66 pages 2 hours read

Anne Rice

The Witching Hour

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1990

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Symbols & Motifs

Emerald

The Mayfair emerald necklace symbolizes the family legacy and Lasher’s pact with the witches. Lasher obtains wealth for, and has sexual relations with, the Mayfair women who wear the emerald—including Deirdre. The pact also means producing witches of increasing power over the generations through incest, until the 13th can make Lasher incarnate. Lasher originally procured the emerald for Deborah, the second generation of Mayfairs, and it was passed down all the way to Rowan, the 13th witch. However, Rowan dislikes the emerald: “the jewel had reminded her, strangely, of the Catholic statues of Jesus and Mary with their exposed hearts, like the one she’d smashed so angrily in her mother’s bedroom” (900). She associates it with religion, which she—as a neurosurgeon—rejects. Rowan only wears the emerald when she marries Michael. After Lasher puts it on her while she is sleeping, Rowan has the law firm Mayfair and Mayfair keep It.

Storms

Suzanne names Lasher for the lashing wind he creates. He not only causes storms at the request of the witches, but also creates them when a male or female witch dies. An example of this includes the “storm” (450) Lasher creates for natural deaths such as when Julien and Mary Beth die, as well as the ones he creates for unnatural deaths when Lionel shoots Stella and when Carlotta kills Antha.

Related Titles

By Anne Rice

Study Guide

logo

Interview With the Vampire

Anne Rice

Interview With the Vampire

Anne Rice

Study Guide

logo

The Vampire Lestat

Anne Rice

The Vampire Lestat

Anne Rice