The Beautiful Vampire - A tale of sin and atonement?

In Theophile Gautier's The Beautiful Vampire, he is very subtle in presenting the sins committed. Although all of the characters in this story commit various sins, the sins of Romuald are the sins primarily focused on. This sinning of Romauld is very unique in that he is a ordained priest who should be one of the last people to commit these sins. It is this reason that makes the story what it is and draws the readers in initially.

The first sin that the reader witnesses is during Romauld's ordainment ceremony. Instead of keeping his head bowed, as one should during prayer, he raises his head and spots the beautiful Clarimonde (Gautier 231). If Romauld would have stayed bowed with his eyes shut like he was supposed to, he would not have spotted Clarimonde and would not have been...