The 's Portrayal Of The Vampire

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.

This essay will attempt to discuss the two gothic tales ‘Carmilla’ and ‘Dracula’ in relation to cultural contexts in which they exist as being presented to the reader through the gender behaviour and sexuality that is portrayed through the texts. Vampire stories always seem to involve some aspect of sexuality and power.

The myth of the vampire existed in a multitude of civilizations and cultures under various names such is strigoi (for the Romanian territory), Apotamkin, etc. But no matter the name, vampires will always refer to gothic creatures that drain the blood of humans, thus being monstrous.

The truly shocking and terrible, blood-sucking-monster we once  knew have now changed into beautiful, perfect,and healthy human beings. This paper will discuss the change and the reason why  the change of idea many still accept and like the modern picture of vampires.In order to answer this, I will examine the differences between Bram Stoker's Dracula , the typical figure of horror before, and the soft light just before sunrise or after sunset's Edward Cullen, the obvious example of the 21st century vampire. From this, I will be able to decide out what changed in the features of the vampires we know today.Many would think about Edward Cullen as a "shockingly disrespectful behavior of the vampire old example" (Mole).

With several illicit subjects listed throughout Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the book becomes a playground for psychoanalysts. Whether it be to see a subjects as simple as the conscious take over a character, or a character’s surroundings corrupting its victims, Dracula intrigues in more ways than just its vampiristic features. The following is a psychoanalytic study with a focus on vampirism imitating sexual practice and drug usage today while shining a light on the complex psychology of characters, and how even the author can influence the course of its story.

I have had a long attraction to vampires ever since I was a young person. I remember watching the movie INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE (1994) for the first time, I was mesmerized. Louis played by the actor Brad Pitt and Le Stat played by Tom Cruise were sophisticated, worldly, exciting and most of all sexy. They were not sexy in the traditional sense of “tall, dark and handsome”, more like pale and with sunken in eyes, but yet I found myself deeply attracted to them. I found their lure and mysteriousness sexy and exciting. I found myself wanting more. I often attribute my birthday being on Friday the 13th to my interest in what most people would fear, my love for vampires. And even though you do not see any character in the film have sex. The overwhelming sexual tension in the film makes the air thick. The common mix of sexuality and fear is what fuels our desires towards the undead, and such is the case in Interview With a Vampire. In my paper, I plan to discuss the mix of sexuality and fear in reference to the film.

Stoker’s novel Dracula, presents the fear of female promiscuity, for which vampirism is a metaphor. Such fear can be related to the time in which Dracula was written, where strict Victorian gender norms and sexual mores stipulated

“Vampire Religion” is an article written about Bram Stoker’s “Dracula.” The article is one that was found very useful in reading and understanding the story. Christopher Herbert, the author, argues of the importance that religion and events of the world played on the writing of “Dracula.” There are two parts to the article, one is “Religion/Superstition” and the second part is “The Vampire in the Church.” Both parts are vital to the article.

Different depictions of vampires are commonly exhibited in vampire folklore in past and present literature and film. The diversity of different variations of vampire legends are prominently seen in most literature, but the main ideas and attributes are generally the same. This is not that case when focusing on specific novels discussed in class. The novels I Am Legend by Richard Matheson and Fledgling by Octavia Butler are two contrasting works of vampire folklore. The novels are about different societies of vampires. They both emerged in different ways, the survive and feed in contrasting ways, and they both represent completely different forms of vampires. This essay will examine the characterizations of the contrasting the vampire species in both I Am Legend and Fledgling, as well as, investigating how these different species of vampires relate to human species.

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.

For these reasons, vampirism in Bram Stoker's Dracula can be interpreted as metaphor representing the basic human drives, contained in the id of Freud's model of the psyche. However, to insinuate a deliberate implication of the Freudian id by Stoker would be a misconception, since Dracula was written thirty-six years prior to the publication of Freud's structural model. Their correspondence in this matter should rather be understood as a depiction of a universal truth about the human nature, executed in different literary

The Gothic novel is not just an ordinary story of vampirism, it is rather a story about a very particular kind of myth that is very old, that goes back even before the ancient Greeks. In classical mythology there have been always stories about exotic lands inhabited by exotic creatures, there have been always a fascination with constructing images of monsters male and female. In classical mythology there have been always stories about the encounter between the mortal and the immortal, between the ordinary and the exotic. There have been always an attraction to images of monsters, designed to shock and horrify. In short various images of monstrosity are found in classical mythology. One of the most famous , the Sirens.

When you think of vampires, do you think of Twilight, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or Vampire Diaries? Or, do you think of ancient vampiric legends such as Lamastu, empusai, and even Vlad the Impaler? What if both modern vampire culture and the origins of vampirism were connected, not only by topic, but by relevance? Vampiric myths allow us to understand the history and those involved, as well as to relate to the present and view how current culture evolved into what it is. Although something usually thought as irrelevant and unusual, vampiric legends explain the continuity of humans to use scapegoats to explain the unknown, whether due to a lack of

The vampire is one of the most resilient and enduring monsters in the history of literature. The vampire has been a mainstay of gothic horror, and most importantly a mainstay that has persisted for many years. While there have been times where the vampire was not the most popular of villains, it has managed to remain relevant as a literary device nonetheless. But how has the vampire been able to continually reemerge in texts? With the world being in constant flux it is striking that the vampire has continued to appear in texts since its initial inception. Tales of vampires have been told since ancient times, but in literature the focus has primarily been on gothic horror when it came to vampires. This specific archetype of vampire spawned a following of stories that continue to captivate readers to this day. While there are older works of gothic horror, it is widely agreed that Bram Stoker's Dracula from 1897 is the defining vampire story of the genre. Modern interpretations of the vampire myth can still be traced back to Stoker's original novel. Vampire stories have varied a great deal over the years since their original inception. Nina Auerbach described the fluid and dynamic nature of the vampire in her book Our Vampires, Ourselves: "To the jaded eye, all vampires seem alike, but they are wonderful in their versatility" (Auerbach 5). The goal of this paper is to examine how the vampire has managed to remain relevant in literature and movies over the course of the last