Vampires, Family, and Sex

My blog this week is going to be in response/conjunction with Bailey’s blog, found here http://baileysgothicnovelblog.blogspot.com/ . Bailey discusses the homoerotic tendencies of Louis and Lestat, also the very close relationship between Claudia and Louis. I think that both of the observations Bailey made are valid and I would like to expand on this idea of vampires and family and vampires and sex.
In Candace Benefiel’s essay that we read for class, she discusses these matters as well. She kind of mixes the two issues of family and sex. She says, “ The male sexual penetration of the victim (with the phallic substitute fangs) is followed by the more archetypal female nurturing of the victim, feeding him or her blood from the vampire’s body.” (262) I think this quote represents Interview on a few levels. It seems that in the book the vampires are attracted to the people they turn into new vampires and the changing is always highly sexualized. It makes sense then that the fangs would be a phallic representation. But then once the change has occurred the vampires become like a family and the “father” vampire has to nurture and show the new vampire how to live. Another interesting point I think Benefiel makes is that the drinking of vampire blood needed to create a new vampire can be related to nursing. Supporting the idea of a vampire family. She says, “The vampire gives immortality through blood being sucked from it, an image paralleling maternal nursing.” (268)
It doesn’t seem to matter if this new vampire is male or female. Take Louis and Lestat for example. They seem to have this homosexual love for each other, just as Bailey says. Then there is Claudia and Louis. They also have a love, but this love isn’t homosexual obviously, but it is pretty twisted. Claudia is a child and Louis is this father figure, but also her lover, not physically, but emotionally. Louis describes their relationship as, “Father and Daughter, Lover and Lover.” (Interview 90) Even though they are considered lovers they do not have sex. They satisfy this need by killing. Benefiel suggests that this non differentiating between the sexes means that the vampires are bisexual. (268) I do not agree with this statement. It is hard for me to explain exactly why not, but I will try. I see the vampires as different from humans. They have lost some of the ‘rules’ that humans go by, one of the hose ‘rules’ I think is sexual identity. Yes, they have these homoerotic tendencies and yet they also seem to be attract to the opposite sex. I think speaking from a human stand point we would definitely call this person a bisexual, but it is different when apply this concept to vampires. The vampire does not have actual physical sex with other vampires. Louis and Lestat may have had some sort of love for each other, or maybe it was more of an obligation. Creator and Created. I do not think that this qualifies them as homosexuals. Armand and Louis also seemed to have a little love going on to, but I see this as more of an interest in each other and their knowledge. I do not see anything sexual about their relationship. I do not think vampires can have a sexual identity.