The Vampire Is Not A New Manifestation Of The Fears Of A Society

Since the beginning of time vampires have been categorized into different "types” and are portrayed in different ways throughout several books. This paper will focus on three vampires from the following books: Dracula by Bram Stoker, and I am Legend by Richard Matheson. Dracula is considered to be the traditional vampire, where it all started, and the vampires in Matheson’s book, follow somewhat Stoker’s concept, but is more of a modern “type” of vampires. Certain vampire elements have been presented, but others have been completely removed or altered. In addition, elements along with appearances are used to infer if the vampire is a form of “the other”. There are two types of vampires; the traditional or modern vampire which can be distinguished based on the elements present in their storyline.

They shun the light and crave the taste of blood. The mere thought of them could make a grown man tremble. But what if a vampire wasn’t just a horrific creature of the night? What if they were completely human, enabling them to hide in plain sight? Wouldn’t that make them more dangerous? Due to popular Gothic literature, vampires are commonly romanticized to be pale bloodsuckers that hide in the dark, waiting for their next meal. This version of a vampire makes them easy to spot in literature, but is also very limiting in that it only lends itself to that specific genre. However, a different version, laid out by Thomas Foster, shows how anyone, whether they be fictional or nonfictional, can be considered a vampire through analysis of

Vampires have been around for centuries, they represent the fear of many things such as sexuality, race, gender, etc. and above all, they stand for the fear of diseases. Vampires have once been the symbol of horror due to their terrific depictions and were described as a threat to the humanity. Throughout time, the image of vampire has changed dramatically from a monstrous, inhumanely creature that doesn’t belong to human society to such an attractive and adaptive figure that expresses more of the human side than the evil. They developed human feelings, senses, and live within our society. Modern vampire movies are often more romantic and “sympathetic” comparing to the past. Vampires have abandoned their horror and evolved to a more

In Carmilla and “The Vampyre” the authors use storytelling and descriptive language to address conventions about sexuality in European culture in the 19th century. The ideas first started in these works helped to define the vampire genre and helped to challenge established religious, cultural, and gender roles of the era. In “The Vampyre”, Polidori

After decades of cheesy horror movies, the image of vampires has been misconstrued as sparkly, angsty teenage boys or handsome men that lure in girls for the fresh blood of a virgin. Many of these stereotypical vampires are influenced by the story of Dracula, held in the Victorian era. Yet, many of the stories published about vampires diverge from the message that Bram Stoker is trying to make. During the Victorian period, sexuality is repressed by society, as sexual behaviors from women are viewed as unacceptable. In the Gothic horror novel Dracula, Bram Stoker uses the traumatic experience of Jonathan Harker at Count Dracula’s castle and the invasion of vampires in Great Britain to create a social commentary on the sexual repression occurring in this era and its detrimental effect on the men.

The mischaracterization of Dracula and the propagation of the archetype and stereotype of vampires can mainly be blamed on the media. While this is not the grossest mischaracterization that we will see in this paper, it is certainly an early starting point for the making of monsters out of the misunderstood and unknown.

Vampires are very present in today’s society. Many novels and shows, like Twilight and The Vampire Diaries, show that vampires are still integral to our culture. However, the birth of such a cultural phenomenon would not have happened without Dracula. Without Bram Stoker’s novel, there would be no stereotypical vampires that capture the culture’s conscious. Aside from telling a story on vampires, Dracula also explores ideals about the women of the time in which it was written, which is the Victorian Era.

The vampire is an embodiment of society 's deepest fears. Throughout literary history, the vampire has always been characterised as a vile figure of pure evil. However the depiction of the vampire is affected by the social, historical and political context of the time. As context shifts, so does the collective fear of society, with the portrayal of the vampire following suit. Dracula, I Am Legend and Twilight, three extremely popular books of vampire fiction created during vastly different periods in history, are representative of this shift. In Dracula, the titular character is depicted as an anti-christ figure by the author, Bram Stoker, who attempts to warn people about the dangers of straying from traditional Christian ideals. I Am Legend, a nineteen-fifties post-apocalyptic novel, emphasises the dangers of a world ravaged by environmental destruction. The wasteland, that was once earth, becomes populated by animalistic, brutal vampires that have been created as a result of an environmental plague. Finally, Twilight is a teen-angst novel written by Stephenie Meyer in 2005 and adapted into a movie of the same name in 2008. In a day and age where more people have begun to adopt humanitarian views, society has put a strong emphasis on rehabilitation and redemption. Contrary to this ideology, Edward Cullen, the main vampire, has a deeply ingrained fear that he is beyond saving thus reflecting society 's fears that one can inherently be beyond redemption.

The generalization for vampires has been displayed in films and literature for hundreds of years. The stereotypical versions of vampires are that they have long fangs, sleep in coffins during the day, and suck the blood out of humans. Both novels contradict those stereotypes in different ways. To understand the diversity of the vampires described in both novels, one must examine the characteristics that the vampires display and the meaning and purpose behind them. David D. Gilmore’s book “Monsters” analyzes monsters and other mythical creatures. Gilmore describes why humanity invented the idea of

Vampires have aroused a perennial fascination within humanity since their fictional materialization into history. However, it is over the course of the last century that these creatures have become an iconic symbol of mystifying horror and inexplicable desire. Recently, the vampire has undergone a significant reconstruction of physical appearance, behaviour, and surroundings, along with, extensive modifications to its super-natural disadvantages. These distinct character adaptations are imperative when considering two of the most notable vampires ever fashioned: Count Dracula and Edward Cullen. The dissimilarity between Bram Stoker’s 19th century, Count Dracula, and Stephenie Meyer’s 21st century, Edward Cullen, is a complex reflection of the contrasting societies from which these vampires emerged.

On the basis of the evidence currently available, it seems fair to suggest that Polidori’ s The Vampyre is not just a story of a monstrous figure of the vampire from folklore tradition waiting to be destroyed by a wooden stake through the heart, it is rather that kind of nineteenth century vampire whose literary presence is highly loaded with metaphorical connotations. For instance, Lord Ruthven’s presence in the

As one of the most attractive and enduring figures in the Gothic literature, the vampires have moved from being a peripheral element with the genre to a place near the center and are capable of generating its own massive tradition now. In the recent literary history, they have already been adapted to play a role of a rebel against the moral, social, religious, and even sexual taboos. Put simply, the vampires are now a metaphor of human beings in the modern society and life.

We have been living in the era of vampires and any other kinds of monsters for a while now. Vampires have always been relatable creatures, which allows fans to connect with vampire characters. They represent the attraction towards being a vampire and having eternal life and are presented to popular culture in a way that is attractive and relatable to the evolution of vampires (Del Toro and Hogan 37). Over the past years, vampires have jumped in popularity and pop culture appeal, taking over our television sets, the movie theaters and box offices and books from around the world. Around 2010, Hollywood released four vampire films along with a bunch of vampire DVD’s, and the immensely popular television series like the vampire diaries and true blood continued to air due to how popular those shows are. One monster I’d like to put as an example would be vampires “Blood Thirsty: Why are Vampires Ruling Pop Culture?" by Lindsay Bradshaw. They are the latest trends to appear on pop-culture`s radar, but this is not the first time its caught the publics eye. Vampires have been a constant presence in the literature and film world since the 1897`s publication of Bram Stoker`s “Dracula”, arguably the best vampire text of all time. The idea that vampires exist across the globe has been a subject of folk tale, superstition, and myth throughout the history of man. Even before the famous Dracula, the word vampires was originated in eastern European Folklore, terrorizing small communities in

Orlomoski, Caitlyn, "From Monsters to Victims: Vampires and Their Cultural Evolution from the Nineteenth to the Twenty-First Century" (2011). Honors Scholar Theses. Paper 208.

The legend of the vampire has emerged countless times within human imagination over the past few centuries. The first available representation of the mythical creature in prose fiction can be found in John Polidori’s “The Vampyre” (1810). It was not until eight decades later that Bram Stoker popularized the existence of this figure with the publication of “Dracula” in 1897. The folklore of the vampire has come a long way since and can be found in today’s popular media more frequently than ever before. However, with due course of time, the representation of the creature has taken alternate routes and today’s vampires are noticeable different – socially and physically – from their predecessors. One effective path to trace this