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In the shadow of the night : the gendered subtext of Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles
Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2011.
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University of Pretoria
2013
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| _version_ | 1867613614050902016 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author2 | Brown, Molly |
| author_browse | Brown, Molly |
| author_facet | Brown, Molly |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | © 2011, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. |
| description | Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2011. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/30252 |
| institution | University of Pretoria (South Africa) |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:38:56.612Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| publishDate | 2013 |
| publishDateRange | 2013 |
| publishDateSort | 2013 |
| publisher | University of Pretoria |
| publisherStr | University of Pretoria |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| spelling | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/30252 In the shadow of the night : the gendered subtext of Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles Brown, Molly shakirahoosain@gmail.com Hoosain, Shakira Anne rice The vampire lestat Vampire chronicles Vampire fiction Feminism Queer theory Archetypes Fantasy Popular fiction The queen of the damned Interview with the vampire UCTD Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2011. Anne Rice writes popular fiction. She is best known for her iconic Vampire Chronicles series. This thesis focuses on the first three volumes of this series: Interview with the Vampire (1976), The Vampire Lestat (1985), and The Queen of the Damned (1988). The main objective of this thesis is to show that whilst Rice's novels often seem very liberal, an examination of her subtext reveals a conservative message. This message helps entrench socio-cultural and political hegemonies because it does not challenge the status quo. In order to see how these conservative leanings are entrenched by Rice, this thesis examines archetypes of the female and the Feminine. Louis is male, but can be viewed as a Feminine character because of his meek subservience to Lestat (the protagonist of the series). Claudia is their daughter, but she is also a woman trapped in a child's body. Claudia seems to have great intellectual freedom, but she is trapped within her body and cannot mature. Gabrielle is Lestat‟s mother. When Gabrielle becomes a vampire, Rice tries to empower Gabrielle by androgynizing her character. However, we find that this androgyny is not empowering because Gabrielle returns to her role as a mother. Akasha is the ancient queen and source of vampirism. She wants to bring about a radical, gynocentric world by killing most men. But subtextually, Akasha‟s defeat represents the defeat of feminism in favour of patriarchy. Despite the seemingly liberal nature of the texts, subtextually there is a trend towards negating the power these characters carry in the text. To explore the flux between the text and the subtext, an array of post-modern reading tools and theoretical approaches have been used. The primary reading strategies include a close reading of the novels, informed by Feminist perspectives, together with other reading strategies such as, Queer Theory, Marxism, deconstruction and the role of the Fantastic. Little academic study has been devoted to Rice‟s work. Her work shows deep philosophical and artistic integrity which lends an elegance and beauty to her texts, but this is undermined by the conservative undertones of her work. English unrestricted 2013-09-07T18:25:43Z 2011-12-09 2013-09-07T18:25:43Z 2011-09-08 2011-12-09 2011-12-08 Dissertation Hoosain, S 2011, In the shadow of the night : the gendered subtext of Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles, MA dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://hdl.handle.net/2263/30252 > E11/9/273/gm http://hdl.handle.net/2263/30252 http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-12082011-152758/ © 2011, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria |
| spellingShingle | Anne rice The vampire lestat Vampire chronicles Vampire fiction Feminism Queer theory Archetypes Fantasy Popular fiction The queen of the damned Interview with the vampire UCTD In the shadow of the night : the gendered subtext of Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles |
| title | In the shadow of the night : the gendered subtext of Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles |
| title_full | In the shadow of the night : the gendered subtext of Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles |
| title_fullStr | In the shadow of the night : the gendered subtext of Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles |
| title_full_unstemmed | In the shadow of the night : the gendered subtext of Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles |
| title_short | In the shadow of the night : the gendered subtext of Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles |
| title_sort | in the shadow of the night the gendered subtext of anne rice s vampire chronicles |
| topic | Anne rice The vampire lestat Vampire chronicles Vampire fiction Feminism Queer theory Archetypes Fantasy Popular fiction The queen of the damned Interview with the vampire UCTD |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/2263/30252 http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-12082011-152758/ |