| This dissertation is an analysis of two novels, Queen of the Damned (1989) and Pandora (1998), by Anne Rice, a contemporary American woman writer. The study demonstrates that the author goes beyond what people generally call entertaining popular culture to reflecting contemporary existential debates pertaining to the present social and historical context and also take a psychological angle. By revealing the complexity of issues that both novels address and by placing their author in the tradition of women writers of Gothic, this analysis is an argument for taking Anne Rice seriously as a contributor to American letters.;Chapter One is an introduction to Rice's life and work. It focuses on events that impacted her writing and justifies the selection of the two novels.;Chapter Two explores the Gothic novel written by women so as to establish a tradition for Anne Rice. While presenting the traditional Gothic conventions, this chapter emphasizes Rice's original contributions.;Chapter Three continues the idea of tradition and innovation and presents a reading of the two novels from the point of view of their incorporation of traditional myths as well as ways in which Rice transforms them.;Chapter Four explores Rice's dealing with issues of body, gender, and representations of women in Queen of the Damned and Pandora. Starting from the premise that Rice blurs traditional boundaries between life and death, body and soul, male and female, this chapter places her in close connection to contemporary border studies.;Chapter Five concludes the study, suggesting that although the novels do not aim at changing the world, they do aim to change people's perspective of their inner worlds and to help them cope with the outside world. Rice's writing is serious and complex and deserves further study. |
