Carmilla: The Ingenious Deception of a Loving Vampire

Chapter 1

As the carriage races through the forest of Styria towards the schloss of my next prey, an unnerving feeling begins to radiate throughout my lifeless body. I have been eagerly dreading this moment for the better part of twelve years. Our reunion.

Being of an age so great that its numerical value has lost all significance, to say that I have experienced almost every emotion known to man is a statement that I would have attributed to myself if it were not for the event that took place that fateful day. This feeling that I speak of is one even after all these years I am unable to label and one that has haunted me everyday since. Having lived in the same manner, playing the same role, for so many centuries I had gotten to a point where I lost all interest in my life, finding no pleasure in what I at one point in time believed to be the greatest life one could life, a life of invincibility. This life and all the feelings that accompanied it came crashing down twelve years ago, and since that day I have been going on in almost a trance like state, speaking the lines of deception that I have recited so many times before, and taking the innocent lives of people in a jaded haze. These twelve excruciatingly long years, which at one point in time I would have thought of as nothing more than a mere blip in my eternal existence has been filled with anticipation for the reunion with the girl who awoke the emotions in me which I experienced not twelve years ago in the very schloss which we are fast approaching at present.

As the tops of the towers of the Gothic schloss come into view I take a deep breath as the memories come flooding back.

Remembering the moment I first made my way up the tower, which was topped with a steep oak roof, to the large room that housed what I thought to be nothing more than my next victim. I can still recall with excruciating detail the feelings that ran through me the second I laid eyes on her, her with her porcelain skin and angelic face like I have never seen before. I stood there for what felt like hours in a trance, mesmerized by her, completely unaware as to the passing time and my mission in coming here in the first place. The piercing eyes that fluttered open and landed on my shadowed form finally broke my trance. Finally recovering my senses I was about to gather my composure and focus on my reasoning for coming here, when the most unexpected thing happened…she smiles at me. It was that smile that broke through my barriers and lured me to her side, where to my complete astonishment, she welcomes me with open arms. Upon lying in her arms I was flooded with her intoxicating aroma that sweet scent that was so familiar and yet laced with something I could not describe. My primal need took over and I leaned over her in my attempt at obtaining my first taste of her, when upon lowering my teeth to her delicate skin I was met with a piercing scream that I would have thought impossible to come our of such a small being. It was this cry that caused me to flee before I was able to get my first taste of her or even one final glance.

Remembering that night, as I have so many times before, I am once again overcome with a wave of emotions. Hatred for the torment that she has put me through for so many years, curiosity for what it is in her that has elicited these feeling from me, fear for the control that she has over me, and the most overwhelming emotion of all is that of anticipation for what there is to come with our reunion.

Chapter 2

“Are you both ready?” one of the drivers asks as we come to the opening of the forest, bringing the sight of the schloss’s drawbridge into full view.

Madame Claire turns to me with yet another look of apprehension. See, while Madame Claire appears to be my elder, and even assumed to be my mother for her close resemblance to me, she is neither of these things. Truth be told she is nothing more than my faithful servant, a victim that fell pray to my beauty and spell. This is not to say that she is of no importance to me, for Madame Claire has been a faithful servant for several hundred years, always looking out for my best interests. This concern for my well being is the reason behind the stare in which she is currently sending my way, for this next affair that I am about to partake on is against her wishes. While I usually leave it up to Madame Claire to find my next victim my impatience to meet the girl who has been plaguing my thoughts for twelve years has gone on long enough. This insistence to be taken here has not gone unnoticed by Madame Claire, but her curiosity in my command to be sent here is not the main reason behind her trepidation in this location, no that is manifested from her fear of us being discovered.

It may appear that the business of keeping my identity masked is one of ease, but I assure you it is not. Being a vampire and having the needs that I do makes it impossible to settle in one place for very long. To keep my identity concealed from those around me I am forced to live a nomadic existence, staying in one place for no more than a few months and then traveling to another far away place where the news of my carnage has gone unheard of. This code that I have lived by since the first days of my existence as a nightwalker has been the key to my survival, and is also the code that Madame Claire has been throwing in my face since my decision to come to this very place. If it were not for Mademoiselle Bertha Rheinfeldt, my last victim, and her God forsaken uncle General Spielsdorf I would have been able to come here without the trouble that I know must face.

It was not until my four night in General Spielsdorf’s residence when I discovered his connection with the girl who had been plaguing my thoughts for the last twelve years. It was just a few days before Mademoiselle Rheinfeldt began to show signs of her declining health and we were sitting around a fire in the den when the General began to talk about a visit that we were to make to a dear friend of his. He then went on to describe him and his beautiful daughter who live in a schloss in the country. While my interest was peaked to hear about this beautiful young girl, it was not until he showed me a painting of the father and daughter, which he had that I realized who she was. This was the girl that for so long had capitalized my thoughts and emotions and drained me of all the pleasure I had once gained from these frivolous games of deception and seduction, the one he calls Laura. It was in that instant that I knew I had to finish off this Mademoiselle Rheinfeldt and get to Laura as fast as possible.

General Spielsdorf’s residence being not very far from where we are now is the source behind Madame Claire’s constant reminder that this is a reckless decision, and that going forward with it would be to not only put my life in danger, but the lives of the rest of my party. But I cannot help it, I think. I am drawn to her and this separation of ours has gone on long enough.

As I am brought out of my daze, I see that Madame Claire is still waiting for a response. Giving her a sharp nod she warily turns to the driver and replies in a hushed and hesitant tone a simple yes. With that it begins and the horses are sent into a frenzy, swerving and galloping at such a speed that with a dramatic scream from Madame Claire, sent the carriage toppling over.

This is it, I think to myself as I get the first glimpse of the girl and her father.

Chapter 3

Days have passed since I first arrived and to my discontent I am becoming more and more attached to Laura. It was in my first encounter alone with her in the confines of my room that it struck me how she was even more beautiful than she was the last time that I laid eyes on her, if that were even possible.

It was only after about a week that I had taken up residence in their schloss when I finally could not control myself and had my first taste of my love Laura. To my great displeasure this task, which I have always found to be the easiest thing to do not to mention the most enjoyable, proved more difficult that I had hoped and I was subjected to pacing the floor of her room for many hours engaging in an internal battle with myself, my need versus my heart. It was not until the Sun was almost set to rise that I was finally able to make it to her bed, when upon laying next to her and being enveloped in her sweet scent my craving finally took over and I gained my first glimpse into how sweet and pure Laura truly was. I was this first taste of Laura that solidified my already overpowering connection to her, making her now and forever mine.

As days went by my infatuation with Laura seemed to only grow stronger with each taste I took of her even as she herself grew weaker. This latter part did not go unnoticed my me and even though her taste was turning into an addiction I was very careful in my actions wanting to make her taste and her very presence last for as long as possible. As weeks went by Laura continued to slowly deteriorate, but this did nothing to lessen her beauty, if anything her declining health made her even more enchanting, drawing me to her more and more.

It was not until about a month into my stay that my world, a world where only Laura and I lived, came crashing down. My fantasy was destroyed the night I was paid a visit by Madame Claire. This visit took me by great surprise for neither Madame Claire, nor anyone else from my party had ever approached me during one of my ‘dealings.’

It was not until I noticed her alarming agitation that I realized the nature of this visit. It was at this point that Madame Claire presented me with the news that General Spielsdorf, the overzealous uncle of my last victim, was in hot pursuit of us and was closing in on our location. She then went on to inform me that I had no more than a few days left before we were to leave Styria and that I should finish Laura off at once. This last part enraged me. How dare she, nothing more than my dutiful servant speak to me that way, order me around, and speak of Laura in such a manner! This rage quickly consumed me and it was not long before I had done to Madame Claire that which I was to have done to Laura, slay her. It was not until my rage slowly dissipated that I realized the repercussion of my actions. What have I done? I had killed the most vital member of my party and for what? A girl who’s life I was to take anyway. It was at that thought that I realized, I would never be able to kill Laura. I loved her too much. In that instant I was consumed with dread. What do I do now? I could not stay with Laura forever for the General was fast approaching and I could not go back to my party, not after killing one of their most vital members they would turn on me the moment they found out.

Realizing the truth behind that final statement I knew what I had to do next, I needed to dispose of the body. But where would I put it where it would never be discovered? Knowing I could never again return to Styria after my stay with Laura was over and that the General was bound to figure out my lineage I realized where I must take the body, somewhere where I would never return again…

Chapter 4

By the time I made it back to the schloss dawn was about to break and while the light slowly seeping in through the windows I had no choice but to hide in a cellar until nightfall. During the day Madame Claire’s words would not leave my head. General Spielsdorf is fast approaching. It will not be long now before he finds us and reveals out true identities. Knowing that my time here would soon be coming to an end I decided that there was no other choice, I could not lose Laura. I must turn her. With my mind made up and the Sun finally set I made my way up to my room to find that they had been searching for me all day. With a quick excuse that I must have sleep walked and locked the door everything soon returned to normal. That is until they later informed me that we would be taking a trip to Karnstein. Once I heard this I knew that I was running out of time, that if I was to make Laura mine forever, if I was to turn her that it would have to be when I meet her in Karnstein tonight.

Final Chapter

Having to wait for the Sun to finally set before I was able to make my way to Karnstein was almost unbearable. Watching the shadows slowly sweep across the floor until I was at last enclosed in darkness I was filled with an almost alarming anticipation. It took Mademoiselle De Lafontaine, the finishing governess and I a few hours to make the journey to Karnstein by carriage, but when we finally arrived what I saw brought all of my plans to a screeching halt.

Knowing Karnstein like the back of my hand on account of it was, and I suppose still is, my home it took me no time at all to my way to the main room where I could hear the voices of Laura and others. Once I had entered the room I was taken completely by surprise to find that the General was in their company. Upon seeing me walk into the room the General advanced on me without a moments hesitation carrying what appeared to be a hatchet. Fending off his blows with a death grip on his wrist I was about to let my instincts take over and slay him when from the corner of my eye I saw the horror in Laura’s face. Seeing such terror and repulsion in her eyes upon seeing me in my true nature I new it was all over. Whilst my love for her was more powerful than anything I had ever felt I new deep down that I could not subject Laura to a life as the walking dead, a life devoid of all happiness and instead filled with death. So with this final revelation I released my hold on the General and quickly made my retreat.

Epilogue

Many years have passed since that night and I still feel as broken as when I first saw that look in her eyes, the utter abhorrence at being in my presence. It was not until I had returned to Karnstein a fortnight after the ordeal that I realized the true success of my plan. The General and all that had accompanied him in my execution fell for yet another one of my charades. Having known that the General would discover my lineage which would inevitably lead him to Karnstein, I knew that their was only one way to end this game of cat and mouse. Upon slaying Madame Claire I knew that there were very few places that I could hide her body where she would not be discovered by neither my party nor humans, one of those places happening to be the very place that I knew the General would seek me out to slay me. My crypt. Knowing that she bared a resemblance to me and would decay considerable before my tomb was discovered, I knew that her corpse would easily be mistaken for mine. Madame Claire was always such a faithful servant and it seems that she remained so even in her death. While I know that my plan and deception was one for which I should be proud, knowing that I will be living an eternity without Laura by my side makes me want to curse the General and the priest, Laura, and her father for once again playing into yet another one of my deceptions.

I guess in the end all I have are my deceptions and a hope that one day I will find someone like Laura who I will want for more than the acquisition of their blood, and that with that love I will be able to make them mine forever.

Fin


Understanding ‘Carmilla: The Ingenious Deception of a Loving Vampire’ Fanfiction

When it comes to the story of Carmilla I think that everyone can agree that the more intriguing aspect of the story is the relationship between Carmilla and Laura. The relationship, which at some times appears to be nothing more than an innocent infatuation between the two characters, at other points is overshadowed by Carmilla’s open displays of affection for Laura that border on lesbianism. For my creative project I decided to create a fanfiction that centered on the relationship between the two main characters. This fanfiction however is unlike anything that you will have read in the novella in that it is not only written from a completely different point of view, showing the thoughts and motives behind Carmilla’s actions, but also by reading it through Carmilla’s point of view you will be witness to a completely different side of Carmilla than that which you had gotten glimpses of from your reading of the novella.

In writing this fanfiction there were many factors to consider before beginning the writing process, one of the main factors was based upon the novella as a whole and how much I was going to deviate from it storyline and timeline wise. This questioned proved to be difficult to answer for many reasons, one of which being that because the story was written in Laura’s point of view and only being given glimpses of Carmilla’s constantly changing personality, it was difficult to get any perspective into her character or her motives. From the little bits of insight that we are able to gather from Laura’s writing about Carmilla and her personality it appears that she is both seductive and conniving, but to what extent? The question that I was always left asking myself was what her true motives were behind such an excruciatingly slow and seductive kill. Many people believed that it was for her own pleasure or that that was how she really connected with her victims, but I was left feeling that those answers came up short. This belief in a much deeper meaning behind Carmilla’s actions led me to write the story through her perspective and to cast her in a much softer light that what most people would have placed her.

In my fanfiction you could say that I give Carmilla somewhat of a conscious and what you will see is that her motives behind her, in a sense, ‘courting’ of Laura are far more complex than for just simple pleasure. While I did decide to explore Carmilla’s infatuation for Laura and her eventual love for her, one thing that I resolved not to explore was what many readers believed to be the lesbian relationship between the characters of Carmilla and Laura, wanting to keep the story a little more ‘innocent’ if you will. By doing this you could say that I was deviating from the storyline, but given that we knew next to nothing about what was really going on in Carmilla’s head I believe that my alteration is quite plausible. So I ask, how much did I really stray from the storyline?

Along with trying to stay true to the storyline of the novella, another aspect of the story that I struggled to stay on course with was the timeline of the story. This you will find is another difficult thing to accomplish considering that fact that the timeline of the novel is quite ambiguous. How long does Carmilla actually stay with Laura and her father, was it a several days or several weeks? Since that question was without a clear-cut answer I was left to make that determination on my own. Seeing as in my fanfiction Carmilla’s infatuation with Laura leads her to draw out her death, not wanting their time together to end, I decided to make the timeline span over a course of several weeks. While deciding to give the story a longer time span, I did not decide to rewrite the entire novella from Carmilla’s point of view and going through all the repetitiveness that that would entail, finding it both unnecessary and redundant. Instead I decided to compress the story down to five chapters and an epilogue.

The first chapter of my fanfic centering on Carmilla’s thought right before Carmilla and Laura are reunited in addition to a flashback of the first night they met. This chapter served to show how deeply Carmilla felt for Laura and how that first meeting had affected her for all of these years. The second chapter then went on to have Carmilla describe the trouble she went to in coming to Styria given her code for survival. The second chapter was also important because it gave the reader insight to the character of Madame Claire, who’s name I made up on account of her name never being revealed. This chapter proved to further show how drawn to Laura she has become over the years, while also introducing the character of Madame Claire and her relationship with Carmilla. The character of Madame Claire took quite a lot of thought to expand considering the fact that we new even less about her than Carmilla, which seemed almost impossible. In developing her character I decided not to keep her as the mother of Carmilla, as is what we were led to believe from their story. Considering everything about Carmilla appeared to be a deception, I was led to believe that so was her faux mother. My reasoning for making Madame Claire nothing more than her faithful servant was to emphasis her age and power and that she was the leader of her party. By doing this I was able to give a convincing reason for Carmilla being able to decide to seek out Laura against the others wishes. Madame Claire also proved crucial to the story by showing the depths of Carmilla’s love for Laura and what she was willing to do for her. In Carmilla’s act of slaying Madame Claire, her most dependable subject, for telling her to kill Laura quickly was a key moment in showing how far Carmilla was willing to go to protect Laura. Madame Claire also proved a vital character in that she was the reasoning for not only Carmilla’s disappearance in the story during chapter seven, but also the essential factor in Carmilla making her great escape in the end.

While it was my intention to remain as close to the storyline as possible there was one instance in which I did stray. This instance in which I deviated from the novella’s storyline you could say was one of the most crucial moments in the entire story, the ending. While this is true, I would have to argue that although it does appear that I rewrote the ending, the manner in which I did alter it was in such a way that would make it possible to have happened. The facts of the story are laid out for you in the novella and being as that there is so much left to speculation it would appear that there are endless possibilities to how it all truly played out. So I ask again, how much did I really stray from the storyline? The only person who I believe is really capable of making that speculation would be Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu and as we all know he will not be making any complaints any time soon.

Final Project Rough Draft

For my final project as I have posted previously is a fanfiction based off of novella Carmilla. For my fanfiction what I have decided to do is write the story from Carmilla’s point of view. After thinking it over I have decided not to rewrite the scenes in the story from Carmilla’s point of view, finding that repetitive and boring, instead I intend on sticking to what goes on in between the moments that are described to us. What I have posted is I guess what you could call the first chapter. As you will see I decided to depict a softer side of Carmilla.

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Title
(I haven’t come up with one yet but if anyone has an idea I am open to any suggestions.)

As the carriage races through the forest of Styria towards the schloss of my next prey, an unnerving feeling begins to radiate throughout my lifeless body. I have been eagerly dreading this moment for the better part of thirteen years. Our reunion.

Being of an age so great that its numerical value has lost all significance, to say that I have experienced almost every emotion known to man would have been a statement that I would have attributed to myself if it were not for the event that took place that fateful day. This feeling that I speak of is one even after all these years I am unable to label and one that has haunted me everyday since. Having lived in the same manner, playing the same role, for so many centuries I had gotten to a point where I lost all interest in my life, finding no pleasure in what I at one point in time believed to be the greatest life one could life, a life of invincibility. This life and all the feelings that accompanied it came crashing down thirteen years ago, and since that day I have been going on in almost a trance like state, speaking the lines of deception that I have recited so many times before, and taking the innocent lives of people in a jaded haze. These thirteen excruciatingly long years, which at one point in time I would have thought of as nothing more than a mere blip in my eternal existence has been filled with anticipation for the reunion with the girl who awoke the emotions in me which I experienced not thirteen years ago in the very schloss which we are fast approaching at present.

As the tops of the towers of the Gothic schloss come into view I take a deep breath as the memories come flooding back. Remembering the moment I first made my way up the tower, which was topped with a steep oak roof, to the large room that housed what I thought to be nothing more than my next victim. I can still recall with excruciating detail the feelings that ran through me the second I laid eyes on her, her with her porcelain skin and angelic face like I have never seen before. I stood there for what felt like hours in a trance, mesmerized by her, completely unaware as to the passing time and my mission in coming here in the first place. The piercing eyes that fluttered open and landed on my shadowed form finally broke my trance. Finally recovering my senses I was about to gather my composure and focus on my reasoning for coming here, when the most unexpected thing happened…she smiles at me. It was that smile that broke through my barriers and lured me to her side, where to my complete astonishment, she welcomes me with open arms. Upon lying in her arms I was flooded with her intoxicating scent, that sweet scent that is so familiar and yet laced with something I cannot describe. My primal need taking over and I lean over her in my attempt at obtaining my first taste of her, when upon lowering my teeth to her delicate skin I am met with a piercing scream that I would have thought impossible to come our of such a small being. It was this cry that caused me to flee before I was able to get my first taste of her or even one final glance.

Remembering that night, as I have so many times before, I am once again overcome with a wave of emotions. Hatred for the torment that she has put me through for so many years, curiosity for what it is in her that has elicited these feeling from me, fear for the control that she has over me, and the most overwhelming emotion of all is that of anticipation for what there is to come with our reunion.

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So, what so you think? This is just a rough draft of the first chapter and is subject to change so if you don’t like something or think I should add something please tell me. I know this isn’t much; I have some more written but am still not confident with it. Is there anything you think I should change or any suggestions on where you think I should take it? This being my first fanfic ever I am not very comfortable writing them so any ideas or advice would be greatly appreciated☺

When it comes to the Irish novel the thing that I have found to be one of the most prominent features in the style of writing is its disjointed nature, which I might also add was one of the most frustrating aspects of this style of writing. Another principal characteristic of this style of writing, which is probably the most important aspect of the style, is its use of historical, political, and economic conditions to influence and shape its novels and their tone. When I first took the course and read about the Irish novel and how its style of writing was so different to the traditional style of writing and how it is seen as a “troubled” genre I remember thinking, how different could it really be? Well, I soon discovered how truly different the Irish novel could really be, and although sometimes I was frustrated by the style of writing I have to say that it is unique to say the least. The biggest thing that I will take away from this course is the extensive Irish history that I have gathered throughout the semester from both the independent research I gave done along with what I have gathered from the reading that we have done.

The Gathering, Minus A Literary Criticism

Welcome to the second week of The Gathering! I know that I am not the only one who is glad to hear that we did not have to read another literary criticism. While that is always good news I was also left a bit apprehensive about this week’s blog, having nothing other than the novel to base it on. Having finished the novel prior to last week’s blog I am finding it very hard to locate something to discuss for this blog. For some reason this book leaves me feeling like I am missing something. Even though the novel is filled with Veronica’s accounts of the events leading up to Liam’s death, accompanied by the events that take place after, I feel as though I finished the book knowing only a few things about her. For one, Veronica is a 39-year-old mother of two girls in an unsatisfactory marriage. Two, she is one of twelve children born from a mother with “holes in her head” (7). Three, Veronica’s favorite sibling, her older brother Liam, an alcoholic and a ‘terrible messer’ was abused as a boy by the grandmother’s landlord. And four, Liam ends up committing suicide by putting rocks in his pockets and slipped into the sea at Brighton. Besides that I feel as though it is anybodies speculation. What most astonishes me throughout the novel is Veronica’s ability to recount an event that took place either in the past or present in such minute detail and then leave you with the sense of having no clue as to if it really occurred or was simply conjured up in her mind.

Struggling to understand her brother’s suicide, Veronica convinces herself that not only does she owe it to Liam, but also that it is her duty as the loving sister to acknowledge their past unflinchingly. Staying awake every night, Veronica obsessively searches through her mind, remembering childhood memories in a pursuit for clues as to what sent her brother on the path that led him to ''the box downstairs'' (213). While some of the memories are of random times throughout her life when Liam was present, the memories that are most frequently recalled are those that take place long before either her or Liam were born, the memories of her grandmother Ada. Beginning in Dublin, 1925, these ‘memories’ are of Ada’s first encounter with Lambert Nugent and later Charlie Spillane, her grandfather. These sensual, impromptu visions are conjured up by Veronica in her attempt to fill in the gaps of her family’s story that may explain all the pain and sadness that has unraveled since that point.

While the novel at most times can be described at best as being ambiguous, one clear aspect that I was able to uncover from the novel was its overall themes. These themes were focused on universal questions, the most recurring based on the way in which the mind and memory works (Veronica’s narrative) and generating a contemplation on the origin of evil (Lambert Nugent). While the novel may be made more unclear by the narrator’s struggle to discern what was real or not, it is clear that all Veronica can go by are 'an uncertain event' she feels ‘roaring inside me’ (1).

Extra Credit Blog: 'Myths, Tales or Stories? : Jeremiah Curtin's Indian and Irish Collections'

*My blog for The Gathering is under this one for any of you interested*

When I first read the name of the seminar 'Myths, Tales or Stories? : Jeremiah Curtin's Indian and Irish Collections' I was expecting a presentation filled with old Irish tales and folklore, I was not however expecting an in depth memoir of Jeremiah Curtin’s life, which I found out was who the building that the seminar was located in was named after (Curtin Hall). Although I was a little disappointed in the lack of storytelling, the seminar was redeemed by the very well presented biography of Jeremiah Curtin, a fascinating man with many vocations. Before I get into the very impressive life of Curtin, I have to mention the most intriguing aspect of the seminar, in my opinion anyway. Arriving a little early to the seminar I was very lucky to witness some of the attendants of the presentation and the speaker, John Eastlake converse in what I can only assume was Gaelic. I do not know about anyone else, but I have never hear people speaking in Gaelic and although I could not understand a single word that was said, I could not stop watching them and listening to the very strange dialect and accent that they were using. I found it really cool, especially because I sometimes forget that the Irish have their own language.

While I am not going to give you a full summary of Curtin’s life and work, being as it would take an entire book to do that, I will discuss some of the things that I found to be the most fascinating about him. Now when I said earlier that Jeremiah Curtin had many vocations, I wasn’t kidding. Curtin was a linguist, translator, author, diplomat, world traveler, folklorist, and ethnologist. While I find all of these professions to by interesting, the one thing that Mr. Eastlake said about Jeremiah Curtin that I find hard to believe was that Curtin was not just your run of the mill linguist, no Curtin was said to have mastered 70 languages! The only question that I have to this statement is, what is your definition of mastered? I ask this because if this was true, Curtin has got to be one of the smartest men of all time. Seventy languages, really, I can’t even list half that many languages.

When in comes to the subject of mythology I learned that what Curtin was most interested in was not just the stories told, but the origin of myths, stating, “All myths have the same origin.” Curtin based most of his work off of his theory of universal mythology. Curtin believed that having a ‘universal spiritual tradition’ would provide a common spiritual appreciation for mankind. In other words, Curtin believed that a universal mythology would act as a kind of universal religion, wiping away religious differences. Unfortunately, it appears that his ambitious endeavor did not pay off, if current events have anything to show for it.

Besides Curtin one other person that was discussed in the seminar, and who I found to be very interesting, was Curtin’s wife Alma Cardell Curtin. Being that Curtin lived during the nineteenth century, I was very surprised to find that Alma played a very active role in Curtin’s work, working almost as an independent partner to Curtin. Seeing as women in those days did not have much freedom, I was very impressed with the extent to which she contributed to Curtin’s work, going as far as to perform her own field work and write her own papers, under Jeremiah’s name of course.

After attending the seminar and learning all that Jeremiah Curtin had accomplished in his life, I think that I have to agree with the women that introduced John Eastlake and say that when it comes to the building that was named after Jeremiah Curtin, he definitely deserved better.

The Gathering

Whenever I think about The Gathering the four words that come to mind are bitter, bleak, depressing, and, sorry Anne Enright, boring. While I was not a big fan of the particularly slow pace of the novel, the thing that really bothered me about the book was how every time Veronica Hegarty recalled a past memory, or even just narrated something that was happening in the present, she would conclude it by saying something like “This is real, I think. This is real. Though I am not sure that it is, actually.” (151) That is what drove me crazy, how after every story that she told she would say how she was not even sure that it happened. I felt like I was wasting my time reading tedious and very bitter accounts of a mad women who was not even confident in her own credibility.

I understand that being that The Gathering was a novel written in the first person that whatever was told is subjective. Reading Breakfast On Pluto it was quite easy to discern what Pussy was imagining and what was real, but where Veronica is concerned nothing she says is credible. Even the central plot of the story, the sexual abuse that Liam experienced as a child resulting in his suicide was put into speculation when Veronica stated, “I know that my brother Liam was sexually abused by Lambert Nugent. Or was probably sexually abused by Lambert Nugent.” (224)

While I truly did not like Veronica Hegarty and all her bitterness and hatred, I did find her to be quite interesting. This fascination in Veronica is stemmed from the belief that she was mad, or well on her way. Her inability to tell which way was up, what really happened and what she made up, which I believe I sufficiently explained above, was a sure sign of her psychosis, in my opinion. Another aspect that I found to be just as interesting was her bitterness and hatred toward almost everyone she new. Veronica’s bitterness toward her mother, a ''piece of benign human meat, sitting in a room,'' was based on the fact that she had “twelve children and…seven miscarriages. The holes in her head are not her fault. Even so, I have never forgiven her any of it. I just can’t…I do not forgive her the sex. The stupidity of so much humping. Open and blind. Consequences, Mammy. Consequences.” (7) At the wake Veronica accuses her ‘vague’ mother, who was so absent-minded that she was absent altogether, of the death of Liam. “The year you sent us away, your dead son was interfered with, when you were not there to comfort or protect him, and that interference was enough to send him on a path that ends in the box downstairs.” (213) Aside from blaming her mother, Veronica also blamed her father for the death of Liam, in almost the same way in which she blamed her mother, for having “sex the way his children get drunk – which is to say, against his better judgment.” (228) Veronica even went as far as to blame Ada Merriman, her grandmother, for marrying Charlie Spillane instead of Lambert Nugent, Liam’s molester “She did not realize that every choice is fatal. For a woman like Ada, every choice is an error, as soon as it is made.” (110) All of this blame, though some of it absurd, I believe was placed by Veronica in a way of hiding her own guilt in doing nothing about the molestation when she found out, except run upstairs to the bathroom “with an urge to pee and look at the pee coming out.” (146)

Veronica is suffocated with resentment of her parents for their prolific insensitivity, of her husband and siblings for their inability to share her despair and of herself for her inaction in being able to save Liam from himself. What I have discerned from all of this is that Liam’s death coupled with Veronica’s bitterness and hatred for almost everyone in her life has caused her to follow in her uncle’s footsteps and go mad.

*I apologize for any sort of confusion that my blog may have caused. In my defense I am very sick and on a couple medications, combine that with The Gathering and you have a very jumbled up blog that quite possibly does not make any sense. Sorry*

Online Artifact: “The IRA & Sinn Fein: The Conflict” A Look at Northern Ireland Violence and It’s Influence on Breakfast On Pluto

One aspect of Breakfast on Pluto that I believe every reader can agree on is that there is a very rich political undertone that took place throughout the novel. Political violence in Northern Ireland is the largest problem that Ireland has faced over the last century, with Britain’s rule over the isle and the partition of Northern and Southern Ireland being the cause of this violence. To be able to truly grasp a full understanding of the novel and the events that take place in it, being that it took place during the prime of an era known as the “Troubles”, it is imperative to as a reader have knowledge on Irish history.

Like any conflict there are two sides, and in the case of the Northern Ireland conflict the Protestants and the Catholics headed those two sides. The chief issues between the two groups, besides the obvious difference in religious beliefs, were the socio-economic and political inequalities combined with the opposing views on the future of the state of Northern Ireland. On one side, the Protestants, the dominant portion of the population, were for continued ties with Britain, seeing themselves as British subjects and wanting to remain a part of the United Kingdom. On the other side, the Catholics, the minority in the state, were in favor of Northern Ireland disbanding from Britain and rejoining the Republic of Ireland in a united Ireland. This notion of becoming a united Ireland was unacceptable to the Protestants because in a united Ireland they would be the minority instead of the Catholics.

Breakfast on Pluto takes place during a period known as the Troubles, a name used to depict the political violence in Northern Ireland from 1968 all the way through to 1999. At the beginning of this three decade long struggle the circumstances were further intensified by the mobilization of both Protestant and Catholic paramilitary groups, the two most famous known respectively as the Ulster Defense Regiment and the Irish Republican Army, or IRA. Both groups were determined to take matters into their own hands, and both groups were the cause of the violence to takes place throughout Breakfast on Pluto. The battle between the Protestants and Catholics was not merely a clash over religion. The escalating utilization of state repression measures combined with the lack of democratic solutions to Catholic grievances concerning allocation of housing, jobs, franchise, and gerrymandering by local councils in Northern Ireland served to further the growth of Catholic extremists. These Catholic extremists, mostly affiliated with the IRA, took the standpoint of "We are here. You have to talk to us. If we have to bomb our way to a negotiating table, we will."* During this period Northern Ireland was on the verge of civil war.

In 1968 the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) was created in response to the inaction that was taking place in regards to Catholic inequalities in employment, housing, education, and the right to vote. With the creation of the NICRA civil rights marches began throughout Northern Ireland.

“The beauty of that was that it meant that they weren't going down the road of the Nationalist Party in demanding a united Ireland. What they were saying was that, "We are British subjects and we demand British rights." Such things as employment for Catholics, good housing for Catholics, fairness, under the law, for Catholics.”*

Between 1968 and 1969 many of the marches that took place in Northern Ireland were marred by violence committed by not only the police, but also members of the Protestant community who believed that the civil rights movement was just a deceptive tactic used by the Catholics in their goal to tear down the union and replace it with a united Ireland.

An end to civil rights marches tragically came on January 30, 1972, in Londonderry (Derry), Northern Ireland when British soldiers monitoring the march opened fire on the crowd killing fourteen unarmed civilians. One of the bloodiest events of the ensuing fight, this day became known as Bloody Sunday. Being one of the largest events to take place in the Troubles era it should come as no shock to find that there are many references to Bloody Sunday made throughout Breakfast on Pluto.

“We got home and heard thirteen people had been shot dead by British Army paratroopers in Derry. I was absolutely mortified.” (BP 39) Bloody Sunday was one of the contributing factors in Pussy’s decision to leave Tyreelin for London. “If things had improved even a little bit, I think I might have considered staying around Tyreelin for another while but if you look at those first six months of 1972, you would have to ask: ‘What person in their right mind who had a choice would stay five minutes in the fucking kip!” (BP 45) Pussy would later discovery that not even England was safe from the violence of Northern Ireland.

In the aftermath of Bloody Sunday political violence spiraled out of control, becoming increasingly sinister and lethal in nature. Since 1969, more than 3,200 people had died in the era of the Troubles from Catholic victims of Protestant paramilitary groups and British troops, to Protestant victims of IRA attacks, and victims in Britain resulted from IRA bombs.

Mirroring the increase in violence following Blood Sunday, incidents of savage violence in Breakfast on Pluto began to arise on a much more frequent basis. One such incident of unmerited vicious brutality in the novel took place when a boy with Down’s syndrome was murderer in his own home, after his mother was raped, for being Catholic. “Quite what he must have made of two completely strange men standing in his living room…when they started asking him questions…he raced up the stairs so enthusiastically to get his rosary beads when they leaned in close and asked him, smiling: ‘What religion are you?’ I think it was the first Down’s syndrome boy shot in the Northern Ireland war. The first in Tyreelin, anyway.” (BP 46) While this example of violence is not only unjust, but also malicious it did serve a purpose. “When we speak of soft targets we're talking about people or property which are very easy to target, very easy to pick off. And, obviously, the easier they are, the more successful you're going to be…They all were to demonstrate that Northern Ireland was ungovernable.”*

The Troubles was an era marked by repression, violence, and terrorist bombings. Throughout Breakfast on Pluto there were countless examples of the influence that the violence of the state on Northern Ireland had on Pussy and those around him. From the death for Dummy, Irwin, and Pat, to the multiple bombings that took place in London, understanding the significance of these events to every person in Ireland and England during this period, Patrick McCabe does a brilliant job of showing how, even if you were not associated with it directly, the effects of Northern Ireland violence created a large impact on one’s life.

Work Cited:

*Online Artifact:

“The IRA & Sinn Fein: The Conflict.” FRONTLINE's web sites are produced by FRONTLINE and Entropy Media.
Web site ©1995-2010 WGBH Educational Foundation.
FRONTLINE is a registered trademark of WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ira/conflict/

Other Sources:

"An End to the Troubles? (Special Report)." Encyclopedia. Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services, May 1998. Web. 20 Apr. 2010.
http://www.2facts.com/article/xn01070

“Northern Ireland Conflict: Key Events.” Facts On File World News Digest: n. pag. World News Digest. Facts On File News Services, 16 Apr. 1998. Web. 20 Apr. 2010.
http://www.2facts.com/article/1998097650

The Life and Times of Patrick Braden

I am unsure as to whether I should refer to Patrick as a he or a she considering his identity as a transvestite, but for the sake of not confusing myself, or the rest of the class for that matter, I am going to refer to Pussy (Anyone else feel weird calling him that?) as a he, sorry Patrick.

I think that it is fair to say that Patrick “Pussy” Braden’s parentage was the leading cause of his dysfunctional and destructive lifestyle. The two most important aspects of Patrick is his identity as a transvestite and his “vocation” as a prostitute or as Pussy liked to call himself "a high-class escort girl." (1) In terms of Pussy’s identity as a transvestite, I find myself in agreement with Terrence, “I think the truth, Patrick…is that maybe you always secretly wanted to become her, Eily. After all – she could hardly walk away then!” (95) I believe that Patrick’s desire for his mother triggered his gender confusion and his desire ‘to have a vagina of his own’, while also fueling his desire for a companion. Pussy’s relationship with Louise is a perfect example of Pussy’s attempt at obtaining a parental figure in the form of a lover. “I got more than accustomed to the little grey jacket and the short trousers and really began to get excited when she asked me to call her ‘Mammy’…After a while I started to really like it, just sitting there on her knee and being engulfed by all this powdery warm flesh.” (92)

When looking at Braden’s profession it appears that he had two intentions in becoming a prostitute, however subconscious they may have been. The primary and most obvious reason being to put himself in direct contact with men, preferably older, who found him attractive and offered him the attention that his own father never provided. Every time Father Bernard laid eyes on Pussy “he put his head down and made a detour around by the back of the chicken-shed.” (59) This first reason led to such relationships as that with Eamon Faircroft, Pussy’s “Married Politician Man”(31) an arms dealer for the IRA who was eventually killed by a bomb placed by the IRA or the Ulster Defense Association. Being Pussy’s first “sugar daddy,” Dummy, as Pussy liked to call him, was the first man to bring to light Pussy’s distorted concept of love, believing that affection was shown through gifts. "Well, obviously I couldn't be his girl into perpetuity but I was quite prepared, if he continued to lavish me with compliments and cash, certainly to remain with him for as long as--well, who knew!--and would indeed most likely that have done, if he hadn't gone and died." (33) It becomes clear after this first relationship of Pussy’s that in looking for a lover Pussy was subconsciously looking for a caretaker.

The second purpose behind Pussy becoming an escort girl in Piccadilly Circus was as a means of providing himself with all the street time in London he needed to search for his missing mother, whom he continually mistook complete strangers for, “‘What are you on about? My name’s not Bergin! Nor Eily neither! Get lost before I call the police!’ I made more mistakes like that – but there’s no point in me pretending! I just couldn’t help myself!” (94) This obsession with locating his absentee mother reveals his true motives throughout the novel, and his live, "To be able to say: 'This is where I belong - right here in this place." (114)

OK, so for my final project I was thinking that I might write a fan fiction. Being that my artistic skills are EXTREMELY limited, not to mention my technological skills (It took me awhile to figure out how to work the whole blog thing, let alone create a whole website!), I thought sticking to writing was my safest bet. Having never written a fan fiction I am curious as to how it will go, but it seems like it will be pretty fun, especially when compared to writing a 7 to 10 page paper on what we have already written. As for the storyline of said fan fiction I will need a little more time in figuring that out. I am pretty sure that I will be basing it off of Carmilla, although that may be subject to change. If anyone wants to help a sister out and has an idea for a fan fiction that they are willing to share it would be greatly appreciated☺