As a French fan and a very new ✨enjoyer✨of iwtv and tvl, I was really surprised and interested to see how people reacted to the Auvergne sequence in 3x02 / 1x02.
So, since I’m a very annoying nerd that loves languages, I wanted to yap about why I personally think it’s great that they speak English and not French.
[I was inspired by some tweets I’ve seen, including this one highlighting the very cool costuming choices for the next episode, shoutout 🫶]
At first I was surprised by the use of English, because you would expect all of these flashbacks to be in French, right ? I even saw some fans say it would be more historical accurate. But then I remembered what I was taught about the French language, and actually…
In the 18th century in France, most people didn’t « speak French » historically (at least not the language we know today). In Auvergne in 1772, all these characters would learn and speak the regional dialect, called Auvergnat. It’s an occitan language, closer to Latin or Catalan than French. So historically speaking, nope, the Lioncourts wouldn’t speak French in 1772! 😂
[for those curious, Auvergnat sounds like this : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vLDvJyz4Xg&t=43s, and barely ressembles what we recognize as « French » today, it’s fascinating 🤩]
I find that fact illuminating, because it leads me to believe that (at least in my headcanon) :
1- Lestat didn’t know the language spoken in Paris until he got there, so it must have been quite difficult for him to find his footing. I’m now even more inclined to forgive Sam Reid for his French accent and pronunciation (I think he’s brilliant in the show btw 😍), because realistically poor Lestat must have struggled back then too 😂 !
2- Gabrielle/Gabriella would feel even more alienated in this family, because not only was she canonically Italian (and probably spoke the dialect of her hometown), she most likely had to learn Auvergnat (and not the more widely known French language) to understand her husband. It also explains why she wouldn’t have a French accent ^^
"You're the hunter, the warrior. You're stronger than anyone else here, that's your tragedy." - Anne Rice - the Vampire Lestat
"My heir chosen to take the Dark Gift from me with more fiber and courage than ten mortal men, what a Child of Darkness you are to be." - Anne Rice - The Vampire Lestat
"But the sky was never quite the same shade of blue again." - Anne Rice- The Vampire Lestat
