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- Title
DESTROYING AND CREATING IDENTITY: VAMPIRES, CHAOS AND SOCIETY IN ANGELA CARTER'S "THE SCARLET HOUSE".
- Authors
BOTELHO, INÊS
- Abstract
The image of the vampire has changed throughout the centuries. It no longer represents a figure of absolute horror but a somewhat sentimentalized one; it has lost some of its otherness. However, the vampire remains a taker. Whether male or female the vampire is a parasite, requiring a second person on whom to feed. Simultaneously victimizer and victim the vampire establishes a symbiosis with the prey, be it a willing or coerced one. The vampire cannot exist without this second part. At the same time, feeding on someone's blood also seems to mean feeding on someone's soul. Therefore, some recent art represents the vampire as a taker of vital force. In Angela Carter's The Scarlet House, a male power figure called the Count aims to generate chaos into the female protagonist's mind by introducing and erasing memories, trying to force her to lose the grip of who she is. Memories are thus established as essential for creating an identity. This article argues not only that the Count develops a violent vampiric relationship with the protagonist but also that most inhabitants of the Scarlet House are vampires of sorts. It investigates how vampirism becomes a premise, a necessity, a fact, even a way of resistance and rebellion. Considering that the three memories described by the protagonist exemplify prevailing narratives, frequently used by literature and cinema, the article examines how those memories, full of elements well known to the Western society, also function as a form of vampirism.
- Subjects
VAMPIRES in literature; IDENTITY (Psychology) in literature; VAMPIRES in popular culture
- Publication
DQR Studies in Literature, 2015, Vol 60, p293
- ISSN
0921-2507
- Publication type
Article