The Therapeutics of Vampirism in Selected Novels of Anne Rice

135 Pages·2009·1.27 MB·English

by  Enas Alatoom

The Therapeutics of Vampirism in Selected Novels of Anne
Rice
By
Enas M. T. Alatoom
Supervisor
Professor Fadia Suyoufie
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the
Degree of Masters of Arts in English Literature and Criticism at
Yarmouk University
August 2009
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Dedication
Cordially dedicated to my compassionate father and mother
To my affectionate husband Ahmad K. Hawamdeh
To my adorable supervisor Prof. Fadia Suyoufie
To Kamal Hawamdeh & Sahar Shaheen
To the souls of Hajar, Sabry & Suad
To the soul of Khalaf El-Tal
To Aliah and Asma
To my family
To Ghazi
&
To Anne Rice
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Acknowledgements
I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to my great supervisor Prof. Fadia
Suyoufie for her guidance and inspiration that helped improve my thesis. I greatly
appreciate the comments and the suggestions she always offered that were real
gems for this thesis. This thesis could not have been completed without her ever-
available critical advice, guidance and help. I am greatly obliged to her.
I wish to express my gratitude to my professors: Prof. Kharbutli, Prof. Al-
Shra ah, Dr. Susanne Ramadan, Prof. Rawashdeh and Dr. Jaradat, for their
inspirations and encouragement. I would feel amiss if I were to omit
acknowledging the role of my other professors in the English Department of
Yarmouk University.
My respect and appreciation are extended to the distinguished members of
the Thesis Examination Committee: Prof. Mahmoud Al-Shra ah, Dr. Suzan
Ramadan, and Prof. Tawfeeq Yousef for their patience in reading the final draft of
this thesis, enthusiasm and comments. Special thanks go to Marcel Ayyoub, the
nerve of the English Department, and Mohammad Meqdady for their cooperation
and facilitations they offered along the research period.
I wish also to gratefully acknowledge my family members: my father Kamal
Hawamdeh and my brother Amjad Hawamdeh for providing me with valuable
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books of literary criticism from the US, my brothers and sisters Ehab, Eyass, Ala ,
Ayah and Isra who typed out the drafts of this thesis.
I am cordially grateful to my friend Adel Azzam for his invaluable support
and help, and my best friend Ghazi Abu Al-Shaa r for his invaluable
conversations. My thanks also go to Dr. Khadim Al-Refa e, Dr. Ahmad Okasheh
and to my friends Ahmad Kaddora, Aymen Abu Hatab, Nuzha Ayyash, Rasha
Hawamdeh, Qais Smady, Asim Shehab, Mohammad Shehab, Amer Shehab,
Hussein Awwad, Tawfique Sartawi, Osama Humeid, Deena Jarrar, Omar Abu
Lubbad and all people who helped me in every way possible through my research.
Finally, I wish to express my deep appreciation and acknowledgment of my
Arab American friend Ashraf Nassar because he believed in me, and my Belgian
friend Ben Heine, political artist, caricaturist and sometimes photographer, for his
creative work has always inspired and flavored my perception.
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Table of Contents
Dedication .. ... ...I
Acknowledgments .. ....II
Table of Contents ..IV
List of Abbreviations .. .........................V
Table of Figures ..................................VI
English Abstract ... ...............VII
Introduction .....1
Chapter I: Interview with the Vampire: The Loss of Faith and Quest for Meaning 56
Chapter II: The Vampire Lestat: Reunion, Reconciliation and Self-realization ...........82
Conclusion .. 108
Table of Ricean Vampire: The Postmodern Ouroboros and The Violin of Wholeness. 113
Works Cited .. . 114
Arabic Abstract .. 123
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List of Abbreviations
IV: Interview with the Vampire
VL: The Vampire Lestat
VC: The Vampire Chronicles
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Table of Figures
Figure I: The Ouroboros .. .. 99
Figure II: Jung s Psyche Model ...104
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Abstract
The Therapeutics of Vampirism in Selected Novels of Anne Rice
By
Enas Alatoom
Supervisor
Professor Fadia Suyoufie
This study aims to prove Anne Rice s self-dramatization in her novels
Interview with the Vampire (1977) and The Vampire Lestat (1985) from a
psychological point of view: Jung s concept of individuation and Freud s concept
of the uncanny. In order to understand Interview with the Vampire and The
Vampire Lestat from this perspective, it is imperative to look into Rice s life and
intellectual background to grasp the elements and factors that shaped her
personality and culminated in her psychotherapy in the lapse of time between the
publication of Interview with the Vampire and The Vampire Lestat.
According to Jung, the actual process of individuation the conscious
coming to terms with one s own inner center; the self begins with a wounding of
the personality. The raw material for Rice s wounds is already there. The
symbiotic individuation process of the major characters reflects phases in Rice s
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own individuation process that helped her overcome her sorrows and wounds,
namely her loss of mother, her loss of daughter, and her loss of Catholic faith.
Since identification is an unconscious phenomenon, the Ricean personality
in Interview with the Vampire and The Vampire Lestat, appears to produce itself
through its many transformations from one character to another. To Jung,
identification has always a purpose, namely, to obtain advantage, to push aside an
obstacle, or to perform a task or a kind of therapeutic purpose. Rice s
identification is obvious through the characters of Interview with the Vampire and
The Vampire Lestat. In these identifications, Rice projects her own family relations
and her wishful dreams. She also processes her psychological traumas, projects her
psychological turmoil and sublimates her dreams and aspirations.
Rice s two novels reflect some of the concepts of postmodernism. Mainly,
the thesis displays Rice s identification with two male vampire figures that
illuminate her apprehension of the spirit of the age and the search for meaning
amid the doubt of the chaotic postmodern era. Replacing the familiar image of the
vampire with a nonconventional one, Rice recasts and reframes the new image in a
way that is quite relevant to contemporary American postmodern society.
Keywords: American Literature, Postmodernism, Anne Rice, Jung, Freud,
Individuation, Uncanny, Supernatural, Gothic, Vampirism, Psychotherapy.
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