TVL: Topic #2

[tirlaeyn]

Opinions on Gabrielle, Lestat's mother? Thoughts on womanhood and motherhood and her life of quiet rebellion against them?

Comments

[xans]

She strikes me, with her not being very physically affectionate, that motherhood was something she didn't really want to sign up for. I don't recall the particulars of her marriage to Lestat's father, but if it wasn't a love match, she needed to be in a family with more wealth or influence to live the life she really wanted to live.

But that Lestat was her favourite because he was the most like her, she understood his moods because she could relate. Although, he got to have freedoms as a man she never had, so she used what influence she had to encourage it and live vicariously by his wild streak.

[tirlaeyn]

Yeah I get the feeling that she didn't marry by choice. I think she would have been much happier living in Italy alone, if such a thing had been allowed. I do feel for her sense of being trapped and wanting to abandon everything. I think we all have that urge, though hers is perhaps stronger than most.

She definitely could have been a better mother. Put more effort into raising and loving all of her sons. She saw herself reflected in Lestat, so she gave him what care and attention she could spare. It doesn't seem she even did that for the others, though we are meant to think they didn't want it or were unworthy of it. I think she might say they were unworthy of her attention which is a pretty horrible thing for a mother to say.

[suttonstrother]

Reading this book as an actual grown-up now, I can better appreciate just how much Gabrielle's life has SUCKED up to this point. And not just the loveless marriage and obligatory motherhood. Girl went from living this wealthy, educated, cultured life in Italy to being stuck in a drafty castle in bumfuck France as pauper nobility. And then on top of not wanting to be a mother to begin with, she's had to watch most of the children she's borne die. What a bummer.

I'll have more to say about Gabrielle in the next couple of weeks, as things change for her (avoiding spoilers here since I know at least one of us hasn't read TVL yet!), because I think the book gets into some interesting stuff with her about gender and agency going forward.

[crystal]

Yeah, I find the whole thing with Gabrielle and her family really depressing. It's clear that she doesn't have very much respect for the rest of the household, and she sets herself apart from them, even Lestat. Not teaching him how to read, as much as he yearns to learn. Not sharing her books with him.

I can't imagine how it would feel to only have these small rebellions and her imagination to comfort her. The conversation she has with Lestat about having sex with all those people was really cathartic, I though!

[cinelitchick]

Gabrielle is a fascinating character. She didn't choose this life of wife and mother "stuck in a drafty castle in bumfuck France" (great line, Sutton!) so much as it was thrust upon her. She sees potential in Lestat, but still resents him for what he represents to her: a life unlived. As he grows up, and particularly after the incident with the wolves, she starts letting him in a little. He will never be fully in her trust, but he is definitely further than any other member of her family will ever be. She encourages him to pick up where she left off. Go see the world and be a part of it. Live as I can not, she basically tells him. She loves him enough to set him free.