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

The Gender Role Behind Bites and When Turning Be-comes Incest. On page 277, the line features Elizabeth’s voluntary decision to Turn while 278 shows that it is Darcy who would turn Liz. This discussion touches on the philosophizing of reproduction. All vampires are balanced precisely between genders, functioning as both takers and givers of life… It is this paradox which enables a particular aura of romance and glamour to vampire stories in general [Sherman: 1989]

By the second function, regardless if the vampire is male or female, the Bite is the act of giving birth without sex [Lott: 1993 cited in Sherman: 1989]. It is through the bite that there is the replaced form of reproduction, giving a posthumous artificial birth [Berka 1995: 379]. It is suitable to consider this as vagina dentata. The vampire can be father and mother, man and woman at once [Berka 1995: 376].
 
To take this idea further, let’s assume that the turning did take place. If the process follows the 1897 tradition (in emulation of Count Dracula having Mina drink blood at his breast [Stoker 298]), it underscores the femininity of the vampire; Phallic penetration is not limited to the emission of semen, but takes in the discharge of the woman’s body: the flow of blood that is at once menstrual or initiatory and maternal, tapped from the nursing breast [Berka 1995: 375-376].
 
If Darcy would turn Elizabeth himself, it would bring a rebirth with Liz as the child and Darcy as both father and mother.
 
To be turned by the vampire whom one has a love/sexual relationship with would make the relationship incestuous. This is the overlooked aspect of the bite, constantly present in vampire lore which is set in a context that is predominantly romantic.
 
The Attempted Rape of Elizabeth Darcy. In the scene where Elizabeth was riding the carriage bound for the pier, tension mounts as readers find that Elizabeth’s ride stops in the middle of the road in a pass densely covered with ferns. To add to the menacing atmosphere was the detail that the sky had changed a few hues darker as it was evening.
 
In front of the carriage was the mysterious observer from Chapter 09 [Grange: 2009: 174, 178], seen clad in the same signature attire. To quote from the scene, in verbatim: She stared at him with awe-filled dread. He was terrible in his beauty, his face shining with a dreadful radiance. His features were as smooth as if they had been carved from marble, rigid and full of cold perfection [Grange 2009: 235].
 
It is here that the identity of this character is revealed. The mysterious man is simultaneously seductive and horrifying beyond all reason. His dress identifies him as a cultured and arrogant aristocrat with exceptional masculine aural musk; and this is the enduring image of the traditional vampire. As to why Grange did not give him a proper name is a puzzle for the readers. Perhaps it was intended by Grange to bring forth a plethora of theories. The man introduced himself as ‘Vampyre’. Based on the information he had provided, it is deducible that he is the first vampire. It has to be debated up-on if he is Vlad II or someone else. But sticking with the original anthropological linguistic premise advanced earlier, the mysterious observer is of the same vampire ethnicity as Darcy.
 
For Winnubst [2003], the trope of the vampire is used to unravel how whiteness, maleness, and heterosexuality feed on the same set of disavowals --- of the body, of the Other, of fluidity, dependency. To continue, it is a collective nightmare which performs some of our worst cultural anxieties --- about desire, fear, and aggression; about gender, sexuality, and race; about history, bodies, and violence [ibid]. Chapter 13 plays on the concepts of the cultural anxiety based on the last five. These concepts are represented in the character of the mysterious man whom on certain occasions we shall refer to as Unnamed.
 
The Unnamed is controlling and overly masculine to the point of inclining towards a preference for masochism, delighting in the idea of Elizabeth’s resistance.
 
The conversation between Darcy and the Unnamed [Grange 2009: 237] is noticeably linguistically based on concepts which is ethnically exclusive. Elizabeth at this time is not completely briefed on the complications and realities of her Otherization, and as far as she’s concerned, she sees Them as the Others; and she is not entirely sure of her understanding of the content of the discussion. The usage of the terms ‘mine’ and ‘yours’ and ‘not yours’ in accordance to Darcy’s vampire ethnicity does not signal ownership but its usage along this context has more to do with a sense of affiliation and security. This is compared to the Western standard which has predominantly negative overtones because of these words being automatically attributed to objects(-related disputes).
 
In their vampire culture, one who marries a female outside the race has to follow a set of rules. It is not entirely clear however if this would apply to females who have been turned or remained unturned. The continuation of the conversation on page 239 states the terms that every vampire bride must first present herself to the Unnamed, as she must be his before she can feel her husband’s touch. This detail is also raised by Lady Catherine later in page 274.
The word ‘touch’ is approachable as idiomatic, and perhaps this is with reference to sexual congress. Given this, it can be debated that the act of Turning does not automatically signify the loss of virginity. 

But going back to the terms prescribed by the Un-named, it is to a degree reminiscent of the practice of some cultures which require the bride to enter first into sexual con-gress with the head of that certain group of people before she may sleep with her husband. Though this is part of an old vampire culture, for Elizabeth, that would constitute as rape because she is examining the scenario with Western eyes and attitude. Cultural relativism could not be invoked here, and Darcy could not agree more with Liz’s silent protestation. 

Had Darcy not come to her rescue, Elizabeth would have found herself in a bloody situation. For the Unnamed to ‘taste’ her (through the bite), considering his nature, has an effect on the constitution of her purity. 

In the Garden of Good and Evil. The fight scene be-tween Darcy and the Unnamed took place in the same pass where Liz had almost been claimed. It’s not an impressive sequence, but we would proceed with discussing it in terms of its hermeneutic value. What it presents to vampire literature is an intra-racial battle featuring two classic personalities: good and evil; as well as past and present. 

What are the standards for a vampire to be considered as evil? What can be required of to qualify them as good? To be Foucauldian, begin with what is not --- Christianity does not really require them to be agents of Satan or monstrous adver-saries of God [Hallab 2009: 107]. This is another deviation from the 1897 tradition, but one of a welcome sort. It can also be a timely shift considering not only the recognition of the existence of the good, but also of mentioning a new sub-classification under the good. In the time of vampire refor-mations beginning from year 2008 to present, there are mod-ern vampires who no longer stand for a vast comic evil. In the process of becoming more humanized and nicer, they have given up the “absolute timeless condition of Dracula” in order to move “into time and history” [Zanger 1997 cited by Hallab 2009: 38]. This is of course a matter of interpretation.
 
The concept of good and evil is a positional one that coincides with the categories of Otherness. The essential point to be made here is not so much that the vampire is feared because he is evil; rather he is evil because he is Oth-er, alien, different, unclean, and unfamiliar [Hollinger 1989: 148]. But by definition, all vampires whether they are good or evil, step out of the timeless world of Death into the time of Life [Hallab 2009: 39].

Side-Comments
But still, I share with others the critique of the lack of sufficient and exciting details in certain segments of the story, as well as holding the common lament concerning its poor ending which is to a degree anchored to a combination of In-diana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The redeeming quality that it does have, however, has to do with the structure of the dialogue and most especially the skillful intertwine of the original Pride & Prejudice through the lifting of certain lines in the canon spoken by the characters, and delivered in the story through a reminiscent style.

It defines romance because of the implied sentimentalness, and defies the traditional form vampire romance in terms of its delivery.

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

It’s a truth universally acknowledged that Fitzwilliam Darcy is the summation of what almost every woman would ever want in a man. With massive wealth, vast properties in-clusive of which is ownership of half of Derbyshire [Austen 1813: 08], a character that is passionate and private; excep-tional intelligence and the good looks to match; as well as a sister who is constantly pleasant and neither manipulative nor jealous; he is by far one of the most powerful leading men in the history of (romantic) literature, making him no doubt an excellent fictional crush. But what happens when he gets a racial makeover in 2009?

The Evolution of the Vampire (And a Cute Review of Related Media)

2008 was the Year of the Vampire in the TV and film zodiac. Although the vampire isn’t new, its character had un-dergone a transformation; today’s vampire has gone beyond being the soul-less antagonist because he or she had been given the attribute of feeling. He/she has been re-written to possess a sense of humanity. And it is very unfortunate how most portrayals do not give the remixed character the proper justice. The bulk of today’s vampire films have demoted the image. As Max Brooks has said, The Vampire was the Elvis of his day, now he’s the Justin Bieber  [02:03, Love/Lust & The Undead 2012].
 

The first humanly attribute given was the ability for vampires to feel lust beyond the typical reference to blood and feeding. This was manifested beginning with the series of transitions on how bites were administered. The neck was traditional and itself very sensual. The concept of the ‘sexy neck’ had to do with it being long, soft, and smooth. It is a very erogenous zone, and on the part of the “victim” it is sensitive to both pleasure and pain, making it to a degree sadomaso-chistic. John Carpenter’s Vampires [1998] introduced a more lustful approach towards the bite in the scene where the mas-ter vampire Valek chose to bite Katrina on the inner theigh as she lay on the motel room carpet. The sadomasochistic es-sence reaches its height upon the shift of the camera focusing on Katrina’s upper body, and then fixing on her face to direct attention to her eyes as she rolled them in pleasure.
 

Episodes 08 and 11 of True Blood Season 01 played on the psychology of its audiences in the notorious graveyard sex scene featuring none other than Bill and Sookie.  It was cleverly written as audience assumptions had an important role in the misleading --- viewers would think that Bill had bit-ten Sookie’s breast which is in accord to the message con-veyed by cinematic tools not only plausible but most of the times suggested, considering the immediate end of act marked by a sudden fading to black briefly before the bite. This assumption is based on the act of filling in missing infor-mation based on common experience. The fade to black often denotes either censorship or an effect of suspense, and in this case, viewer experience filled that ambiguous information gap when it comes to sex scenes. It is clearly seen in episode 11 that this was not the case, as the bite is actually positioned on the arm, as seen in the scene where Sookie was reaching back (to fix her hair).  

A second characteristic would be the transformation into the postmodern prince charming. One of the more popu-lar examples which would prove this would be the succeeding publications of vampire literature beginning with Charlaine Harris’ The Southern Vampire Mysteries  also known as The Sookie Stackhouse Novels [2001]. These were the materials for HBO’s True Blood  which premiered in 07 September 2008. One of the background themes that the plotlines re-volved around involved a reinvented look at love and, at a time of racism. It is a theatrical discussion of a complicated, beyond-racial love in a political society, in one of the states in America which is particular when it comes to ethnicity; in the case of True Blood, even more so. It is a big shift in terms of how people are acquainted with the idea of the vampire in the sense that it has a more futuristic tone with the creation of a synthetic vampire food in hopes of the establishment of a sense of co-existence. The challenge in convention as re-gards the debunking of vampire myths by a vampire himself is a welcome change for the purpose of variation, and there was also no way that there were any direct inconsistencies with the canon.
And then there was Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight [2005] which catered more to the taste of the younger population by touching more on the issues of culture-shock and simultane-ously finding fascination in some mysterious boy which later evolves into ambiguous affection followed by the formation of a relationship (between Bella and Edward) which its complexi-ties have to do with old feuds. Twilight had turned the image of the vampire into a consumerized or commercial form which is devoid of any bit of the original spirit of the vampire. In this portrayal, the vampire is purely Prince Charming.  This pure form makes the vampire less impressive because of the pointless rules and sensitivities which isolate them to being mournful lovers [Hallab 2009: 107].       

More than our heroes or pundits, vampires tell us who we are depending on the temper of the times. These shapeshifters may be romantic friends, repressive patriarchs, sensitive new-age guys, or plague-ridden angels [Postlethwaite 1996: 07].

Move over, Edward Cullen!

Now here’s a conservative vampire with a liberal flair ---  The story of Fitzwilliam Darcy as a vampire can be placed in the median of the spectrum of vampire literature where positioned at one extreme end is ‘villainous’ and the other being ‘complete prince charming’. Like Compton and Cullen, Darcy is also one variation of today’s “humanized” vampires. In the series of literature and media seen so far, humanization automatically meant electing the good; and as a consequence it also meant dropping the original villainous role kept in (what I like to call) the tradition of 1897. There is special mention of this year because it was the foundation of the succeeding vampire inspired media, or should we say it was the birth year of the popularly regarded “granddaddy” of them all.  Then again, to quote Hallab [2009: 107] in verbatim: It is doubtful that anyone can say for sure when the first “good” vampire appeared in literature, as goodness has many possible mean-ings.
    For the entire time that Darcy had been acquainted with Elizabeth before their marriage and even during its first months, he was completely secretive about his nature. As to how he was able to keep discrete and ‘live’ normally during his moments with Liz, the readers will never really know. What readers would find in the material is a storyline which is better interpretable as a reflection of sex --- minus the soft explicitness expected in a standard romance novel --- as well as purity, fidelity, and culture --- all set in the backdrop of the complications of difference. Of what kind? For now, some suspense; we shall leave that for later.
It is very misleading to consider this purely in the con-text of mash-up for entertainment.  To directly quote Mary Hallab [2009: 33]: (Folklore) vampires serve the needs of their community… As living dead, vampires and stories about them
often inculcate important social lessons.
    Darcy is one of the sexiest fictional people in literature and media because he has everything which would normally take a man around twenty years to have, and he is only 27-28 years old. Turning had heightened his sexiness because of what vampirism stood for, anthropologically and psychologi-cally. Bourguignon emphasized that there is the strong libidi-nal component in vampiristic behavior [Miller, et.al.1999: 210]. Its traditional meaning included unbridled, carnal sexuality [Brooks 02:03]. To my mind, this sexual energy is comple-mentary to the vampire’s role as the Lord of Death; this makes the vampire a Scorpio in accordance to astrological character, with sex and (a variation of) death as an instinct.
Regardless if the vampire is a prince charming, there will always be that perennial “bad boy” tone to it which is so masculine. This is the state of being “so yang”, which by con-sequence also means very masculine. Some females are attracted to this more probably because danger is irresistible. Ergo, what comes with the bad-boy image is a dangerous at-traction [Padilla: 2012].
There is nothing intrinsically seductive in other mon-sters. The bite of even the most horrific of the undead carries with it the promise of sensual pleasure and eternal life [Sher-man 1989: 17]. 
And so to put it quite blatantly --- Yes, Darcy is also GREAT IN BED. 
Of particular interest in the storyline is how despite these sexual and deadly instincts Darcy was able to keep a great sense of self-control, and this was something usually lacking in the average vampire. This will be discussed in full later.
Vampirism also represents physical and mental supe-riority, good looks, social position, supernatural powers of course, and the most alluring feature of all ---- immortality.
Darcy has witnessed some of the most romantic eras in French and Italian chronicles. This was the foundation for his eye and appreciation for beauty, which also explains how he came to adore Elizabeth’s nonconformity (as well as her alert demeanor and expression of agency).
Again, one thing which differentiates Darcy from the other, pop melancholy, vampiric lover is that he has a regal disposition.
An additional liberal twist begging to differ from the usual vampire culture is how he never slept in a coffin. The burial enclosure was a metaphor, that the vampire coming out of the coffin represented a marginalized member of society that had been wrong or not allowed full rights [Erickson 07:26]. Darcy refused to recognize himself in that regard. He was specifically skilled at mainstreaming, and it is very logical to say that considering the timeframe of his existence (also the same case with the others) and regardless of being born that way or Turned, these do not serve as sufficient grounds for marginalization.  This will be explained properly later in the
segment The Politics of Existence.
    Further, what I interpret to be a nationalist-patriotistic security blanket in the act of bringing native soil to literally live on wherever the vampire has relocated, is also absent in the Darcy rendering. This is a clear deviation from the 1897 tradi-tion which is not necessarily condemning. With each vampire a reflection of his time, the 1897 obsession with soil weighed on the outdated images of rural English national identity. There is also an agrarian essentialist ideology with romantic and conservative notions of an organic society with geographical contexts proclaiming the reinforcement of certain concepts. Mentionable are landownership, urbanization and modernity based on nostalgia for a supposedly “vanishing” way-of-life; this is connected in turn with perceptions of an idyllic or harmonious village existence. Linked to this of course is the view of the countryside generally as a locus of myths, sacred or spiritual attributes, non-commercial values, and traditional virtues [Brass: 2000]. Darcy bore no particular attachments. 

Why This is Not Another Vampire Story on the Shelves

  

Mr. Darcy, Vampyre rises above other P&P mashups because of the historical closeness between the subjects of vampirism and the Austen creation.
 

The notion of blood-sucking corpses arose in South-Eastern Europe sometime in the early medieval period, and by the eighteenth century belief in their existence was so ex-tensive that not to believe in vampires was tantamount to heresy. Popular fascination with revenants was further fuelled by reports of vampire outbreaks erupting across Eastern Eu-rope in the early decades of the eighteenth century, and these were also known in Western Europe [Keyworth 2006: 241]. There has been a proliferation of dissertation and treatises on the subject from those early times. The melding of Pride & Prejudice with vampires is innovative because it is diligent; there is the complementary relation between the variables of time and age.

Judging Part of the Book by its Cover

There’s something about the minimalist touch which signaled elegance and tapped into the Darcy-like spirit. The cameo is very curious and may resemble something bought before 1802, which was the date that the letter on the first page (addressed to Jane from Liz) was written. Observing the bite marks on the profile’s neck, it may be speculated that it had been customized to the Darcy lineage, and this also con-sidering the old history of cameos in general. It’s really more of an adorable detail more than anything. The most critical bit of information tying the piece of jewelry to Fitzwilliam was that men were said to have collected cameos before women. This was a symbol of culture and wealth --- naturally, twin concepts that Darcy’s lineage is known greatly for, especially in contrast to that of Liz Bennet’s. 

For a rough semiotics of colors, it has been said that the categorization of colors is universal, trans-cultural, and trans-ethical [Rosch et.al.: 1976]. The usage of black to gray tones implies darkness, villain-ity, discreteness, silence, and a degree of seductiveness. The red droplets are apparently traces of blood, signifying heat or warmth --- of which is ab-sent in the vampire. The color also signified aggression, and destruction. The red drops on a white background symbolizes deflowering, perhaps a loss of some form of innocence. The overall color scheme presentation is a  subconscious sugges-tion of fear. 

There is a great interest in the spelling of the word vampire as ‘vampyre’. Although there is the commonly re-minded risk in over-interpretation, in recognition of the in-creasing volume of (fan-based) theories concerning vampire literature and culture, as well as Grange’s book being a con-tribution to vampire theory itself, I throw my postulate that Mr. Darcy as a vampire may have origins in a certain vampyre ethnicity. He was bitten by Lady Catherine [Grange 2009: 257], but there is no solid proof or information regarding her vampire ethnicity. Perhaps she has German or Serb roots. This is based on the publication of August Ossenfelder’s po-em “der Vampyr” which appeared in 1748. It may be ruminat-ed on that there is the possibility that the poem, which is the basis, may have been published before that.
 

All debate on dates aside, consider Ossenfelder’s roots as well which ties the issue of ethnicity and language altogether. This fragment does after all only discuss appear-ance and reference as an appendix to Christlob Mylius’ article on vampires in Naturforscher. And this is compared to Polidori who is famous for his The Vampire which was published in the 1820s [Wilson: 1985]. Darcy was re-born or Turned in 1665 [Grange 2009: 252].