1 a : of, relating to, or resembling the Goths, their civilization,
or their language b : teutonic, germanic c : medieval 1 d : uncouth, barbarous
2 a :
of, relating to, or having the characteristics of a style
of architecture developed in northern France and spreading through
western Europe
from the middle of the 12th century
to the early 16th century that is characterized by the converging of
weights and strains
at isolated points upon slender
vertical piers and counterbalancing buttresses and by pointed arches and
vaulting b : of or relating to an architectural style reflecting the influence
of the medieval Gothic
3 often not capitalized
: of or relating to a style of fiction characterized by the use of desolate or remote
settings and macabre, mysterious, or violent incidents (bold supplied by webmistress)
— goth·i·cal·ly \-thi-k(ə-)lē\ adverb
— Goth·ic·ness \-thik-nəs\ noun
~ from Merriam-Webster Online
As you can see, the term "gothic" is not a new one and it is not strictly related to how people dress, style their hair, paint their nails or choose their musical tastes. This term is often applied to fiction literature and musical styles that fit its definition both literally and in the popular imagination. Used widely to include any art or entertainment that meets the definition without measuring its qualifications based upon acceptance as such by popular culture, you could call the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris, the books that the HBO series TrueBlood is based on, gothic. Bon Temps, Louisiana is fairly remote and Sookie lives in the sticks - the Southern Fried version of the European spooky manse. It's scary for a girl to live alone in a big house in the woods - especially if those woods are frequented by vampires, fairies, shapeshifters and maenads.
So, now that we have established that many fan sites devoted to Anne Rice's characters do focus on the gothic, and now that we have a basic idea of what gothic is, I can get to the business of explaining why I felt like my time was well spent building yet another site to these characters.
A Family in Crisis: The Mayfairs as a Family Unit
When I first read these books at a young age, I was impressed by the gothic parts of the story like anyone else who reads to be informed and entertained. However, what impressed me more was that the events in these books were not happening in a fantastical world that reeeeaaaally demands that you suspend all disbelief in order to even enjoy them. The elements in these books that took them into the territory of gothic genre were extraordinary events that happened to ordinary people, and ordinary people with extraordinary abilities. Their possession of these talents and abilities could largely be explained by something ordinary and mundane on one hand but just as controversial as offering a strictly spiritual explanation for their existence - the very same genetics and heritable traits that make the Mayfairs a family in the first place.
In the books, the Mayfairs, via Rowan Mayfair, the Legacy Witch, enter a time where their entire family is threatened because the foundation on which they based their very existence has been shaken. By shaken, I mean it's crumbling from beneath their feet. The Legacy Witch has returned, the main family house has been recovered from the real family witch, Carlotta, restoration is in progress directed by the bridegroom of the legacy witch and everything is just ducky - until Lasher "comes through," attempts to murder Michael, abducts Rowan and leaves everyone in the lurch for more weeks than anyone cares to count. In the meantime, Mayfair women are dropping dead of massive hemorrhaging brought on by miscarriages that defy scientific and medical explanation. Massive funds from the legacy bank accounts are disappearing and not all of the transfers were initiated by Rowan Mayfair, making it a matter of extreme urgency that Rowan Mayfair and this male she has been seen with be found immediately. The problem is, the sketchy details investigators do have make the family uncertain if Rowan will even be found alive.
What do families do in a time of extreme crisis? To what do the family leaders fall back on in order to keep a sense of comfort and peace among the more vulnerable, excitable family members? The first answer is obvious - they pull together. The second answer is one that might be familiar to people from large and/or closenit families (sadly, not everyone has the good fortune of having such a thing) - they rely on traditions and beliefs that as a collective unit, have in the past strengthened and maintained family relations and brought a sense of a "united front" when trouble has happened before. We also have to remember that while the family as a whole is in crisis, its crisis is at the critical stage because the lives of individual members have been compromised by it as well.
It is not enough to say that the only lives compromised are those of the women who were Lasher's victims. Wealth or not, people have daily lives and responsibilities that have to be put on hold when a crisis interferes and demands their immediate attention. Not only do individuals commit to the family at this time, they must mitigate any possible damage to their own lives in the process. Much of this gets handled through normal, everyday, mundane and possibly unthrilling means. This is why we see the following methods used in the story:
Legal methods. Not only does this enable cooler heads to hire private investigators and determine the amount of cooperation with local authorities, a realistic evaluation of what is at stake both legally and financially can be done, which it is - thoroughly. Family conferences called by Ryan are attended by other, junior partners in the firm and set aside fanciful notions of ghosts being born again through human mothers in favor of practical, boring solutions.
Science and Medicine: Even though Emaleth's healing Rowan with breast milk seems miraculous and as if it could happen only in fiction, there is a quantifiable explanation for why it was possible: growth stimulating nutrients with cells designed to rapidly repair tissue damage in a Taltos would be healing of traumatic injuries in far more delicate human tissue. Rowan Mayfair attempts to define Lasher as a ghost in terms of biochemistry. Later, the tragedy of Lasher's destruction of Rowan is that his overuse of her reproductive organs causes life-threatening injury to them and ultimately, sterility. Rowan was vulnerable to Lasher from the beginning because of her belief in her own scientific knowledge and diagnostic skill - she thought she could take the upper hand this way but was mistaken.
Modern Technology: Computers, fax machines, "state of the art" phone systems (for 1989), and later, laptops, email and cell phones - the Mayfairs are no strangers to technology and in fact, depend on it to function in the world. Indeed, Rowan uses the Caller ID function on her cell phone to trace Mona's call to Lestat's home (the same home he's had since Interview With the Vampire). Mona uses her computer (running MS DOS) to build a complete Mayfair family tree and later has a laptop in her hospital room at Mayfair Medical to exchange email with Quinn Blackwood while he is in Europe.
In short, I thought it would be fun to look at the other things that are in the Mayfair books besides ghosts and legends. Clearly, these are intelligent, educated, literate people who are not completely vulnerable to the gothic side of their lives. So why not look at what they've read, listened to, watched, or places they've gone, or traditions they love?
