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Claudia
Armand is the unofficial leader of the vampires living at the Théâtre des Vampires. Armand’s origins trace back to the Renaissance, and his demeanor reflects a blend of old-world charm and a stoic, detached manner. Armand becomes fascinated with Louis because Louis possesses a human-like vitality that Armand has never seen in a vampire. Selfishly, Armand tries to distance Louis from Claudia so he can keep Louis to himself. However, in killing Claudia, Armand also kills the part of the Louis that he so dearly values.
Armand Quotes in Interview with the Vampire
The Interview with the Vampire quotes below are all either spoken by Armand or refer to Armand. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Part 3, Pages 203-276
Quotes
“‘How could we be the children of Satan?’ he asked. ‘Do you believe that Satan made this world around you?’
“‘No, I believe that God made it, if anyone made it. But He also must have made Satan, and I want to know if we are his children!’
“‘Exactly, and consequently if you believe God made Satan, you must realize that all Satan’s power comes from God and that Satan is simply God’s child, and that we are God’s children also. There are no children of Satan, really.’”
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
“‘Then God does not exist…you have no knowledge of His existence?’
“‘None,’ he said.
“‘No knowledge!’ I said it again, unafraid of my simplicity, my miserable human pain.
“‘None.’
“‘And no vampire here has discourse with God or with the devil!’
“‘No vampire that I’ve ever known,’ he said, musing, the fire dancing in his eyes. ‘And as far as I know today, after four hundred years, I am the oldest living vampire in the world.’”
Part 3, Pages 277-318
Quotes
“The doorway you see leads to me, now. To your coming to live with me as I am. I am evil with infinite gradations and without guilt.”
“‘I never laughed at you,’ he said. ‘I cannot afford to laugh at you. It is through you that I can save myself from the despair which I’ve described to you as our death. It is through you that I must make my link with this nineteenth century and come to understand it in a way that will revitalize me, which I so desperately need. It is for you that I’ve been waiting at the Théâtre des Vampires. If I knew a mortal of that sensitivity, that pain, that focus, I would make him a vampire in an instant.”
“I hate myself. And it seemed, lulled half to sleep as I was so often by their conversation—Claudia whispering of killing and speed and vampire craft, Madeleine bent over her singing needle—it seemed then the only emotion of which I was still capable: hatred of self. I love them. I hate them. I do not care if they are there. Claudia puts her hands on my hair as if she wants to tell me with the old familiarity that her heart’s at peace. I do not care. And there is the apparition of Armand, that power, that heartbreaking clarity. Beyond a glass, it seems. And taking Claudia’s playful hand, I understand for the first time in my life what she feels when she forgives me for being myself whom she says she hates and loves: she feels almost nothing.”
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Armand Quotes in Interview with the Vampire
The Interview with the Vampire quotes below are all either spoken by Armand or refer to Armand. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Part 3, Pages 203-276
Quotes
“‘How could we be the children of Satan?’ he asked. ‘Do you believe that Satan made this world around you?’
“‘No, I believe that God made it, if anyone made it. But He also must have made Satan, and I want to know if we are his children!’
“‘Exactly, and consequently if you believe God made Satan, you must realize that all Satan’s power comes from God and that Satan is simply God’s child, and that we are God’s children also. There are no children of Satan, really.’”
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
“‘Then God does not exist…you have no knowledge of His existence?’
“‘None,’ he said.
“‘No knowledge!’ I said it again, unafraid of my simplicity, my miserable human pain.
“‘None.’
“‘And no vampire here has discourse with God or with the devil!’
“‘No vampire that I’ve ever known,’ he said, musing, the fire dancing in his eyes. ‘And as far as I know today, after four hundred years, I am the oldest living vampire in the world.’”
Part 3, Pages 277-318
Quotes
“The doorway you see leads to me, now. To your coming to live with me as I am. I am evil with infinite gradations and without guilt.”
“‘I never laughed at you,’ he said. ‘I cannot afford to laugh at you. It is through you that I can save myself from the despair which I’ve described to you as our death. It is through you that I must make my link with this nineteenth century and come to understand it in a way that will revitalize me, which I so desperately need. It is for you that I’ve been waiting at the Théâtre des Vampires. If I knew a mortal of that sensitivity, that pain, that focus, I would make him a vampire in an instant.”
“I hate myself. And it seemed, lulled half to sleep as I was so often by their conversation—Claudia whispering of killing and speed and vampire craft, Madeleine bent over her singing needle—it seemed then the only emotion of which I was still capable: hatred of self. I love them. I hate them. I do not care if they are there. Claudia puts her hands on my hair as if she wants to tell me with the old familiarity that her heart’s at peace. I do not care. And there is the apparition of Armand, that power, that heartbreaking clarity. Beyond a glass, it seems. And taking Claudia’s playful hand, I understand for the first time in my life what she feels when she forgives me for being myself whom she says she hates and loves: she feels almost nothing.”
