Vampires: Monsters or Lovers?
Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan’s article, “Why Vampires Never Die” argues that vampires are being turned into these loveable undead beings instead of how they were originally seen as evil creatures of the night (Toro and Hogan 361). Vampire in the dictionary is defined as “a reanimated corpse held to rise from the grave at night to suck the blood of sleeping people” (Soukhanov). Obviously the vampires today have strayed quite far from that definition. Vampires have turned from hideous monsters into an undead romantic partner (Toro and Hogan 361). I agree with the statement Toro and Hogan are making, in this day and age vampires are being humanized and treated more like sex symbols than what they were previously
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In order for Stoker to scare his audience, he has his vampire wearing a black collared cape, two long pointy fangs, and “eyes [that] blazed with a sort of demoniac fury” (Stoker, Dracula). Which for a while is how all vampires were viewed; not misunderstood beings that are insanely attractive but monsters that wanted to kill humans. Twilight took the original appearance of vampires and twisted it in every way possible. Meyer describes the Cullen family as “devastatingly, inhumanly beautiful” and “[their faces] painted by an old master as faces of angels” (Meyer, Twilight). In almost every chapter in Meyer’s book she constantly reminds her audience of how perfect and insanely attractive her vampires are, “porcelain skin”, “godlike”, “beautiful”, and “captivating” are some of the reoccurring words Meyer used to describe the vampires (Meyer, Twilight). The Cullen family is extremely well groomed and incredibly fit along with wearing the latest fashion trends. All of the male vampires are perfectly sculpted and instead of the teenage girls at school running away from them in fear, the girls look towards the male vampires with attraction
In the article, “Civilized Vampires Versus Savage Werewolves: Race and Ethnicity in the Twilight Series,” Natalie Wilson compares the physical appearance and qualities of the two main character groups in the Twilight series, and how they represent a much deeper issue of class and racial inequality. First, Wilson compares the physical traits of Edward Cullen and the vampires, who are extraordinarily beautiful and have pale white skin, to the traits of Jacob Black and the werewolves who have copper skin, dark features, and look animalistic. Wilson also compares their personalities, the vampires being intelligent and well behaved, and the werewolves who are irrational and hostile. The two are further compared by their wealth. Edward has a seemingly endless supply of funds, lives in a mansion, drives a nice car, and wears sophisticated clothing, where Jacob lives in a small house, drives an old car, and wears tattered clothes. Wilson uses this collected information to bring to light the undercurrent of white privilege that is displayed throughout the Twilight series. It is also important to note, that in the story, Bella Swan a white teenage girl, is caught in a love triangle between Jacob and Edward.
J. Gordon Melton, in the excerpt “Sexuality and the Vampire” published in his The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead (1998), explains that vampires have a sexual appearance that started from their origin in Dracula. Melton supports his statement by analyzing the monsters' transition to sexual beings through the stories of Dracula’s desires, multiple countries’ erotic tales revolving around vampire-like beings, the manifestation of sensual themes in literary, stage, and screen works, and their current evolution of the once terrified immortals to loved heroes. The purpose of this essay was to outline the seductiveness of the written immortal creatures in order to explain the fanged-mammals’ appeal beyond their terrifying monster abilities.
In a world with ghosts, monsters, demons, and ghouls, there is one being that resonates in everyone’s mind. The idea of these creatures can be found in almost every culture on the planet in one form or another. They prey on the weak and they feast on the blood of their victims. They are compared to a fox for being quick and cunning, but also rather seductive in their nature. With their unholy existence one can only describe them as almost demonic. So what is this horrid creature? Well it is none other than the vampire, a creature as old as time itself. Throughout history there have been many different variations of the vampire, each with their own unique abilities. But one cannot help but mention
Carmilla is an example of a woman who loves her food far too much. Carmilla is consumed entirely by her food, even sleeping in a coffin of blood: “The limbs were perfectly flexible, the flesh elastic; and the leaden coffin floated with blood, in which to a depth of seven inches, the body lay immersed” (Le Fanu 102). There exists a unique relationship between the vampire and their victims. Food becomes defined in terms of victimhood, distinctly separated from humanity’s general consumption of meat. The need for human victims makes hunting synonymous with courtship, as intense emotional connections are established between the vampiress and her food. As seen in the intense relationship developed between Laura and Carmilla, the vampire is “prone to be fascinated with an engrossing vehemence, resembling the passion of love, by particular persons” (105). For Carmilla, cruelty and love are inseparable (33). The taking of the victims’ blood for sustenance is a highly sexualized exchange of fluids from one body to another. The act of consumption is transformed into an illicit carnal exchange between the hunter and the hunted.
Similar to Dracula, Twilight’s vampires have many of the same characteristics. The vampires in Dracula and Twilight both are very pale. People in both books often mention how pale the vampires are. Along with pale skin their skin is usually very tough. This meaning that it is very strong and does
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.
The genre of gothic text tends to emerge in times of great social stress or anxiety. For many years, authors have described vampires as wealthy, culturally sophisticated, aristocrats who live decadent lifestyles. Today however, average Americans are faced with hard economic times, and are struggling to provide basic necessities for their families. When watching the movie Twilight by Stephanie Meyers, several details in the story seems to enhance these harsh cultural anxieties of today’s social world, such as, the excessive lengths people will go to achieve financial stability, the lavish life style of the modern vampire, and how themes of the economic issues society is facing, impacts and stresses basic human instinct that society has an unlimited wants.
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
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 transformation is to compare arguably modern day’s most famous representation of the vampire, Stephanie Meyer’s “Twilight” with “Dracula”, the foundation from which a large number of modern works draw inspiration. Examining this comparison closely, one finds that a new socially acceptable, sexually abstinent and desirable creature is fast replacing the fearsome and sexually voracious monster, as depicted in early tales of the vampire.
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:
Similar to Dracula, Twilight’s vampires have many of the same characteristics. The vampires in Dracula and Twilight both are very pale. People in both books often mention how pale the vampires are. Their skin is not only pale but it is also very thick and tough. This means that it is very strong and does not tear very often without
When the word “vampire” comes to mind, people think of the traditional pale-faced, malicious bloodsuckers, sporting a cape and killing people when they’re sleeping. Wrong! Nowadays, the image of a vampire is a handsome, polite, and loving person who protects humans. The new cultural phenomenon Twilight is building a new degrading image for vampires that slaps the face of all previous authors, directors, writers, etc. who contributed to giving the monster its unique image in the past.
Henry David Thoreau once said, “Things do not change, we change.” This is a reasonable explanation for the change of vampires today. Readers now want a new kind of vampire; the ruthless bloodsucker Stoker created is no longer the main interest in the new world of vampires. This new generation of vampire novels are keeping people interested, just as Dracula did. Even though they have different qualities; they all have a little piece of Dracula to start with.
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
The author’s op-ed piece was published in 2009, the very peak of the vampire contagion, where one could find these creatures wherever they looked. This pandemonium that arose from vampires is what drove del Toro and Hogan to pen “Why Vampires Never Die.” Furthermore, the purpose behind this essay is to give an abridged description of the past of vampires for the people who had become fanatics of the creatures. Also, this essay showed how vampires have persisted in pop culture. They suggest that vampires have been remade by diverse cultures at different times, and this change echoes that society's angst and concerns. The novelist’s imply that Stroker’s Dracula may mirror an exaggerated human on a prim...