Lady Of The House Of Love Indepth Analysis

Question 1

“Now all shun the village below the château in which the beautiful somnambulist helplessly perpetuates her ancestral crimes.”

Answer 1

”Now all shun the village below the château in which the beautiful somnambulist helplessly perpetuates her ancestral crimes.”

• ‘shun’ - means avoid. so typically this would be urging people to stay away from the Countess. Has religious connotations.
• Her ‘ancestral’ crimes refer to those committed by her ancestors/historical family members. So perhaps she has a duty to follow in the footsteps of those past family members. But also, perhaps the ‘ancestral crimes’ are what’s making her feel so trapped and that she feels as though she has no other choice but to follow through with them.
• ‘Beautiful somnambulist helplessly’ paints her in an innocent light. as if she couldn’t do anything wrong which is strangely similar to the preconceived gothic ideas about women and the fact they’re just damsels in distress and don’t know right from wrong.

Question 2

“And she is herself a cave full of echoes, she is a system of repetitions, she is a closed circuit”

Answer 2

”And she is herself a cave full of echoes, she is a system of repetitions, she is a closed circuit”

• The fact she is described using all these phrases places emphasis on the fact that she well and truly is not only feeling trapped but she is trapped - not only within her mind but completely and utterly.
• ‘Repetitions’ may refer to the daily routine she follows every day which doesn’t change nor alter. Which could be why she’s ‘trapped’, she’s followed the same routine for centuries and as a result, she can’t get out nor even if she tried, she’d be lost and unable to function.
• ‘Cave’ could refer to there’s nothing to her apart from this hollow shell of vampiric tendencies and as a result she doesn’t appear human.
• ‘Closed circuit’ - could refer to the fact that she won’t let anyone in nor will reveal anything about herself to anyone.

Question 3

“the perennial sadness of a girl who is both death and the maiden”

Answer 3

”the perennial sadness of a girl who is both death and the maiden”

• “perennial” - usually used to describe the flowering cycle which refers to them being able to last over two years. Her sadness is everlasting, in fact it grows as time goes on and will do so for all eternity.
• “girl” and “maiden” - both of which infantilize her ever so slightly and paint her in that typical light of being a damsel in distress which is a gothic convention. But also could refer to the painting ‘death and the maiden” which as time went on, the maiden became more sexualised and presented as a temptress that will seduce death. We can also see this through the evolution of the ‘death and the maiden’ painting and the gradual sexualisation which goes with it as well.
• The fact she is both death and the maiden - means that she is both a powerful seductress but also the fact she’s a damsel in distress that has fallen victim to her entrapment.

Question 4

“The waxen fingers of the Countess… turn up the card called L’Amoureux. Never, never before… never before has the Countess cast herself a fate involving L’Amoureux. She shakes, she trembles, her great eyes close beneath her finely veined, nervously throbbing eyelids…”

Answer 4

”The waxen fingers of the Countess… turn up the card called L’Amoureux. Never, never before… never before has the Countess cast herself a fate involving L’Amoureux. She shakes, she trembles, her great eyes close beneath her finely veined, nervously throbbing eyelids…”

• The countess is suffering a fate of entrapment and everything up to this point has felt as though she has experienced the same things for centuries on end.
• However, as she has drawn this tarot card she is in a state of dismay.
• The repetition of the word ‘never’ is a clear indication of this and in a way it can somewhat relate to the panic in her mind when she discovers this.
• It is clear she is having difficulty accepting this and at the same time is bewildered and questioning whether it is true after having many years of the same fate decided for her.
• “Shakes” “trembles” and “nervously” - are all examples of how anxious she’s feeling. It’s not just mental - which some may argue is the source of her entrapment but it’s also physical - as realised by her physical symptoms of shaking and trembling. - This could also suggest that where she was a ‘cave’ of her animalistic tendencies, her emotions are now humanistic.
• Perhaps, this new tarot will be the cure to her entrapment and liberate her for once and for all.

Question 5

“And could love free me from the shadows? Can a bird sing only the song it knows?”

Answer 5

”And could love free me from the shadows? Can a bird sing only the song it knows?”

• Birds usually symbolise freedom and liberation.
• Suggests the possibilities of liberation which love and sexuality can bring - links to the les amoureux tarot card that was produced when she was looking at her fate once again.
• Perhaps this is what will free her from her entrapment.
• Links to the wider themes of metamorphosis and the possibilities of change.
• Maybe foreshadowing the arrival of the young soldier later on in the book and the fact he was able to wake her from her vampiric state - allusions to sleeping beauty, but instead of coming alive again, she died due to being in the vampiric state for far too long. However it can still be said that she was freed.