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The vampire i folklore vs vampire literature
Essay of modern day vampires
Vampires modern culture
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The vampire is always searching, sometimes knowingly or subconsciously, for a companion to share their eternally lonely existence with. Anne Rice’s vampires in the novel, Interview with the Vampire, embody this struggle to share an intimate bond to fill the vast emptiness and guilt that follows with being an immortal creature. In her article, “Blood Relations: The Gothic Perversion of the Nuclear Family in Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire,” Candace Benefiel addresses the issue of Rice’s vampires representing an untraditional metaphor for the acceptable family model. Rice’s Interview with the Vampire embodies the societal taboos of incest through her portrayal of the complex familial relationships between her main characters.
The concept
At first glance, Joss Whedon's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," the hour-long TV series which premiered in 1997 and is now in its third season, bears little resemblance to the book which started the vampire craze -- Bram Stoker's Dracula, published a century earlier. And yet, looks can be deceiving. Although the trendy -- and often skimpy -- clothing and bandied about pop-culture references of "Buffy" clearly mark the series as a product of a far different culture than that of the Victorian England of Dracula, the underlying tensions of the two texts are far similar than one might think. Beneath the surface differences in the treatment of their heroines, the two texts converge in similarly problematic anxieties about gender and sexuality.
J. Gordon Melton, in the excerpt “Sexuality and the Vampire” published in his The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead (1998), explains that vampires have a sexual appearance that started from their origin in Dracula. Melton supports his statement by analyzing the monsters' transition to sexual beings through the stories of Dracula’s desires, multiple countries’ erotic tales revolving around vampire-like beings, the manifestation of sensual themes in literary, stage, and screen works, and their current evolution of the once terrified immortals to loved heroes. The purpose of this essay was to outline the seductiveness of the written immortal creatures in order to explain the fanged-mammals’ appeal beyond their terrifying monster abilities.
Birge, Barbara. "Bram Stoker's DRACULA: The Quest for Female Potency in Transgressive Relationships." Psychological Perspectives. 1994. 22-36.
The late nineteenth century Irish novelist, Bram Stoker is most famous for creating Dracula, one of the most popular and well-known vampire stories ever written. Dracula is a gothic, “horror novel about a vampire named Count Dracula who is looking to move from his native country of Transylvania to England” (Shmoop Editorial Team). Unbeknownst of Dracula’s plans, Jonathan Harker, a young English lawyer, traveled to Castle Dracula to help the count with his plans and talk to him about all his options. At first Jonathan was surprised by the Count’s knowledge, politeness, and overall hospitality. However, the longer Jonathan remained in the castle the more uneasy and suspicious he became as he began to realize just how strange and different Dracula was. As the story unfolded, Jonathan realized he is not just a guest, but a prisoner as well. The horror in the novel not only focuses on the “vampiric nature” (Soyokaze), but also on the fear and threat of female sexual expression and aggression in such a conservative Victorian society.
Bram Stoker and Sheridan Le Fanu’s texts, Dracula (1898) and “Carmilla” (1872), use gothic tropes in similar ways to captivate readers with horror and terror. This essay will illustrate how, in comparison, both texts include gothic tropes: the New Woman, sexuality and setting, in order to provoke emotions and reactions from the readers. To achieve this, this essay will focus on the women that challenge traditional gender roles and stereotypes, and deconstruct each text in regards to the very strong undertones of homosexuality; specifically between Carmilla and Laura, and Dracula and Harker. By discussing the harshness and darkness of the environments described, including ruined castles and isolated landscapes; this essay will also explore the
Similar to almost every piece of literature ever created, Dracula by Bram Stoker has been interpreted many different ways, being torn at from every angle possible. Just as one might find interest in interpreting novels differently, he or she might also find interest in the plot, prose, or theme, all of which ultimately lead to the novels overall tone. Throughout the novel, it becomes blatant that the novel contains an underlying theme of female incompetence and inferiority. Through a true feminist’s eyes, this analysis can clearly be understood by highlighting the actions of Mina and Lucy, the obvious inferior females in the book. Through Stoker’s complete and utter manipulation of Mina and Lucy, he practically forces the reader to analyze the co-existence of dominant males and inferior females in society and to simultaneously accept the fact that the actual text of Dracula is reinforcing the typical female stereotypes that have developed throughout the ages.
Vampires today, particularly after Anne Rice's five-book series, the Vampire Chronicles, are portrayed in quite a different light than the vampires of ages past. Gone is the garlic and cross that offers protection, gone is the vampire's fear of all light and gone is their distant, in-human nature. (Whyte 2) In fact, most vampires are portrayed as both beast and man, struggling to retain their humanity as the lust for blood seems to never diminish and eternal as they are, their inner conflict spans to infinity. This duplicity is highly reminiscent of the paradoxical nature of the trickster archetype. Tricksters embrace creation just as easily as they revel in destruction, both beautiful and ugly, sometimes heroes and sometimes villains--still, tricksters are never merely good or evil. Although the various incarnations of the trickster archetype in world mythology differ more than they are alike, some elements exist that are common to all. The modern literary vampire may be understood as the embodiment of the trickster archetype. I will base this examination primarily on Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire.
Bailie, H. T. Blood Ties: The Vampire Lover in the Popular Romance. The Journal of American Culture, 34: 141 (2011)
Birge, Barbara. "Bram Stoker's DRACULA: The Quest for Female Potency in Transgressive Relationships", Psychological Perspectives. 29. 22-36, 1994
...blood transaction in Rice's novels liberates the receiver into lapsed, unpredictable forms of erotic desire. Similarly, in Schopp’s article "Cruising The Alternatives: Homoeroticism And The Contemporary Vampire examines the common reliance of the modern vampire product on the homoerotic. Although it has been widely believed that vampires were homosexual it was not until the nineteenth century that vampires came to learn how to love, or admit to being in love with someone. This article talks about how vampires have been evolving through time and how that is affecting their sexuality. He claims that the vampire’s sexuality is a statement of liberation to the audience reflecting upon the storyline. He continues to explain that in the past, when a male were to feed off another male this was seen as a sexual act and the consequences it had after the vampire fed.
Bram Stoker’s legendary novel, Dracula, gives a crisp representation of the popular thoughts, ideas, and beliefs of the Victorian era that paints a detailed picture of what society was like for Bram Stoker’s generation. The archaic ideas reflected in Dracula focus generally on one concept; sex. During the late 19th and early 20th century, this concept was considered taboo by a strongly conservative society. Which at the time, sex was already a controversial topic, with the importance of using caution and awareness when creating such a discussion. But through characterization and symbolism, such a belief is courageously represented throughout the book, and often is the center of the battle between the resistance of temptation against the impending
...une, 2013). The highly developed and charming vampire we have come to know through fiction emerged in the 18th and 19th centuries through poetry and novels, such as, ‘The Vampire (1748) by Heinrich August Ossenfelder, Lenore (1773) by Gottfried August Bürger and The Special Horseman (1810) by Percy Bysshe Shelley.’ From this literature, we moved on to the silent films of the early 20th century and the Hammer vampire flicks of the 1970s, all of which created the passionate and alluring image of the vampire. In modern times we have seen an appearance of vampire fandom starting with Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Blade. It was the accelerating popularity of the ‘Twilight Series and the many vampire themed offshoots including The Vampire Diaries and True Blood that has breathed new life into the Vampire Subculture.
The vampire literature as a whole has changed genres since its beginning. The new vampire seems to owe its origins to Ann Rice’s “Interview with the Vampire”, whereas the old vampire began with Stoker’s “Dracula.” A few centuries ago, the archetype of the vampire in literature would be Dracula. There were some stories about vampires before Dracula and many right after, but the image and personality of Dracula has become the archetype of the vampire as a monster, and has become what every writer bases the vampire on. The old vampire is drastically different from the one that is hugely popular today, especially considering what the archetype of the vampire is now and what it was 100 years
A vampire is a fascinating and terrifying creature. It was largely believed to be dead people leaving their graves at night to drink blood from the necks of the living. It was also portrayed as a bat like creature feeding on mammal or bird’s blood. This was a perception of the old vampires. Contrary to this, the new generation of vampires has been shown to live among the people acting as guardian angels to them. There has been a substantial evolution of these creatures since their initial appearance in literature to the current vampire movies. Therefore, it is important to explicate on the history of these fiction creatures focusing on the drastic changes that have occurred. It is profound to note that literature clearly
The author’s op-ed piece was published in 2009, the very peak of the vampire contagion, where one could find these creatures wherever they looked. This pandemonium that arose from vampires is what drove del Toro and Hogan to pen “Why Vampires Never Die.” Furthermore, the purpose behind this essay is to give an abridged description of the past of vampires for the people who had become fanatics of the creatures. Also, this essay showed how vampires have persisted in pop culture. They suggest that vampires have been remade by diverse cultures at different times, and this change echoes that society's angst and concerns. The novelist’s imply that Stroker’s Dracula may mirror an exaggerated human on a prim...