In Horace’s Ars
Poetica, the philosopher stresses the importance of considering poetry as an
art form conforming to certain parameters to communicate the author’s intent. Horace claims that literature and poetry are
crafts which have “rules and conventions that require both instructions and
practice” (Leitch 120). Bestselling
novelist Anne Rice has taken the supernatural genre and mastered it by bringing
characters such as werewolves, vampires, witches, and even Jesus Christ to life. When comparing Rice’s latest novel, The Wolf Gift, to the rules of Horace’s Ars Poetica, it becomes obvious that
modern day writers must still conform to the ancient edicts of writing as an
art form which allow their novels to flourish.
Anne Rice’s careful attention to developing the emotion and character of
her protagonist in order to engage her audience, her consistent handling of
myth, and her disallowance of divine intervention fashion a believable tale of
the supernatural intrigue which fit the strictures of Ars Poetica.
Rice centers her tale on Reuben, a sensitive and
beautiful twenty-three year old man beginning his career in the news
business. He was raised in an affluent
household and enjoys a closely knitted relationship with his family members.
His parents, siblings, and even his lover condescendingly refer to Reuben as
“Sunshine Boy”, “Little Boy”, and “Baby Boy” due to his easy going demeanor and
utter lack of regard for his wealth and good looks (Rice 6). Rice follows Horace’s tenant that “it will
make a lot of difference whether your speaker is a god or a hero, an old man of
ripe years or a hot youth, and influential matron or a hardworking nurse, a
travelling merchant or the tiller of a green farm” (Horace 124). The protagonist’s character and the allegiance
ensure the reader is strongly influenced by their physical and emotional
characteristics. In Reuben’s case, his
Master’s in English Literature, wealth, good personality, and unconscious
sensuality recommend him to the reader as a person they should trust and care
for. The fact that he will soon be known
as a “Man-Wolf” is easier to swallow once the reader has endeared him to their
heart.
Rice’s supernatural tales such as “An Interview with a
Vampire” and “Angel Time” have afforded her authority in the realm of the
paranormal. She bases her tales on myth,
following Horace’s recommendation that a writer should “either follow tradition
or invent a consistent story” (Horace 124). Stephenie Meyers, who cut her teeth on the
young adult vampire tale Twilight
with little to no experience in mystic fiction allows vampires to sparkle in
the sunlight, while Anne Rice stays the course of popular myth through
predictable stereotypes of preternatural creatures she makes humanoid through
her use of character development. The Wolf Gift’s werewolves follow the
dogma that these creatures are formed from the bite of a were, releasing the
Chrism into the blood of its victim.
Reuben must kowtow to the edict that the supernatural will not reveal
themselves to humans nor spread the Chrism without contemplation of onto whom
he is bestowing his “wolf gift”. Rice
also follows the sanction that a character act his age. Although the protagonist undergoes an
unconventional change of species, he still acts like a twenty three year old
man, with the needs and desires associated with his youth.
An element that Rice excludes is the possibility of
divine intervention in stopping or hastening change into the Man-Wolf. Her protagonist does not look to God for
assistance. The lack of pleading to a
divine being for intercession follows Horace’s decree that “there should be no
god to intervene, unless the problem merits such a champion” (Horace 126). It is unclear whether Reuben believes in God
but interesting that Rice depicts the character of his beloved brother Jim as a
Catholic priest. Reuben confesses his
deeds to Jim in the confessional, not desiring absolution of his sins but as a
means of seeing whether or not Jim can accept his transformation as he snuffs
out evil through violence to benefit the greater good. Reuben is resigned to his fate yet still
hungers for the righteousness of his brother over the intervention of God in
determining his fate. In following
Horace’s formula, Rice takes the focus away from determining whether God is
merciful or vengeful in this case by making such divinity irrelevant to the
outcome of Reuben’s tale.
Through character development, abidance with myth and
literary tradition, as well as a disregard for divine intervention, Anne Rice
utilizes the edicts of Horace’s Ars
Poetica to create a novel above reproach.
Her appreciation of her characters as individuals and the knowledge that
her readers must be able to connect on an emotional level with the protagonist
of The Wolf Gift follow a strong
philosophical recommendation for leading “the hearers mind wherever it will”
(Horace 124). Rice’s werewolf, or
Wolf-Man, follows the rule that consistency is best when gaining a loyal
audience while her unwillingness to heed the deific, strengthens man’s
perspective that he is in charge of his own providence. Whether or not the author realizes that she
followed Horace’s pronouncements, her epic success is proof that Ars Poetica is pertinent to the triumph
of the modern novel.
Horace. "Ars Poetica." Leitch, Vincent M.
gen. ed. The Norton Anthology of Literature and Criticism. New York:
W.W. Norton & Company, 2010. 119-133. Print.
Rice, Anne. The Wolf Gift. New York: Alfred A.
Knopf, a division of Random House Inc., 2012. Print.
.
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