and desires. Just like killing is an obvious uncanny crime, being gay contains that very same uncanniness when being performed by a monster. Society has its boundaries and it may appear to be safe to stay within these limitations, yet at times it can be very alluring to overstep them (Haggerty 7-8). Another point that Haggerty is very critical about is that the vampire is not alive anymore. For him, his undead existence is a simulation of life, instead of a real one (Haggerty 9). This simulation of life is why a homosexual relationship could therefore be interpreted as a simulation of a heterosexual connection. It is obvious that this idea can be understood as offense.

Gail Abbott Zimmermann sees a parallel between homosexuality and standing outside society, as well.

“Homosexuals have also found gay allegory in the “outsider“ theme that is so central to The Vampire Chronicles. By nature, Rice’s vampires are unable to conform to social norms. Louis and Claudia search the world for a community that will accept them as they are, a yearning that all outsiders can easily understand. Yet, outsiders also represent the lure of exploring unknown territory. They are intriguing strangers who symbolize the seductive power of new possibilities.“ (Zimmermann, Anne Rice Reader 103)

Yet, it is not homosexuality alone that makes Rice’s vampires to outsiders. Even though their supernatural abilities make them superior to the average mortal, these powers are something that sets them apart even more. This can be seen by the act of recreation, which is in most cases one with an unhappy outcome. Louis despises Lestat as soon as he becomes a vampire and Lestat has enough reason to be appalled by the way he is turned into a vampire and then left by his maker Magnus. The role of a guardian is later taken on by Marius, who introduces Lestat to vampire secrets. As Marius explains later on, the relationship between the one who makes a vampire and the new fledgling is supposed to be a very complicated one by nature. “We used to say it was Satan’s will, that the master and the fledgling not seek comfort in each other. It was Satan who had to be served, after all.“ (The Vampire Chronicles Collection 677)

Furthermore, he says: “They never satisfy you, the ones you make. In silence the estrangement and the resentment only grow.“ (The Vampire Chronicles Collection 677) The estrangement that follows the performance of the Dark Trick, how the creation of a new vampire is called in the book, gives Haggerty another reason to complain about the depiction of gay relationships.

“(...) they (the vampires) avoid the kinds of commitments that make human beings human; they betray human relations with the kiss of everlasting life that is death itself; they slip among, between, even within ordinary mortals and bring them grief. Their pleasure is finally narcissistic, and narcissism is performed with abandon throughout these texts.“ (Haggerty 14) Therefore, narcissism can also account for something that separates the monster from normality. (Haggerty 14)

A different perception of Rice’s recreation process is given by Sandra Tomc. She focuses on the absence of female characters in the novels. For her, the creation of a new vampire type represents a process of liberation (Whether sexual, gay, or women’s) (Tomc 96). Tomc sees in the male – male relationship a sign of equality between two beings (Tomc 97). Still, their ability to recreate life is striking for the needlessness of femininity in Interview with the Vampire. Being able to create new vampires without the need of a woman emphasizes the variety of roles that Rice’s vampires can play (Tomc 99).

“When Louis and Lestat make a vampire out of Claudia, they do so quite literally over her mother’s dead body. Discovering the still human little girl alone in a house and crying over the corpse of her mother, Louis is at first aware of some mysterious and powerful maternal power that emanates from the mother and challenges his own claims to Claudia. But this “natural“ maternity is soon exposed as the inferior stuff of mortal frailty.“ (Tomc 98) This obvious unnecessariness of female characters shows how many roles can be played by just one of Rice’s characters. They can be lover, father and son at the same time, without contradictions (Tomc 99).

By receiving an insight into the possible roles a vampire can play in Rice’s novels, we get an idea of what life is like for this strange creation. The detailed description of their superiority and inner conflicts takes away the estrangement that usually comes along with the otherness of the monster. The reversed point of view and the revelation of vampire secrets take away an uncanny feeling that may have been created in other stories such as Dracula. Still, the otherness of the monster does not vanish just by being mentioned. Instead, since attributes of the vampire are known, now the vague feeling of being threatened by something unknown is confirmed.

The vampire crosses boarders of the possible by feeding on blood and surviving death and – as a consequence – his own times. Also, he crosses boundaries of the possibilities of society by living out desires of a different lifestyle. The alternative family formation of Louis, Lestat and Claudia is only one example for that. This double transcendence of boundaries is exactly what creates the otherness in Rice’s novels, and by having different concepts of life outside of a general society, human moral standards also vary, since they are no longer applicable to something that stands as a representative of otherness, such as Louis or Lestat.

Therefore, if the vampire is portrayed as the counterpart to what is considered to be normal, is it possible for him to still be part of a community and to live according to moral standards? As shown previously, with the otherness of the vampire, the outlook on society and moral standards inevitably changes. To be able to judge Louis for the conflict he experiences between his actions and his beliefs, the first thing that needs to be done is to have a closer look on the question if human morality is applicable to someone who is (no longer) human. In order to do that, it is helpful to take a closer look at how personhood can be defined. Having answered this question, it is important to see what is necessary to be part of a moral community.