Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Vampires and Romance
I read an interesting post yesterday with a good explanation regarding the roots of the vampire/romance connection.
http://romanceresearch.blogspot.com/2008/09/intertextuality-and-vampire-romance.html
On those terms, similar to ones I utilized in Bryony, I'll accept the vampire as romantic figure. Vampires as leading characters in romance novels, however, still leave me cold. There's something anemic about a vampire as a mournful, misconstrued, altruistic ex-human who really has its victim's best interests at heart.
Soulless, predatory creatures relentlessly in search of human blood for existence sake generally do not display self-effacing tendencies, although, I'll grant, from the vampire lore I added to Bryony, certain vampires do retain some human characteristics, but not enough that I'd call one my soul mate. Can such a creature really fall in love with something that, at its bare bones, its next meal? I appreciate a nice steak, but not that much.
It seems logical that, when seeing the moon of another day involves taking a person's life and not getting caught, a vampire's survival must surely depend upon sly, conniving, and manipulative tactics, behaviors such as I might witness in my cats.
Although my cats do occasionally initiate small tokens of affection, they are most apt to do so when I've brought a sandwich up to my office or I'm wrapped up in some project and have again forgotten dinnertime.
Nevertheless, after tummy full of kiblets, those same cats not purring in my lap while we enjoy the sunset together. They're curled up in the clean laundry basket taking a nap or prowling the yard in search of dessert.
http://romanceresearch.blogspot.com/2008/09/intertextuality-and-vampire-romance.html
On those terms, similar to ones I utilized in Bryony, I'll accept the vampire as romantic figure. Vampires as leading characters in romance novels, however, still leave me cold. There's something anemic about a vampire as a mournful, misconstrued, altruistic ex-human who really has its victim's best interests at heart.
Soulless, predatory creatures relentlessly in search of human blood for existence sake generally do not display self-effacing tendencies, although, I'll grant, from the vampire lore I added to Bryony, certain vampires do retain some human characteristics, but not enough that I'd call one my soul mate. Can such a creature really fall in love with something that, at its bare bones, its next meal? I appreciate a nice steak, but not that much.
It seems logical that, when seeing the moon of another day involves taking a person's life and not getting caught, a vampire's survival must surely depend upon sly, conniving, and manipulative tactics, behaviors such as I might witness in my cats.
Although my cats do occasionally initiate small tokens of affection, they are most apt to do so when I've brought a sandwich up to my office or I'm wrapped up in some project and have again forgotten dinnertime.
Nevertheless, after tummy full of kiblets, those same cats not purring in my lap while we enjoy the sunset together. They're curled up in the clean laundry basket taking a nap or prowling the yard in search of dessert.
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