VI Lovers
NoMonet
Interview with the Vampire

The Lovers card is about choices within the realm of relationships, who to love, when to love and when to turn away. Love can be many things that co-mingle reason and passion within the human psyche, including (but not limited to) a close friendship, a deep intimacy, a passing fancy or a timeless union of bodies and spirits. It is a myriad of emotional possibilities between two people, each being a completely unique relationship, a law only unto itself. However, the most important point is that love itself is one of those basic needs that must be satisfied in some way for any being to experience emotional growth and is generally a positive experience that should be embraced.

The characters in the novel Interview with the Vampire epitomize a strange and unique love triangle, one of mixed needs, love-hate relationships and symbiotic fulfillment between three vampires. The self-centered vampire Lestat creates Louis to be his companion. At the time of his transformation Louis is enamored of Lestat, however when Louis feels his needs are not being met and threatens to leave, Lestat creates Claudia the vampire child to keep him by his side. As Claudia’s mind matures, she rejects Lestat for creating her and his lack of compassion for her situation. I’ve chosen that particular place in the novel to illustrate the various attractions and bonds each had with one another. It was a place right before choices of love, loyalty and betrayal were made between them. Lestat is shown posing, more into himself than the two vampires he created for companionship. Louis is depicted trying to get Lestat’s attention, attempting to draw out the caring, tender man he felt lurked somewhere in Lestat that would have suited him more in a companion. Claudia stands before them, terrified at her vulnerability; a vampire in a child’s body must always be protected by a parental figure and must trust these two very different vampires for her survival. She holds her hands out for theirs, but only the emotionally vulnerable Louis takes one of hers. Madeline lurks in the background, the woman Claudia eventually finds to take care of her briefly before her demise. They stand in front of a spider web of blood, filled with the bodies of those they killed to survive, trapped and controlled by their vampire lusts.