At the age of sixteen, when Lestat decides that he wants to run away from home and join an acting troupe, the troupe gives him the lead role in the play Lelio and Isabella, performed in the commedia dell’arte style. Isabella is a character performed by one of the troupe members who, after the play receives high praise from the audience, gives her own intimate accolades to Lestat as he falls asleep in her arms.
Isabella appears in The Vampire Lestat (1985). For more perspectives on this commedia dell’arte character in the Vampire Chronicles, read the Alphabettery entries Commedia dell’Arte, Flaminia, Lelio, and Lestat de Lioncourt.