Contemporary to Dracula
The Vampyre by John Polidori was published in 1819. Specifically in the Victorian era, this story had a major impact in the 19th century. This story was one of the first stories regarding vampires and had laid out the imagery of what a vampire was supposed to be as the Victorian fascination regarding the supernatural had begun to grow.
Early Vampire Imagery: Shaping the Vampire in Pre-Dracula Literature
The worry Victorians had regarding disease, sexuality, death, and the fear of the unknown became represented in multiple stories that were created pre-Dracula. These stories focus on the physical representation of vampires and used to explore the supernatural and sexual desires that the vampire presented. The early works of these pieces contributed to the ground work of Stoker's novel as it is one of the most famous representations of a vampire. (1)
The Evolution of the Vampire Archetype: From Folklore to Stoker's Dracula
The vampire origin relates to old folktales and mythology, as each story relating to Dracula adapts a new trait of the character. The key early works, like John Polidori’s The Vampyre (1819), introduced the vampire archetype, and J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla (1872), which expanded on themes of sexual attraction and vampirism. Both of these texts emphasize the development of the vampire and certain qualities, such as his charm or his seductive acts. Stoker’s novel expanded on the themes of immortality and fear of the foreign, which were prominent in Victorian society. (2)
The Evolution of the Vampire Character
The first notable literary vampire character, Lord Ruthven in John Polidori’s The Vampyre, contains traits of being noble, aggressive, and charming—qualities later seen in Count Dracula. Le Fanu’s novella introduced the idea of a female vampire and added themes of sexuality and forbidden desire, which we don't see a lot of in earlier versions of Dracula, and it shaped Stoker's story by adding a sexual element when introducing female characters. In the 19th century, the interest in the supernatural and death shaped vampire fiction.
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| Lucy as described in Stoker's Dracula |
Sources
(1) "The Evolution of Vampires in Popular Fiction." Speculative Chic, 6 Sept. 2016, https://speculativechic.com/2016/09/06/the-evolution-of-vampires-in-popular-fiction/.
(2)"Books: First Vampire in Literature." MPR News, 12 Jan. 2016, https://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/01/12/books-first-vampire-in-literature.
3)"Anatomy of the Victorian Vampire: Bodily Imaginings in Four Pre-Dracula Vampire Novels." Kutztown University Research Repository, https://research.library.kutztown.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1100&context=dracula-studies&utm_source=chatgpt.com.
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Your blog does a great job at outlining the progression of the vampire character archetype while demonstrating its influence on Dracula from earlier literary works. The analysis of The Vampyre and Carmilla created a smooth transition for introducing themes of sexuality and desire. The way you connect Victorian fears of disease and death with the development of vampire fiction's sexual themes makes for a great argument. When you note that Carmilla explored sexual themes do you believe Lucy's transformation reflects Carmilla or does Stoker reinterpret that element? Overall your blog showed excellent insights!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your last section The Evolution of Vampire Character, these are thoughts that I also have had while reading the book.
ReplyDeleteHey Katherine! I really enjoyed how you also included the popular classic Carmilla into your blog. It's one of my favorites and I always 10/10 recommend to folks who have yet to dive into vampire books. I really enjoyed this article, it was a very interesting read. It was also interesting to read about the folklore of the Vampire itself, since folklore has been around for centuries upon centuries. Vampires to me always had an aura of sexuality to them, which is also why we've seeing a lot of films, television shows, and books pop up recently that kind of roll with the whole "hot vampire" trope. Either way, I'm here for both the "old" image of vampire and this new age interestingly alluring type of Vampire that we see in modern media. Super awesome blog and great info!
ReplyDeleteThis blog conveys the development of vampire and its characteristics through contemporary works very well. It is interesting to see different interpretations and shifts on Dracula through each different works such as Carmilla and Vampyre. Both of those works are very popular classics and I really liked that you incorporated them into your blog. I love how the shift of vampires and interpretations of them are constantly growing depending on different works. The Vampire Diaries is one of my personal favorites works that has introduced more knowledge about vampires for me. I love the idea of vampires bringing out unconscious desires and how many different films and books universally display that. This is an awesome blog and your information is very insightful!
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