by David Adelman

Created on: May 18, 2009

Interview With The Sexuality Of A Vampire

The vampire Louis was sucking the blood out of his male victim and was enraptured by the beating of his victim's heartbeat there came the beating of the drum again, which was the drumbeat of his heart - only this time it beat in perfect rhythm with the different drumbeat of my own heart, the two resounding in every fiber of my being (Rice 30). In the novel Interview With a Vampire, Ann Rice describes the process of becoming a vampire as a sexual liberation from all social and moral constraints and taboos. The vampire myth has always been based on eroticism and violation of society's social norms the vampire was free to act out an individual's wildest sexual desires and fantasies. Bram Stoker's Dracula and John Pollidori's The Vampyre were heterosexual and preyed on women; however, there were underlying suggestions of homosexuality on a discreet level (Class notes). Ann Rice's vampires discover their preferences for the same sex. Sexuality is an important theme in Interview With a Vampire because the sexuality includes whatever had previously been taboo same sex relationships, sex with children, and sexual gratification from murder. When asked by the vampire Claudia what human sex was like, the vampire Louis responds: It was something hurried..And it was seldom savoured, something acute that was quickly lost (Rice 209). Vampire sex in Interview With a Vampire is very satisfying and even the interviewer (a boy) wants to become a vampire. Give it to me!...Make me a vampire now! (Rice 339)

Interview with a Vampire was published in 1976 during the post-Sexual Revolution in North America. More young adults were participating in premarital sex and the use of contraception became popular. During this time, Gay and Lesbian activists were developing a political voice and becoming more socially visible (out from the closet). We can see the reflection of these times through the characters Lestat, Louis, Claudia and Armand in Interview with a Vampire. From the beginning of the novel, we see an instant attraction and desire for companionship between Lestat and Louis. They sleep in the same coffin together, and they argue like any other couple would; however, Louis began to show disinterest for his creator and was contemplating leaving. "By morning, I realized that I was his complete superior and I had been sadly cheated in having him for a teacher. He must guide me through the necessary lessons, if there were any

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