SINKING MY TEETH INTO MR. DARCY: An Anthropological Reading of Amanda Grange's 'Mr. Darcy, Vampyre' [Part II]

More than Fan Fic, Absolutely NOT Chick Lit: Dissecting the Novel

At times, it is through anthropological readings that words arise from their literary passivity and come alive. There is more than meets the senses when it comes to optically-read text. 
 

Elizabeth Darcy is the Light. Purity is a complementing theme which is almost perennial when it comes to vampire literature. Her character embodying purity and innocence presented a different register into the voices of “the virgin”. She is married but stays virgin, and at times throughout the novel had the manner of speaking with a naivete comparable to that of a child and at the same time a fully-functioning woman. It’s not forced, but natural for a woman who has had no experience. 

Grange’s twist on this version of the voice has oriental overtones considering its references to the metaphysical. Elizabeth’s purity enabled her to have a stronger sense of in-tuition, which is by itself exclusively female, but is inclined to-wards a more prophetic sort. In some instances, she was clairsentient as she was able to distinctly ‘feel’ and see signs of a future series of miserable events ---such as visions of changing or morphing images--- concerning Darcy [Grange 2009: 08 & 15] as well as the nature of his biological character [Grange 2009: 12-13]. Perhaps the latter incident would be appropriate to address as a case of clairvoyance. These were experienced on the day of the nuptials.
 

There is also a heightened mode of sensitivity. Eliza-beth’s silent opinion of Dover Castle [Grange 2009: 20] as ap-pearing as a ‘huge and malignant’ space can be interpretable as an ability to be sensitive to emotional imprints.  On similar note, this was also evident in her reaction to the tapestry in her bedroom at Count Polidori’s castle [Grange 2009: 91]. What was unique to her visual experience of the tapestry was how her emotional link to it had to do with a second variation of her prophetic ability --- she felt a degree of anxiety upon viewing the tapestry because she would later find herself ex-periencing the same scenario the dame is in, being surround-ed by varied supernatural beings. Of course Liz did not know this, but again, what is being highlighted is an irrational sense of unease and fear.
 

Elizabeth had also demonstrated capability to read energy; one perfect exemplification of this was in the almost-combat scene aboard the Mary Rose bound for France, where Darcy merely intimidated the pirates before they could even get on board the ship  [Grange 2009: 33]. Grange had written that Elizabeth had sensed ‘an unusual strength emanating from him [Darcy] and a sense of raw power’.
 

There has also been numerous instances where Liz has shown readers that she has the power to retrieve infor-mation during sleep states [Grange 2009: 180]. She actively participates in her dream sequences, all from the first person perspective. This had been the means for Liz to find out tragic historical events which had significantly affected the vampires in Venice. Through dreams she had learnt about the burning of the Palazzo Ducale [Grange 2009: 183] which had hap-pened centuries into the past [Grange 2009: 185], the floods [Grange 2009: 184-185]. It is also through this means that she had been able to interact with the mysterious man from the ball [Grange 2009: 183].
 

Elizabeth Darcy as ‘the light’ has been directly referenced on page 110 in the scene where Liz was conversing with the fortune-teller.
 

The Married Virgin. The constant delay of the ‘proper’ wedding night struck me as a humurous bit even though it played a significant part later on in the story. The fact that Liz had entertained the thought that the reason why Darcy had not lain with her had to do with their marriage being a mistake; it had not even crossed her mind that her husband might be  homosexual.
 

At first thought, the consistent delay of the first sexual congress is very doubtful. Liz clearly illustrates her sense of naivete here. An apparent insight from this situation is that delays are unnatural because of a common sense habitus; it’s a known and almost general practice for a bride to be deflow-ered on the wedding night because the man is authorized to do so, and it’s a moment that both parties have been antici-pating for some time. This is most especially so if both respect 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4. The story cites the religiousness of Elizabeth; in this text it is theorized that her religious views are protestant.  Her post-wedding gift to Darcy was a crucifix she had purchased for him in their sojourn to Paris [Grange 2009: 44].
 

On Fear and Sex(-iness). Behind every fear or phobia is an unrecognized fascination. What I believe to be the foun-dation of fear itself is the unknown and how it tends to take the role of a variable --- as whatever makes us fear anything has to do with an unverified knowledge of what that thing, being, or event would be capable of. We have been fond of assigning certain traits, characteristics, predicted actions, which would supposedly suit it based on what we know of its nature, and if we take the opportunity to think about it, it all comes down to the reality that we like scaring ourselves. Prospects of what there is or what could be, and there is always this extra emphasis on that latter. I like to dub this as ‘interactive fear’.
 

And this is precisely the case with Liz Darcy. There was something about Fitzwilliam which was both comforting and dark.  It partly had to do with the overlap of Liz’s familiarity with Darcy 

during the euphoric year before their marriage.
 

Science also provides an explanation behind the com-plementariness of fear and sexiness. Amusingly enough, Fear may make a person of the preferred sex appear more sexually attractive on two grounds. There is the scientific explanation provided in the Schachter-Singer Theory where exhilaration is based on instincts.
 

The physiological signs equated with fear are said to not be responses to emotions but it is only later that we realize what emotion is being experienced as an interpretation of that arousal [See Dutton & Aron: 1974 for a case regarding further evidence on the heightened sexual attraction under conditions with high anxiety]. The second explanation has to do with the element of fascination towards fear where the idea of the variable comes in to play, with the assignment of positively arousing attributes. It is in the variable that there is the conceptualization of what is wanted. The “Darcy as husband” seemed to differ from Darcy as he was when he was her fiancé.
 

As Greg Erickson (07:26) says, what is most feared is something that is also wanted. Upon developing some idea as regards his vampiric nature, Elizabeth found how he had fit perfectly in the representation of woman’s desire by embodying the balance between tenderness and masochism. She has been sensitive to this particular bit consider that as a woman of her era, she had experienced a degree of repressed sexuality. With her interaction with Darcy, she has found some essence of vampirism in her. For an applied knowledge of Hallab’s [2009: 54] statement: As vampires are sexual ---- overtly or covertly. The vampire in her is the unacceptable sexual Other within her or without, that she did not wish to acknowledge. She has unconscious sexual desires and fears.

On the same note, it could be said that her inner vam-pirism had shown to an extent in the lake scene where she had chosen to follow Darcy to an early morning swim [Grange 2009: 69]. It was the first solid seduction scene where Eliza-beth had exercised her agency in asserting her sexual feel-ings for Darcy. According to Dr. Lysander Padilla [2012], it was classical literature which stressed that seduction is a female act.  Water is a common medium or place for seduction because this is based on the Chinese Tao where yin refers to the feminine; and the archetypal feminine element is water.

A Baudrillard-Lacanian Visual Rhapsody. Pages 165 to 179 document how a masquerade/costume ball in the six-teenth century theme [Grange 2009: 166] had been thrown in  honor of Elizabeth Darcy. There’s something about the com-bination of evening, merriment, sentimental time-travel via tangible culture, and mystery that is naturally appealing. And one way to address this is through a literary séance of Jean Baudrillard, with fragments from Soren Kierkegaard, and Jacques Lacan for supporting postulates. What I like about Baudrillard’s discourse on seduction is how it has been cri-tiqued to be cryptive; and considering this nature, interpreta-tion is liberal so long as it fits without being mangled. He has mentioned inclination towards Kierkegaard’s work and incor-porated a line or two into his theory. Lacan on the other hand is known popularly for his position on the dependency of de-sire on wanting. These two are founding elements to seduction.

What makes masquerades and costume balls fun is that the whole point of it is to create mystery. It can be a diligent one if it is in compliance to a single theme, like the sixteenth century Venice example in the Darcy rendering. It can be free as in the conduct of Halloween costume parties as a staple of festive humor celebrated in the United States. The common underlying element is that these are a play of images. And it is a truth universally acknowledged that society is very fond of images. This play of images is, by loyal Baudrillardans regarded as Seduction. 

This is an alternative to sex and to power, one that psychoanalysis cannot know because its axiomatics are sex-ual. Seduction is the strength of the feminine [Baudrillard 1991: 13] while the masculine, by contrast, are by gender role assignment known to possess unfailing powers of discrimina-tion and absolute criteria for pronouncing the truth [Baudrillard 1991: 17]. He highlights a different facet to its definition, in that it’s not always similar to how society defined it in media and literature. He says that people do not understand that se-duction represents mastery over the symbolic universe, while power represents only mastery of the real universe. The sov-ereignty of seduction is incommensurable with the possession of political or sexual power [Baudrillard 1991: 14].  That to have the ability to turn appearances in on themselves, to play with the body’s appearances makes the woman an absolute master of the realm of appearances [Baudrillard 1991: 14]. This is a political power because of the idea of withholding truth in the matter of keeping secret --- information is political because information is power. To know of something about someone is to an extent to have some power over that person because it is potential material to enable further seduction. 

To my mind, the first phase of seduction would be captivation through this play of signs. This brings the turn into Kierkegaard’s excerpt from the Diary of the Seducer which suffices as one further explanation behind the eagerness at attending masquerade balls. He says that seduction takes the form of an enigma to be solved. The costumed is an enigma, and in order to seduce him or her, one must become an enigma as well. It is an enigmatic duel, one that seduction solves, but without disclosing the secret [Kierkegaard cited in Baudrillard 1991: 85]. Masquerades are, to borrow from Baudrillard, a total, gestural, sensual & ritual game [Baudrillard 1991: 19]. Mysteries at these events are a subtle form of mind game or a social exercise which gain a sexual twist upon the ability of the painted (woman) to exaggerate her features, to turn them into more than a sign, and to incarnate the peaks of sexuality while simultaneously being absorbed into the simulation [Baudrillard 1991: 21].
 

Begin with Elizabeth’s dress --- It is a deep blue, velvet dress with gold details featuring a criss-crossed latticework which matched the slashes in the sleeves showing the gold silk of the undersleeve [Grange 2009: 167].
 

Indeed, Elizabeth is sure to be a striking beauty, but partly under Sophia’s design as well. In the scene where they are trying on which gowns suit Liz for the affair, Sophia’s age and wisdom really shown through the manner of how she had decided for Liz on what color to wear. Any shade of red is re-spectable, but respect varies per age and depending on the material it colors. It makes sense for a woman to be too young to wear red as it could imply a sense of inviting-ness. To give off such an impression would embarrass Darcy as well, in more ways than one. The color blue is classically noble and the darker the shade gets, it develops an aura of regality.
 

The cut of the top half emphasized a well-shaped tor-so. The square neck is low, diverting to the bosom, and atten-tion is further drawn to it because of the gold details. It is an almost truthful part (as we are not sure whether or not Liz has a torso which is naturally worthy of lustful attention. She usu-ally kept it hidden in layers of English clothing) which to an extent is unhidden compared to the face. And it is this reason as to why it is given attention next. It must be of further mention that this was the first time she wore anything that reveal-ing [Grange 2009: 168].
Sophia’s insistence of Elizabeth’s hair to be fixed in an up-do with loose locks or wisps fallen at the sides of her face do the effect of softening Elizabeth’s masked face which is a hardened sight. This is not because of the mask itself being fixed material but of the impression of the jewel embellish-ments which have the appearance of weight. Locks and wisps have been used as a hair fixture of original femininity which is expected to be soft. But an alternative explanation to it is that in comparison to the absolutely neat up-do, this sort appears to emulate the hurried fixing of hair after some passionate moment.     
 

To masque and hide or to emulate; to be for one night someone that one may or may not be in real life is one spirit behind the dressing. To masque, borrowing yet again from Baudrillard [1991: 86], is a power of attraction and distraction, of absorption and fascination, a power that cause the collapse of the real in general. The fragment is reminiscent of the line spoken by Sophia where she says how it is in the Venetian blood to be explorers and lovers of adventure, to the point that it is carried over into balls --- there is the exploration of each other [Grange 2009: 168].
 

This line is anchored to the scenario where Elizabeth entered the palazzo and attracted appreciative glances from many of the guests. She was successful in concealing her true identity.
 

Stepping into Elizabeth’s shoes, it was more that she experienced a Lacanian thrill towards the event because of the fact that the subject of her desire has also attended the event. It adds to the thrill of mystery because aside from the sincerity of getting to experience a much valued Venetian event, she had a specific objective in attending. She wanted to see how well she knew her husband (and how well he knew her), as well as to experience their relationship from an abstract point. 

It was the illusion of taking their relationship to a greater respected level by beginning from a blank slate. No introductions to be made on their behalves unlike during the first ball at Netherfield [Austen 0000]. Elizabeth and Darcy had to rely on the sensory themes of the event and hopefully be able to refresh captivation in each other in the process. What the masks and costumes did was provide a momentary glimpse into what it would be like in a world where there is no pre-judgment.
 

As for a matter of personal opinion, the variations of the masques bore some implication of an impaired sensory capability.  This is in recognition of senses being known to carry out roles in pre-judgment. Flatter Masks [Grange 2009: 168] for instance, which were held in place by holding the bar situated on the back of the piece using the mouth, symbolized muteness. This suggests silence, and signifies that the mouth causes the greatest fault as there are words which are known to offend. The penalty of wearing such a mask throughout the event would apparently be discomfort, like the hurt felt by those spoken ill of. 
 

Elizabeth’s selection was the half-type which covered the top part of her face and cheeks, but exposed the mouth. It was to be positioned and held with a comfortable band which would fasten around the back of her head. Knowing Elizabeth, this would be a decision based on practicality, as she has al-ways been a practical person. However, this choice is not without its philosophy. It has been consistent in all Elizabethan versions of Pride & Prejudice that she had judged Darcy based  first on what she had seen of him, and this is to say that her fault were her eyes. She participates in the ball with a figurative form of blindness, and true enough, she was not able to recognize Darcy immediately and it was Darcy who recognized her first.    
 

Pleasure and Paris. It was amusing how Grange chose to introduce the subject of Darcy and Elizabeth’s wed-ding tour to Paris with a stereotype. There was the portrayal of the Parisians within Darcy’s social circle as  pleasure-loving folk, with the tendency to be simultaneously flirty and roman-tic. Women were walking embodiments of fashion (their gowns sheer and slender [Grange 2009: 40] ) with an inherent sense of sexiness. They appeared to be born seductive, beautiful and mesmerizing with their S-walks imitating the sin-uous undulation of snakes [Grange 2009: 39]. In the tone and style of how they speak, there was the reinforcement of the low voice as sexy.
 

In the Darcy rendering, they were portrayed to actively exercise their agency to lengths of impropriety ---- On page 42, readers would find how four women had been very for-ward with their flirtation tactics in their attempt to ‘steal’ Darcy. They talked and smiled and leant against him, flicking off im-aginary specks of dust from his coat and picking imaginary hairs from his sleeve. When they saw that he was oblivious to their attempts to captivate him, they redoubled their efforts, one of them whispering in his ear, another leaning close to his face, and the other two walking, arm in arm, in front of him, in order to display their figures. And Elizabeth was able to wit-ness all of this from across the room.
 

These are considerable classic stunts pulled by wom-en. The practice of the woman leaning close is a challenge to the man’s comfort zone because it is an intimate invasion of space. In accordance to diplomatic practice, the purpose of the extension of the hand in a handshake greeting is to estab-lish the proper distance between two people’s bodies. This is, by Western standards (which are by nature masculine [Dalisay: 2012]), the proper conversational distance. To be Western in this context is to have a value for space. And to my mind, this forms one part of the explanation as to why close-range seductive tactics are considerably Oriental (which is also to say, feminine [Dalisay: 2012]); at times, to be Eastern is to be touchy.  Why do most females like flirting with guys by touching them lightly on the arms or shoulders?  According to Dr. Lysander Padilla [2012], this is in congruence with flirting as communication. The hands and their base which is the shoulders are the most communicative parts of man next to the vocal cords. This has the same effect as the dumb mutes using their hands to “speak”. 
 

Moving from touch to the sense of sight, the act of tempting through display of the visual is an old trick in the sexual psychology book --- where it is known that men are visually stimulated.
Flirting and Seduction, according to Padilla [2012], may be often associated with sex but need not end in inter-course. It may be done for sheer fun, as a test of power, to persuade or convince. Flirting and Seduction involves com-municating to convince the other party to do something which otherwise he or she would not do. A girl begins with flirting, and like communication, it takes skills to develop it with practice. The effective way of doing it differentiates women from girls; obviously women have better mastery of it. A stupid flirt is often unsophisticated and naïve, but of course not all fe-males have equal intelligence. The act of flirting requires brains and smart females are sure to flirt better [Padilla: 2012].   
 

The pleasure these French women get out of stunts of these nature gives them an Oriental trait. And diligently enough, this was the implied theme in the soiree. The envi-ronment screamed a Baudrillardan sense of seduction, begin-ning with the oriental arch opening of the drawing room [Grange 2009: 40].  This scene features the entrance of Mme. Rousel into the story which was a mock of baroque.
 

She is seen reclining on a chaise longue, her position appeared staged to be like a living portrait. To quote the de-scription, in verbatim: Her dark hair was piled high on her head and secured by a long mother-of-pearl pin, from which curls spilled artistically round her sculptured features and fell across her bare shoulders. Her dress was cut low, with the small frills which passed for sleeves falling off her shoulders before merging with a delicate matching frill at her neck. The sheer fabric of her skirt was arranged around her in folds that were reminiscent of Greek statuary, and on her feet she wore golden sandals. A dark red shawl was draped across her knees, flowing over the gold upholstery of the chaise longue in an apparently casual arrangement. But every fold was so per-fect that its placement could only be the result of artifice and not the negligence it was intended to convey [Grange 2009: 40]. [Is this a woman in drag?] 

There is once more the fabrication of image with the manipulation of signs. Elizabeth realized that this was why she felt uncomfortable mixing with the Darcy’s Parisian social circle: the whole salon, ranging from the people to the clothes as well as the furniture are interpretable as the result of arti-fice. It was a carefully arranged surface which masqued what-ever it was that was underneath it [Grange 2009: 40].   

The Nature of Wanting and Desire: Lacanian Confes-sions in the Garden.  The conversation between the Prince and Elizabeth [Grange 2009: 221-223] is a compelling delivery on the classic subject of the predatory instinct present in men, which happens to be on many occasions a valid generalization. This sequence opened with Elizabeth telling the Prince her troubles with Darcy whom she perceived as having lost interest in her immediately after the wedding.
 

According to the Prince, men by nature cannot truly commit to one woman. It is in their instinct to only feel a sense of euphoria and exhilaration in the process of pursuing the object of their interest.
One interpretation towards the Prince’s dialogue would be that he has Lacanian inclinations in terms of lines of thinking. Desire and Wanting are twin concepts which serve as the driving force to motivation. There is an inherent fear to it as well, as the fear does not lie in achieving what is wanted; the fear rides on whether or not XX is still wanted when its achieved. Is it then really the person that is the subject of desire, is it an addiction? Or perhaps is it the feeling of Wanting in itself. The very moment of materialization is the end of Wanting. It ends the mystery which is the essence of that wanting and desire, as the two had constantly been driven by some natural curiosity which when satisfied can no longer exist. This brings into light that there is some tendency to forget for a moment that Wanting and Desire is an endless process. With the mystery of the subject revealed, there is the natural tendency to seek out the next mystery --- and one shall Want again.      
 

The Darcy-Elizabeth relationship background in the Darcy rendering followed the canon. None of Elizabeth’s exercises of agency has been denied or reversed or bastardized. This detail challenges the traditional look at love-based literature. I do not want to refer to certain romantic, happy ending type material as anything ‘fairy tale’-ish. Fairy tales, to my mind were the foundation of love stories with certain perkiness and twists. Nonetheless, their structures are similar --- the presence of a beauty, a prince, an antagonist.
 

Elizabeth had appealed to Darcy because she begged to differ. Unlike the other women within Darcy’s social circles, she did not marvel at his net worth. She did not advertise her-self in any way, nor did she care at all for his approval or admiration in any way. It was the complete opposite with her in the sense that she had greatly displayed her dislike of him. She was able to strike a chord in his male psyche which she indirectly required him to prove his worth as a man [Grange 2009: 222]. And to this date it is being maintained that men crave a similar degree of difficulty. Darcy wanted to know what it would be like to win her, and what satisfactions he could experience in the process.   
 

So the answer is now NO --- The submissive woman does not always get to marry the prince. In the years of the first fairy tales, to be gentic is to be evil [Dalisay: 2012]. These pieces of literature are known to have been written at a time where assertiveness on the part of females did not exist. But then most women had followed this socialized template of the soft, dreamy, tamed and passive female that some men began to find this monotonous.
 

The Prince had mentioned further that men take great pride and value in the ‘chase’ [Grange 2009: 222]. The attempt at claiming a special woman is a challenge, and to succeed at it brings them to life. But upon catching her, she becomes his prey; from here the man who is like a predator begins to lose his interest until there is nothing left.   

The Politics of Existence. In the process of making sense of bodies, spaces and existence, it becomes a political issue to discuss whether or not vampires are a marginal census in a defined area. In the story, readers are able to skim through how most of Darcy’s acquaintances had the fond habit of reminiscing particular timeframes in history. This is most especially true of his friends in Venice. Darcy’s friends always had a love story to tell regarding the past. Their possession of their century through garb; Sophia is a most notable example of this, who could not find it in her to discard old gowns from previous balls. She reminisced of different lives and loves ---- such is the pleasure of her family [Grange 2009: 166-167]. Then preferences, carried fragments of tradition provided some permutated sense of disobedience towards society. I would like to dub this as some positive nonconformism, considering that it is the opposite of today’s inclined definition of deviance. 

This is not to say that they are consciously stuck in their own time. They are all capable of mainstreaming, and it is mainstreaming which gives a sense of discreteness. This fact negates marginalization. The vampire is constantly adjusting, and sure to find him or herself time and again experiencing degrees of culture shock. To always be alien is a fact, and the only time and culture that that vampire belonged in was the one where he or she was born in or turned. This does not have a significant impact on their daily un-lives --- it’s just dealt with, seeing rises and falls of figures and eras. 

In the story, the existence of vampires was acknowledged, and yet their existence was to an extent tolerated.  

Religion vs. Race: A New Perspective? Inclusive of vampirism is Otherization, but the Darcy rendering provides a different glimpse into the politics of difference. It is Elizabeth who is the Other, considering that the story is set and told in the company where the majority are vampires; and in the sto-ry it is Elizabeth who needs to be approved of by Darcy’s ex-tended party. 

Instead of the traditional idea of vampirism as race and consciousness (or way of life), going deeper into the story it struck me that vampirism could be interpretable as having elements of religion embedded into it.  On the one end, there is the matter of Free Will involved and this is exercised through voluntary turning, or as terminology allows it --- Conversion. This “conversion” can be examined as having different realities, depending on the character who underwent it.
 

As the reader will come to know, Darcy himself was not born into a vampire family. His Turn was a way to be able to live on and escape the plague with his sister [Grange 2009: 256-257].  The Black Plague was spreading throughout Eng-land during some earlier time [Grange 2009: 252]. He knew that this plague was a puzzle of his time and as a result it was incurable. His sister Georgiana was about to become another casualty of it  [Grange 2009: 255] but was saved by being Turned by Lady Catherine, who is a pure vampire. In most literature, plagues come to be figurative of some sociopolitical ill in society. Religion is usually given the role of correction through morality, and it is commonly said that it is through the practice of religion that one would attain eternal life --- at least this I can say for Christian faith. This entire premise may be contested, but it has been included here because it’s a fun parallel.
 

As for Elizabeth, the lake scene [Grange 2009: 72] where Lady Catherine crashes Darcy and Elizabeth’s early morning swim with a speech concerning her disapproval with the marriage is reminiscent of 2 Corinthians 6:14. Keeping true to the canon, she insisted on Darcy being united with her daughter Anne, who is even sicklier in this fan fiction – “blood-less and pale” [Grange 2009: 71] and “like a sorrowful ghost” [Grange 2009: 73]. According to Lady Catherine, Anne would “keep the bloodlines pure” [Grange 2009: 72]. Darcy having married a very much human Elizabeth is almost conceptually isomorphic to the idea of being “unequally yoked”. This is a practice which is prohibited in some religions.
 

To underscore the weight of the difference, there has been frequent otherization references, but through inverted fashion. Along this context, there has been usage of the frag-ment ‘our kind’ throughout the novel. Most notable was in the said lake scene, spoken by Lady Catherine [Grange 2009: 72-73].   

Upon eventually finding out the true nature of Darcy, Elizabeth was very much willing to turn, but it was Darcy who opted out. And this was how they were able to be a couple, legally. And much like this, one is always free to leave a religion just as he can join one.