The Vampire Lestat

How did The Vampire Lestat influence depictions of vampires in more recent literature, such as Stephanie Meyers’s Twilight and Charlaine Harris’s Southern Vampire Mysteries? In what ways are conceptions of vampires in these later works similar or different to Anne Rice’s?

The Theater of the Vampires perform as vampires pretending to be humans pretending to be vampires. How does this double performance reflect the nature of the theatrical arts?

Lestat’s mother, Gabrielle, disdains coffins and gothic basements and prefers the forests and animal prey. How does Gabrielle’s refusal to be a proper vampire (in the eyes of Lestat) reflect the changing history of the vampires presented in the novel?

Lestat has fraught relationships with his parental figures, from his biological parents, Gabrielle and the Marquis, to his vampiric patrons, Magnus and Marius. How does parenthood reflect vampiric relationships?

How do Armand’s attempts to control his covens backfire on him? Were his failings the result of Louis’s and Lestat’s intrusions or his own brittle society?

How does Lestat’s rejection of the church connect to his rejection of vampire law? How does this, and the connections between blood drinking and immortality, entangle the social and thematic roles of Rice’s Catholicism and vampirism?

Lestat’s red velvet cloak, lined with the fur of the wolves he killed, combines elegance with the qualities of a predator. How does this symbol of his upbringing as a poor noble inform his life as a vampire?

Many figures throughout the book are described as angelic. This indicates a statuesque beauty, as well as a heavenly presence. How are vampires and angels similar and dissimilar?