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Vampire in folklore vs literature
The speech of The history of vampires in literature
The history of the vampire
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The book series Twilight has greatly changed just about everything that we have come to know vampires as. Myths on vampires’ date back as far as Ancient Greece. Stories carried through the ages before bringing us one of the most recognizable vampires Count Dracula. This book by Bram Stoker was the start of the horror monster fiction that we come to know vampires as. Vampires were once creepy monsters everyone wanted to kill. In Twilight, a new beautiful class of vampire had entered the world, ones that appear to live a semi-normal life. They are no longer monsters that just look human. The father has a career as a doctor in addition the teenagers go to high school to keep up the charade, as they have done since their creation. It is necessary …show more content…
Both versions of vampires are immortal, never aging, have special abilities that are somewhat similar and require some form of blood to survive. In both the Vampire Chronicles and Twilight, turning a child into an immortal is unconscionable. While they do have their similarities, there are many differences between them. The biggest difference between the Twilight vampire and every other one known is the that they can be in the sunlight, though they sparkle when exposed to natural light. Normally, when vampires are exposed to any form of natural light they will start to burn or combust and become nothing more than a pile of ash. Twilight story made it possible for vampires to naturally conceive a child, to where as in other novels vampires were unable to have a child. Another difference between this vampire series and others is, that while they all are pale in complexion, their eye color is normal until they feed, then it turns golden in color and those that feed on human blood turn red. To whereas, other vampires have dark or even black eyes, they color does not change when they
Just some of The vampire’s numerous powers are: He can turn humans into the Undead, he is virtually immortal, he has the ability to grow younger by drinking blood, he casts no shadow, he casts no reflection, he has the ability to crawl along walls, he has the ability to control animals, he can control the weather and he also has the power to transform his own shape. Here we can see these powers.
First a major difference is sunlight does not affect the vampires in Twilight. The only thing the sun does to them is making them glow like glitter is on them. In Dracula the vampires are very weak when they get into the sun. Next big difference that you usually do not see in vampires is in Twilight they show up in pictures and mirrors. In Dracula it is shown when Jonathan was shaving that Dracula could not be seen in the mirror (29-30). The final difference between Dracula and Twilight is Holy items do not harm the vampires in Twilight. In Dracula however the items either burn the vampires, they just do not go near them. They usually just try to find an alternate solution around the object. This is shown when Draula used the wolf from the zoo to break the window open to get inside to suck on Lucy’s blood
Vampires have been viewed with fear and fascination for centuries. Of all the vampires in literature, Bram Stoker’s Count Dracula is probably the most prominent vampire. Recently, there has been an upsurge of public interest in socially acceptable vampires, like the Cullens in the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. This essay will contrast Stoker’s Dracula with Carlisle Cullen, one of the newer vampires from the Twilight series. They will be examined in terms of their origins and how they dealt with immortality.
Bram Stoker took the legend of Vlad Tepes and used it as an idea for Dracula. He was the ruler of an old country called Wallachia. He is most famous for impaling his enemies on sticks around his castle. He taught himself how to miss vital organs in the body, causing the victim to die a slow painful death. This is why people consider him an ancient vampire. What people don’t know about him is that the rich loved him, but the poor hated him. To anyone that didn’t have to seal to make it by he was great. But to the poor people who couldn’t buy food, they were always in fear of him. He was abused as a child, and this is what is thought to have caused his behavior. (Melton 1053)
He is an undead centuries-old vampire who sleeps in a coffin in the basement, can assume the form of animals, control the weather and is stronger than twenty men, he cannot come into a house unless invited, he cannot walk in water and his favorite meal is human blood, which these traits are consistent with his portrayal in both the novel and the movie (Stoker). Although the novel and movie share many likenesses with Count Dracula’s character there are some unique qualities that are slightly different the book describes a shadow coordinated with Count Dracula’s body while in the movie his shadow works separately from his body movements (“Dracula (Universal Classics)”). Another feature of Count Dracula’s character in the novel is that he cannot be in or near the sunlight or it will kill him, but in the movie, he meets Mina in the daytime and it does not harm him (Bram Stoker’s). Nevertheless, in the book Dracula is a pure evil, terrifying blood hungry monster that wreaks havoc on anyone he meets and feels the need to take life or end life with his arch nemesis being with anyone who wants to preserve life (Stoker). But in the movie when he meets Mina on the streets of London, he pursues her, starts a courtship with Mina and he falls in love with her so when he
There are many variations to vampire weather modern or ancient. Some can turn into bats or wolves while others can’t. Some can be killed with holy water and sunlight while others can’t. Some cast a reflection while others don’t. Though there are many variations to the vampire all drink blood and can be killed in some
When the vampire came about the thought of the monsters themselves were terrifying, and to view one they were ghostly pale with dark sunken eyes, large nose similar to that of the stereotypical witch, pointed ears like an elf and dark hair usually dark brown if not black. The original folklore on vampires showed a terrifying creature that you would know if you would see it out and about during the night. Today’s films and novels want to present you with an attractive vampire, like dying and becoming an immortal being is something a human would want to do because they would become more attractive. But also in today’s depiction of the vampire they have no obvious tells that a person is a vampire until they get angry and the fangs elongate. The idea of the vampire has shifted so drastically over the course of time, from fear to an admiration of a creature that could kill you in seconds. In the popular culture of today, the vampire is something attractive that girls pine after and want to be since there are a multitude of romance novels printed today with the male leads being portrayed as a
These factors include setting, actions of each vampire, the initial reactions to news of them, and how their presence affects the people who live within the region the vampires inhabit.
Humanity has always been fascinated with the allure of immortality and although in the beginning vampires were not a symbol of this, as time passed and society changed so did the ideas and perceptions surrounding them. The most important thing to ask yourself at this point is 'What is immortality?' Unfortunately this isn't as easily answered as asked. The Merriam Webster Dictionary says immortality is 'the quality or state of being immortal; esp : unending existence' while The World Book Encyclopedia states it as 'the continued and eternal life of a human being after the death of the body.' A more humorous definition can be found in The Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce:
The biggest difference is the fact that unlike in the earlier vampire tales, modern vampires are perceived as inhumanly attractive. Afterall, Dracula is described as a “tall old man, clean shaven save for a long white mustache, and clad in black from head to foot, without a single speck of color about him anywhere.” (Dracula, 42). Whereas in Twilight, “Everyone of them was chalky pale… They all had very dark eyes despite the range in their hair...were all, devastatingly, inhumanly beautiful.” (Twilight, 18-19). Another dissimilarity is that Dracula does not have a reflection. While Jonathan Harker may be unable to see the Count in his mirror, in Twilight, Edward shows up in pictures and has a reflection. Lastly, another major difference between the two kinds of vampires lies in their sleeping habits. Twilight vampires do not sleep in coffins, in fact, they do not sleep at all. But in Dracula, Jonathan discovers the count sleeping in a
In the famous novel and movie series, Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, an average teenage girl, Bella Swan, is forced to move from Arizona (where she lived with her mother) to Washington to start an almost new life with her father. She attends a small-town high school with mostly average people, besides one family, the Cullens. As Bella and Edward Cullen get closer, she uncovers a deep secret about him and his family. Their relationship faces many hard challenges and conflicts as the story develops. Both the novel and movie share very similar storylines, however, differ in many ways. From themes to author’s craft, or to relationships, these important parts of the story highlight the significant differences and similarities of Twilight.
The similarities between the two novels are namely Gothic imagery and theme, but the Gothic mood predominates in Dracula over Twilight and it is this difference that makes Twilight not belong in the vampire canon. Horror is the element that Dracula possesses that Edward does not, and it is crucial in the interplay between transgression and limit. So what makes Dracula monstrous and Edward not? Broadly, Dracula is distancing himself from human form while Edward progresses toward human form.
Twilight diverges from the vampire lore quite a bit and contains very little information about any other supernatural beings. Most vampire stories stress that vampires are night dwellers and that they cannot remain “alive” when the sun rises. Nevertheless, Twilight ignores that known fact; in this series the vampires are, not only capable of staying awake during the day, but capable of being touched by direct sunlight.... ... middle of paper ...
...e people and love the living. Next, since when have vampires protected humans? Vampires are supposed to be creatures that prey ruthlessly upon humans, not cold-blooded creatures that assure the safety of humans. Along with that, what type of vampire refuses to drink human blood? Isn’t that what the most basic and well-known trait of a vampire? Apparently, Twilight has changed the most fundamental and defining trait of the monster called the vampire, the thirst for human blood. What do you call a vampire that doesn’t drink blood. This change has led Yabroff to say “Twilight especially pushed the vampire myth to it’s extreme”(Yabroff par.7). Thus, there are many differences with the original vampire and the new Twilight version. The past work of all fictional writers, movie directors, etc. have all been spat on by the new refined vampire image from the Twilight Saga.
Vampires are in a sense immortal. They cannot die of old age and are always in their prime at around 20 – 30 years of age (physically). They are immune to almost any diseases and poisons and cannot spread a disease from one human to another. They can recover from most wounds; a new vampire might take three days to recover from a wound that would take an older vampire three minutes. Vampires can of course be killed if the wound is large enough that they will die before they have time to heal, this means that old vampires are almost impossible to kill as they heal almost instantaneously