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The Literature That Shaped Today's Vampires
The nineteenth century was the century of the vampire. No longer were vampires creepy, dirty, ghoulish monsters to be feared and loathed. Vampires acquired a fresh persona, one of charm, power, and sexuality. Here's a brief overview of 3 works of vampire fiction that contributed to today's vampire mania.
The Vampyre by John Polidori
Written in 1819, this short story is considered the basis of the present day romantic vampire. A young Englishman named Aubrey crosses paths Lord Ruthven, a foreigner to London society and a man of concealed origin. Aubrey and Ruthven begin traveling lower Europe. In the course of their journey, there are numerous vampire attacks. Aubrey doesn't put it together at first. Bandits attack the two in the course of their journey and Ruthven is mortally injured. Just before Ruthven passes away, he forces Aubrey to promise that he will not reveal anything about the pair's journey for a week plus a day. Aubrey retreats to London where he comes across Ruthven once more. He is brimming with life and unharmed. Ruthven reminds Aubrey of the oath he made.
Ruthven focuses his attention on the sister of Aubrey. Unable to tell his sister of the vampire's real nature, Aubrey has a mental collapse and passes away. Lord Ruthven and the sister are betrothed and Ruthven kills Aubrey's sister during the wedding night. Ruthven escapes into the night and gets away.
Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
Carmilla is a story that was penned in 1872. A female vampire with the name of Carmilla takes an interest in a young woman named Laura. Laura and her father reside in a fortress in the forests of Styria. Slowly, Laura is hypnotized by Carmilla's spell. Laura is both attracted and repulsed by Carmilla, but she just can't oppose her.
Meanwhile, the countrymen in the countryside are strangely dying. In the end Laura is saved. Carmilla is fought off by General Spielsdorf, a person who has had several battles with vampires.
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Dracula gives an account of the adventure of Count Dracula, a vampire who falls for his immortal beloved, Mina Murray. Mina is promised to be married to Jonathan Harker, who is upset by Mina's captivation with the esoteric Count. Jonathan musters the aid of Dr. Van Helsing. Together the duo liberates Mina from Dracula's clutches.
Modern scholars concur that Dracula was heavily influenced by Carmilla. Drafted in 1897 by Stoker, the Irish author created the most widely known vampire of all time. There are numerous correlations between Carmilla and Dracula. Mina, the love interest of Dracula, is very much like Laura, Carmilla's love interest. Both families are of aristocratic lineage. Van Helsing, Dracula's protagonist, is akin in many ways to General Spielsdorf, Carmilla's protagonist. Without a doubt, Bram Stoker based Dracula heavily upon the former work of Joseph Le Fanu.
More so than any other vampire character, Dracula formed today's concept of what a vampire is. Dracula was powerful, sexual, charming, and blessed (and cursed) with eternal life.
Conclusion
Vampire literature of the 19th century greatly impacted how we view vampires today. The passion in Dracula, Carmilla, and The Vampyre is forthright. For the first time vampires were written as sensual and sexual creatures. These stories also portray vampires in a human way. Previously vampires had been penned as spirits, apparitions, or ghouls. Through the writings of these authors, vampires have for all time been remade and have become the focus of modern-day horror.
About the Author CT Thompson is the creator of Vampire Rave, a social network for those who are fascinated with the vampire. He has a love of science fiction and also developed the Dark Network.
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