Shakespeare References in The Vampire Armand

I’ve read four books from Anne Rice’s series about vampires, and each has contained Shakespeare references. The Vampire Armand contains several references, beginning with one to Macbeth. Rice writes, “Life was no longer a theatrical stage where Banquo’s ghost came again and again to seat himself at the grim table” (p. 5). Banquo is at first friend to Macbeth, but soon is killed at Macbeth’s behest. That, to Macbeth’s dismay, is not the last he sees of Banquo. The second reference is to Cymbeline, and specifically to a song from the fourth act. Rice writes: “‘“Fear no more the heat of the sun,”’ he whispered. ‘Nor the furious winter’s rages. Fear no more…”’” (p. 14). (And, yes, the book is missing one quotation mark before the word “Nor.”) Guiderius sings those lines in the play. There are also a couple of references to Hamlet. The first is to a phrase used by Hamlet in his most famous soliloquy, with Rice writing, “It’s a penance to kill, Amadeo, that’s the rub” (p. 108). The second is to a plot device, with Lord Harlech using a rapier with a poisoned blade to attack Amadeo, much as Laertes uses in his fight with Hamlet. There is also a reference to Romeo And Juliet, and specifically to a film adaptation. Rice writes, “Louis standing in the rain on a slick deserted downtown street watching through the store window the brilliant young actor Leonardo DiCaprio as Shakespeare’s Romeo kissing his tender and lovely Juliet (Claire Danes) on a television screen” (p. 277). The next reference is to Shakespeare himself. Rice writes: “It was winter, and I was contented in London, haunting the theatres to see the plays of Shakespeare, and reading the plays and the sonnets the whole night long. I had no other thoughts just now but Shakespeare. Lestat had given him to me. And when I’d had a bellyful of despair, I’d opened the books and begun to read” (p. 285). The final reference is to one of the sonnets, the first line of Sonnet 29. Rice writes, “If or when she wants to rise in ‘fortune and men’s eyes,’ I’ll clear the way for her” (pages 359 – 360). The first lines of the sonnet are “When, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes,/I all alone beweep my outcast state.”

The Vampire Armand was published in 1998. The copy I read was a First Trade Edition.

Shakespeare References in Memnoch The Devil

The first two books in The Vampire Chronicles – Interview With The Vampire and The Vampire Lestat – contain Shakespeare references. I thought I had copies of the third and fourth books, but couldn’t locate them, and so moved onto the fifth book, Memnoch The Devil. This book isn’t nearly as good as the others, and gets fairly tedious, but there are a couple of Shakespeare references. The first reference is to Othello. Rice writes, “‘I don’t look so much for simple, evil people, murderers, you know, so much as a more sophisticated kind of criminal, someone with the mentality of an Iago’” (p.12). Iago, of course, is the character that misleads Othello, making him think his wife has been unfaithful. The book’s other reference is to The Merchant Of Venice, with Rice writing: “‘Of course I believe in the sanctity of it. It’s all I believe in! That’s my point, don’t you see? It’s all you believe in too…what glitters and what is gold’” (p. 87). That refers to the moment when the Prince of Morocco opens the golden casket only to read, “All that glisters is not gold.”

Memnoch The Devil was published in 1995. The copy I read was a First Edition.

Shakespeare References in The Vampire Lestat

Anne Rice’s Interview With The Vampire included a few Shakespeare references. And so does the second book in the series, The Vampire Lestat. This second book is narrated by the character Lestat. The first reference is to Shakespeare himself, with Rice writing, “I learned more after that from the English language writers – everybody from Shakespeare through Mark Twain to H. Rider Haggard, whom I read as the decades passed” (p. 4). The second reference is to Shakespeare as well: “Musicians performed Mozart as well as jazz and rock music; people went to see Shakespeare one night and a new French film the next” (pages 8-9).

The next few references are to Macbeth, and all three are to my personal favorite of Macbeth’s speeches. Rice writes, “‘“Handsome enough” is this Grim Reaper,’ I half uttered, ‘who can snuff all these “brief candles,” every fluttering soul sucking the air, from this hall’” (p. 137). The “brief candle” of course refers to Macbeth’s line “Out, out, brief candle.” A little later Rice writes: “‘Tomorrow…tomorrow night,’ I think I stammered. That line came back to me from Shakespeare’s Macbeth… ‘Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow…’” (p. 147). That same line is referred to a few pages later: “I was thinking about her as if there were ‘tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow…’” (p. 154).

The next reference is to Shakespeare, with Rice writing, “And why should I bother to tell of the times he came to me in wretched anxiety, begging me never to leave him, of the times we walked together and talked together, acted Shakespeare together for Claudia’s amusement” (p. 499). The book’s final reference is to Macbeth, and again to that great speech: “‘There’ll be time after,’ I answered. ‘“Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow”’” (p. 524).

The Vampire Lestat was published in 1985. The first Ballantine Books edition was published in October 1986. The copy I read is, I believe, from 1993 or 1994.