Like the vampires of Rice's Vampire Chronicles, those who take the elixir become immortal, inhumanely strong, and unable to die from normal means. These individuals could even be said to be "reverse vampires" since they derive their strength from the sun, and cannot live without it. Unlike vampires, they are able to eat, drink, and function as normal humans. However, this immortality comes with a strange price. Those who drink the potion are constantly driven to sate their senses. They constantly crave food and drink, although they ne ...

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The Mummy novel, The Mummy novel - Overview, The Mummy novel - Plotline, The Mummy novel - Motifs, The Mummy novel - Influences, The Mummy novel - Connection to the Vampire Chronicles?

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Like Shadow of a Doubt, Strangers on a Train is one of many Hitchcock films to explore the doppelgänger theme. The film employs a number of puns and visual metaphors to suggest the motif of double-crossing and crossing one's double. A few examples: Bruno orders two double drinks on the train in the beginning of the film. Guy's lighter, which plays an important role in the film, features two crossed tennis rackets. A murder committed early in the film is seen doubly reflected in both lenses ...

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Strangers on a Train, Strangers on a Train - The plot, Strangers on a Train - The motif of the double, Strangers on a Train - Alternate versions, Strangers on a Train - Parodies

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The plot of Edward Scissorhands bears resemblances to Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein, in as much as Edward is an artificially created man; however, such similarities to the novel are limited (for example, no conflict occurs between the creator and the created being, in contrast to a central theme of Shelley's Frankenstein). Rather, Edward Scissorhands follows more closely the plot of the 1931 motion picture Frankenstein in that Edward, a creature without malice or knowledge of deception, is naïve to th ...

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Edward Scissorhands, Edward Scissorhands - Plot, Edward Scissorhands - Motifs and Themes, Edward Scissorhands - Trivia, Edward Scissorhands - Adaptations

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Erickson’s novels revolve around certain concepts, that appear in almost all his works. One of them is slavery, both actual and metaphorical. His fourth novel Arc d’X starts with a story of a love affair between Thomas Jefferson and a slave girl, Sally Hemings. In many other novels the selling, buying, owning, and disowning of women appears; as often, the men are the more profoundly trapped by what they seek or purport to own. Sexual violence is also present in most of his novels. Often it is directed against women, but more than a few women in his novels know how and have the will to use a knif ...

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Steve Erickson, Steve Erickson - Biography:, Steve Erickson - Recurring motifs, Steve Erickson - Bibliography, Steve Erickson - Novels, Steve Erickson - Other, Steve Erickson - Awards

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Repeated motifs feature strongly and powerfully in Utena. Many scenes are reused—exactly or almost so—in several episodes. This may have been a practical consideration on the animators' part to reduce production costs, but it also lends a ritualistic sense to many of the repeated scenes—such as the Student Council's ascent, or Utena's entry to the dueling platform. The use of color in the series alternates between serene and striking, while the world feels angular and modern, from the faces of the characters to the design ...

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Revolutionary Girl Utena, Revolutionary Girl Utena - Composition, Revolutionary Girl Utena - Plot summary, Revolutionary Girl Utena - Student Council Saga, Revolutionary Girl Utena - Characters, Revolutionary Girl Utena - Main characters, Revolutionary Girl Utena - Student Council members, Revolutionary Girl Utena - Black Rose Duellists, Revolutionary Girl Utena - Minor characters, Revolutionary Girl Utena - Themes, Revolutionary Girl Utena - Visual motifs, Revolutionary Girl Utena - Inspirations, Revolutionary Girl Utena - Music

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A Streetcar Named Desire - Illusion versus Reality. A recurring theme found in "A Streetcar Named Desire" is an ever-present conflict between reality and fantasy, actual and ideal. Blanche does not want, "..what's real, but what's magic." This recurring theme is read most strongly in William's characterization of Blanche DuBois and the physical tropes that she employs in her pursuit of what is magical and idealized: the purple shade she employs to cover the harsh white light bulb in the living room, her chronical ...

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A Streetcar Named Desire, A Streetcar Named Desire - Plot, A Streetcar Named Desire - Themes and Motifs, A Streetcar Named Desire - Illusion versus Reality, A Streetcar Named Desire - Abandonment of Chivalric Codes, A Streetcar Named Desire - Film and Opera adaptations, A Streetcar Named Desire - Performances, A Streetcar Named Desire - Comparison with other works, A Streetcar Named Desire - Streetcar revival in New Orleans, A Streetcar Named Desire - Oh! Streetcar!

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Joss Whedon - Feminism. Whedon identifies himself as a feminist, and feminist themes are common in his work. The most obvious example is the apparently weak teenage girl who is actually extremely strong and powerful, seen in Buffy, Firefly, and Serenity. Feminist scholars have examined Whedon's work, with both positive and negative assessments: see Buffy the Vampire Slayer and social issues. For his part, Whedon credits his mother as the inspiration for his feminist worldview. When Roseanne Barr asked him how he could wri ...

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Joss Whedon, Joss Whedon - Television work, Joss Whedon - Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Joss Whedon - Angel, Joss Whedon - Firefly, Joss Whedon - Movies, Joss Whedon - Comic books, Joss Whedon - Common themes and motifs in Whedon's writing, Joss Whedon - Feminism, Joss Whedon - Dialogue, Joss Whedon - Death, Joss Whedon - Spiritual and philosophical beliefs, Joss Whedon - Quotes

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The initial motif of the symphony has sometimes been credited with symbolic significance as a representation of Fate knocking at the door. This idea comes from Beethoven's secretary and factotum Anton Schindler, who wrote, many years after Beethoven's death: The composer himself provided the key to these depths when one day, in this author's presence, he pointed to the beginning of the first movement and expressed in these words the fundamental idea of his work: "Thus Fate knocks ...

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Symphony No. 5 Beethoven, Symphony No. 5 Beethoven - History, Symphony No. 5 Beethoven - Composition, Symphony No. 5 Beethoven - Premiere, Symphony No. 5 Beethoven - Reception and influence, Symphony No. 5 Beethoven - The fate motif, Symphony No. 5 Beethoven - Form, Symphony No. 5 Beethoven - Key, Symphony No. 5 Beethoven - First movement, Symphony No. 5 Beethoven - Second movement, Symphony No. 5 Beethoven - Third movement, Symphony No. 5 Beethoven - Fourth movement, Symphony No. 5 Beethoven - Textual questions, Symphony No. 5 Beethoven - The third movement repeat, Symphony No. 5 Beethoven - Reassigning bassoon notes to the horns, Symphony No. 5 Beethoven - Media, Symphony No. 5 Beethoven - The symphony in popular culture, Symphony No. 5 Beethoven - Notes and references, Symphony No. 5 Beethoven - Editions

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Black Comedy - Themes. Perhaps the principal unifying element of the entire play is its focus on lies and deception. It becomes, in many ways a morality play: don't keep secrets: they will undo you. Throughout the play, characters are briefly mistaken for one another, particularly when Schuppanzigh is thought to be Bamberger, and when Clea masquerades as "Miss Punnett." Mistaken identity acts as a metaphor for a social entanglement's ability to strip one of oneself.See also:

Black Comedy, Black Comedy - Plot Overview, Black Comedy - Characters, Black Comedy - Brindsley, Black Comedy - Carol, Black Comedy - Colonel Melkett, Black Comedy - Miss Furnival, Black Comedy - Harold, Black Comedy - Clea, Black Comedy - Schuppanzigh, Black Comedy - Georg Bamberger, Black Comedy - Themes Motifs and Symbols, Black Comedy - Themes, Black Comedy - Motifs, Black Comedy - Symbols, Black Comedy - Great Quotes

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Western art has repeatedly searched for basic motifs to base art works upon, or to contrast with the normative world of day to day behavior, from the Greek satyr farces and use of older pottery motifs in architecture, through the acquisition of images from Ancient Egypt and Gothic revivals, the search for material from "before" has been part of the process of European art. Primitivism can be likened to other forms of archaism. In the 18th and 19th century, many western artists took influences from other cultures, both European and oth ...

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Primitivism, Primitivism - Motifs of primitivism, Primitivism - The origins of primitivism in western art, Primitivism - Primitivism and racism

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Ornamental motifs are often treated as though they were pleasing elements of decoration but devoid of meaning, or their meaning is considered to be lost and indecipherable. It is assumed that particular motifs were chosen by craftsmen because they or their patrons were fond of them. This is reinforced by the absence of commentary on meaning or rationale for choice of motifs from the myriad potters, draftsmen, sculptors and metalworkers who have worked with the motif. However the palmette is a good example of a motif which, even if its meanin ...

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Palmette, Palmette - Description, Palmette - Evolution, Palmette - Variants and related motifs, Palmette - Issues of interpretation, Palmette - Deducing meaning from context and placement, Palmette - Common themes

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At the beginning of the story, Lestat grows depressed and becomes remorseful because of his vampiric nature. Although he tries to limit his victims to murderers, serial killers and other criminals, he nonetheless caves into temptation once in a while and kills an "innocent" or someone who he feels does not necessarily deserve to die. Lestat also suffers from constant nightmares concerning his late ...

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The Tale of the Body Thief, The Tale of the Body Thief - Synopsis, The Tale of the Body Thief - Motifs

Read more here: » The Tale of the Body Thief: Encyclopedia II - The Tale of the Body Thief - Synopsis

Dogon mythology states that Nommo was the first living creature created by the sky god Amma. Shortly after his creation, Nommo underwent a transformation and multiplied into four pairs of twins. One of the twins rebelled against the universal order created by Amma. To restore order to his creation, Amma sacrificed another of the Nommo progeny, whose body was dismembered and scattered throughout the world. This dispersal of body parts is seen by the Dogon as the source for the proliferation of Binu shrines throughout the Dogons’ traditional territory; whereve ...

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Nommo, Nommo - Nommo Mythology, Nommo - Common Motifs, Nommo - Controversy

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Haroun's father is the famed storyteller Rashid Khalifa, the Shah of Blah, but his wife tires of his imagination and elopes with Mr. Sengupta, a dull and dreary clerical drone. This leaves Rashid heartbroken, and unable to continue his profession of storytelling. Thus Haroun embarks on a mystical journey to Kahani, a hidden moon of the Earth, in a quest to restore his father's gift of the gab. On Kahani, stories are everywhere, even floating in the sea (which gives the book its title). However, the evil Khattam-Shud (meaning "The End" ...

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Haroun and the Sea of Stories, Haroun and the Sea of Stories - Plot, Haroun and the Sea of Stories - Themes and motifs

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As Tonio learns, Carlo is actually his father. However, although everyone in Venice is inclined to believe that Carlo was behind his castration, Tonio cannot accuse him of the crime because doing so would result in the "extinction" of the Treschi family. After some soul-searching, he decides to remain in Naples and study under Guido, holding off on revenge until after Carlo and his mother (also Carlo's lover and later wife ...

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Cry to Heaven, Cry to Heaven - Overview, Cry to Heaven - Plotline, Cry to Heaven - Motifs, Cry to Heaven - Significance

Read more here: » Cry to Heaven: Encyclopedia II - Cry to Heaven - Plotline

The Historian has been heavily marketed by its publisher, Time Warner, and much hype was given to it prior to its release. Moreover, Kostova was paid an advance of $2 million. Both the marketing campaign and advance are unusual for an author's first book. Some critics have sarcastically nicknamed Historian "The Dracula Code" because of the hype surrounding it, as well as its similarities with Dan Brown's The DaVinci Code, claiming that the publishers are trying t ...

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The Historian, The Historian - Overview, The Historian - Plotline, The Historian - Background and Motifs, The Historian - Marketing and Criticism, The Historian - Film adaptation

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Both in ancient and in modern usage, in East and West, the grouping of motifs we have discussed has a sacred, auspicious and often magical or miracle-working connotation, further incorporating a sublimation of sexual union and fertility. Associated both with flowers and with palm trees, the palmette brings together the fertility symbolism of both. Both the calyx of the flower and the crown of the palm tree are the centre of reproductive activity and the source of new growth, and both are graphically associated with human sexuality. The metho ...

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Palmette, Palmette - Description, Palmette - Evolution, Palmette - Variants and related motifs, Palmette - Issues of interpretation, Palmette - Deducing meaning from context and placement, Palmette - Common themes

Read more here: » Palmette: Encyclopedia II - Palmette - Deducing meaning from context and placement

By the year 3172, political power in the galaxy is split between two factions: the Earth-based Draco and the newer Pleiades Federation. Both have interests in the Outer Colonies, where mines produce trace amounts of the prized power source Illyrion, the superheavy material essential to starship travel and terraforming planets. Caught in a feud between aristocratic families, a scarred and obsessed captain from the Pleiades, Lorq von Ray, recruits a disparate crew of misfits to aid him in the race with his arch-enemy, Prince Red from Dr ...

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Nova novel, Nova novel - Synopsis, Nova novel - Characters, Nova novel - Motifs, Nova novel - Influences, Nova novel - Publishing Status

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As the book goes on, Lorq is also surprised to find out that his family was quite literally founded by pirates who killed members of the Red family in order to keep the Pleiades free of corporations from Earth (although his ancestors did so with the full support of the Pleiades' citizens). Strangely, although von Ray is described as being between forty-five and fifty years old, according to the dates in the books, he is barely thirty. This may have been a mathematical mistake on Delany's part - he makes numerous such mistakes, such as ...

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Nova novel, Nova novel - Synopsis, Nova novel - Characters, Nova novel - Motifs, Nova novel - Influences, Nova novel - Publishing Status

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Guido Maffeo, born a peasant, is castrated at the age of six to preserve his soprano voice, and becomes a star of the opera by the time he's a teenager. However, like many castrato, he loses his voice as he enters manhood. After a failed suicide attempt, he becomes a music teacher in the Naples conservatorio where he was raised. While he becomes an excellent teacher and composer, he is denied the fame he originally had. Tonio Treschi is (apparently) the last son of a noble family from the Republic of Venice, his father, Andrea, a member of the Serenissima's Council of Three. About ten years younger than Guido, he possesses a ...

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Cry to Heaven, Cry to Heaven - Overview, Cry to Heaven - Plotline, Cry to Heaven - Motifs, Cry to Heaven - Significance

Read more here: » Cry to Heaven: Encyclopedia II - Cry to Heaven - Overview

The book is presented as a first-person account written in the year 2008 by Elsie, a historian whose father, Paul, unwittingly ended up searching for the vampiric Vlad Tepes. Although Elsie's adventures take place in 1972, there are three distinct storylines narrated at once: Elsie's actions in 1972 when she, at the age of sixteen, traveled through France with an undergradate from Oxford, Stephen Barley. Paul's travels during the 1950s, when as a graduate student he traveled (initially) to Istanbul in search of his kidnapped professor, Bartolomew Rossi. Bartolomew Rossi's own tra ...

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The Historian, The Historian - Overview, The Historian - Plotline, The Historian - Background and Motifs, The Historian - Marketing and Criticism, The Historian - Film adaptation

Read more here: » The Historian: Encyclopedia II - The Historian - Overview