Week Two: Vampires

 

Considering I haven't read Interview with the Vampire in years and have had no time to spare to reread it, I'll be focusing on the relationships in Byzantium for this week. I have had Byzantium sitting on my "to-watch" list for months now, so to finally be able to watch it was FANTASTIC. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and scold myself for not watching it sooner.
  What really drew my attention to Byzantium was the relationship between Clara and Eleanor. At the beginning of the film, the two pass themselves off as sisters, subtle hints reveal that there is more to their relationship than simply being siblings. Through flashbacks and writing, Eleanor reveals that Clara is actually her mother. It is also revealed how these two became vampires, and considering they are two female leads in the story, it becomes even more interesting to me. Whereas most vampire stories I am familiar with focus on male vampires and their relationships with mortal females, this film turns the table on that aspect.
    Clara and Eleanor rely on each other to survive in the modern world by maintaining a living, with Eleanor relying more on Clara. Clara typically uses men as bait for her feasting and her schemes, whereas Eleanor prefers the old and sick. One of the men that Clara uses is Noel, who provides the two girls a place to stay and a brothel to build. At the end of the film, our two leads split ways to live their own individual lives. Clara leaves with Darvell, who is also a vampire and the reason Clara was able to become one initially. Eleanor leaves with Frank (her love interest), a sickly mortal boy who, with Eleanor's help, becomes a vampire at the end. Both ladies are either in mutual respect for their partner or above them in power, which is a nice difference to see in comparison to other vampire stories that tend to show the opposite.
 

Week One: Gothic in Contemporary Culture (Game of Thrones)

   The elements of the gothic have continued to transcend throughout our contemporary culture; scattered among film, television, fashion, and of course literature. To this day, it still brings intrigue to society as it did centuries ago. Many elements of the gothic can be found in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, or more popularly known as Game of Thrones. I'll be discussing the book series rather than the show, and considering the book is structured by multiple plot lines through character point-of-view chapters, I'll be focusing on Sansa Stark's storyline as it oozes "gothicness". Her arc emphasizes the deconstruction of gothic romanticism, which is demonstrated more so in the novels rather than the television show. Sansa Stark has a much more popular fanbase among readers rather than viewers of the show, especially among the female crowd.

  At the beginning of the series, Sansa is a young yet extremely naive girl who believes firmly in songs and stories of her world; that the gallant knight sweeps the young maiden off her feet to their happily ever after. She resembles the typical pure and innocent female protagonist of gothic novels, such as Catherine Morland from Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey. As her story progresses, she learns that life is not a song. She is confronted with the grotesque and brutal Sandor Clegane, whose face is half burnt and soul is filled with rage. He is one of the few characters that show any sympathy towards Sansa after her father is executed, she becomes almost an idea of purity and kindness to him, though he still reprimands her for her naivety. Their dynamic is reminiscent of a beauty and the beast trope, often found in the gothic. Though, whether they develop romantic feelings for one another is left to personal opinion and speculation. As Sansa faces many hardships, she begins to lose faith in all that she had believed in initially.

  In the third book of the series, she is stolen away from King's Landing by Petyr Baelish (also referred to as Littlefinger) and taken to his holdings on the Fingers. The Fingers hold a very similar gloomy, dark, confined by nature setting seen in the gothic; always raining and windy, a peninsula surrounded by crashing waves and treacherous rocks. Just as religion and mythology took held an important role in gothic literature, religious and mythological symbolism is constantly alluded to in her story, especially during her arc with Lord Baelish. During their time in the Fingers, he offers to share half a pomegranate with Sansa, alluding to the rape of Persephone. After their time confined in the Fingers, they travel to the Eyrie, which is almost quite literally a castle in the sky. A castle isolated from all others and inhabited by little, continuing the lonely and isolated feeling used in the gothic. Lord Baelish is one of the darkest characters in the series, constantly manipulating and manifesting chaos behind the scenes, never showing remorse for his cruel actions. He forms a mentor/protege relationship with Sansa, as he uses her title and power for his own means, he teaches her the art of deceit and manipulation in turn. Sansa describes Petyr as to having two identities, two different personalities yet all the while the same person (like a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde):

Littlefinger never lifted so much as his little finger for her. Except to get me out. He did that for me. I thought it was Ser Dontos, my poor old drunken Florian, but it was Petyr all the while. Littlefinger was only a mask he had to wear. Only sometimes Sansa found it hard to tell where the man ended and the mask began. Littlefinger and Lord Petyr looked so very much alike. She would have fled them both, perhaps, but there was nowhere for her to go.

Slowly, Petyr has tried to corrupt Sansa, carving her into a replica of himself. Their dynamic is similar to that of Dracula's and Mina's from Bram Stoker's Dracula. Sansa is constantly conflicted with her emotions, on morality, and survival. George R.R. Martin is well known for creating mystery and suspense in this novel, bringing in that gothic factor even more so. He kills off characters in the blink of an eye, and just as Petyr Baelish, showing no remorse. Sansa, being a young girl living in one of the most cruel and brutal worlds, is put against hardship and rather gruesome settings and people. Considering the book series is still ongoing, Sansa's fate remains only on speculation at this point.