“Now that ceaseless exposure has calloused us to the lewd and vulgar, it is instructive to see

what still seems wicked to us.”-Thomas Harris, Hannibal

(144)

Moral Vampires and Monstrous Maidens:

The New Face of Gothic Literature

Abigail Fulton ‘09, Hanover College

Redefining “Gothic”“‘Gothic’ is a distinct modern

development in which the characteristic theme is the

stranglehold of the past upon the present, or the

encroachment of the ‘dark’ ages of oppression upon the ‘enlightened’ modern era.”

-“Gothic Fiction,” The Oxford Companion to English Literature

A postmodern development:Does today’s “Gothic” argue that our present has a stranglehold

on the sacred beliefs and meaningful practices of our past?

Primary Sources

Thomas HarrisThe Silence of the Lambs (1988)Hannibal (1999)

Anne RiceInterview with the Vampire (1976)

Stephenie MeyerThe Twilight Saga(2005 - 2008)

The “Moral” Vampires . . . call these Postmodern philosophies

into question:

• Moral Relativism - the idea that all moral systems are essentially equal, that multiple subjective views of good and evil are valid (Unwin; Jarvie)

• Secularism - the “actualization of the world as simply world” with no supernatural realm, or ruler-God (Franke 215)

• Pluralism - “‘religion à la carte’” (Swatos & Christiano 222)

Hannibal Lecter: Challenging Moral Relativism

‘Nothing happened to me, Officer Starling, I happened. You can’t reduce me to a set of influences. You’ve given up good and evil for behaviorism . . . nothing is ever anybody’s fault. Look at me, Officer Starling. Can you stand to say I’m evil? Am I evil, Officer Starling?’ [Starling responds,] ‘I think you’ve been destructive. For me it’s the same thing.’ [Lecter returns,] ‘Evil’s just destructive? Then storms are evil, if it’s that simple . . .”

-The Silence of the Lambs (Harris 22)

Lestat and Louis:The Consequences of Godlessness

“Evil is a point of view . . . . God kills, and so shall we [vampires]; indiscriminately he takes the richest and the poorest, and so shall we, for no creatures under God are as we are, none so like him as ourselves.”-Lestat de Lioncourt, Interview with the Vampire(Rice 88)

“Then God does not exist . . . . I can now accept the most fantastical truth of all: that there is no meaning to any of this!” -Louis de Pointe du Lac, Interview with the

Vampire (Rice 239)

From Broken-Hearted Existentialism to

Paranoid Pluralism: Introducing Edward Cullen

‘This is the very spirit of your age. . . .You reflect its broken heart.’-Armand to Louis, Interview with the Vampire (Rice 287)

‘[T]here’s a world full of dissension about this, but the vast majority [of religions] seem to think that there are some rules that have to be followed [to get into heaven].’ ‘Vampire rules aren’t enough for you? You want to worry about the human ones, too?’ [Bella asks]. [Edward replies,] ‘It couldn’t hurt. . . Just in case.’

-Edward to Bella, Eclipse (Meyer 353)

Edward: Protector of Bella’s Human Soul

‘Bella, we’re not having this discussion anymore. I refuse

to damn you to an eternity of night and that’s the end

of it.’-Twilight (Meyer 476)

‘Bella. Would you please stop trying to take your clothes off?’-Eclipse (Meyer 450)

‘I’m going to do my best to keep you

out of temptation’s way.’

-Eclipse (Meyer 454)

‘I’ll be damned—no pun intended—if I’ll let them keep you out [of heaven], too.’-Eclipse (Meyer 455)

‘I cannot be without you,

but I will not destroy

your soul.’-New Moon (Meyer 518)

The Monstrous Maidens are destroying the old conventions:

“the conventions of gothic fiction [demand that a story be] organized around the perils of a young, beautiful, and sensitive heroine, who, with malign sexual intent, is pursued from one . . . macabre place to another by a tall, dark stranger who is infinitely more interesting than the . . . young hero who rescues her.”-Leonard Wolf, Introduction, The Essential Phantom of the Opera (2)

The New Conventions:

•The maiden is a dangerous hero in her own right•She pursues the monster• The monster’s affection for the maiden therefore puts him in constant danger

Clarice Starling, the “Gun-Slinging Hero”

The qualifications of Jung’s “hero”archetype:

“Humble birth” “Early proof of superhuman strength” or ability“Rapid rise to prominence or power”“Triumphant struggle with the forces of evil” from Jung’s Man and his Symbols (112)

An “American cultural totem. . . . a comforting, old-fashioned, gun-slinging hero . . . from America’s interior”-Stephen Fuller, “Deposing an American” (821)

Bella Swan, Danger Magnet/ “Initiate”

How Bella measures up againstJung’s heroic checklist:

“Humble birth” “Early proof of superhuman strength” or abilityDELAYED “Rise to prominence or power” DELAYED “Triumphant struggle with the forces of evil”

“The initiate . . . . Is called upon to give up willful ambition and all desire and to submit to the ordeal. . . . . to create the symbolic mood of death from which may spring the symbolic mood of rebirth.”-Carl Jung, Man and his Symbols (132)

Why Beauty chooses Beast . . .

Critiquing Modern Families “There are few [intact] families in Gothic fiction, a telling absence . . . Parent-less children are left to roam the wild and gloomy landscapes without protection . . . and often without a secure sense of themselves.”-Frank Botting, “Aftergothic” (284)

Maternal features:•Nursing the maiden through illness/injury (Both)•Providing emotional support/ Drying her tears (Both)•Lullabies/Tucking-in at night (Edward)

Paternal Features:•Providing financially for the maiden (Both)•Offering protection in the form of strength (Both)

Why Beauty chooses Beast . . .

Freedom from Feminism?“I’m fine and better than fine. Don’t look for me. “-Clarice Starling, in a note to a friend at the end of Hannibal (Harris 544)

“The days were not long

enough for me to get my fill

of adoring my daughter;

the nights did not have

enough hours to satisfy my

need for Edward.”-Bella Cullen in Breaking Dawn

(Meyer 527)

“One of the weird things about modern feminism is that some feminists seem to be putting their own limits on women’s choices.”-Stephenie Meyer(“FAQ: Breaking Dawn”)

ConclusionThe Love/Hate Relationship:

Why the Maiden’s Choice Gets Under Our Skin

Our Monsters . . .• SHOW US OUR POTENTIAL by constantly “trespassing boundaries” and hinting at our own capacity for the superhuman.• REVEAL OUR UGLY SIDE as “scapegoats” who suck in our own wickedness like blood, and then prey upon our consciences when they remind us of our sins.•OFFER ESCAPE through “an existence outside the norm and the promise of a life free from the constraints of society.”-From Wayne Bartlett and Flavia Idriceanu’s Legends of Blood (145, 51)