Eduard Munch (1863-1944) was a Norwegian painter, engraver, and printer. He is often reputed to have been a loner and a misogynist. Many of his works revolve around a motif concerning women and their obscene vulgarity. The two works that will be described here are Vampire (1893) and Jealousy (1896). These two depict women as creatures of temptation, petty provokers of pain, and selfish enslavers of vulnerable men. To just marginally understand Munch’s hatred of women, one must read upon his tragic past. Tuberculosis killed his mother when he was only five years old; it killed his sister, Sophie (whom Munch felt closest to), nine years later. In addition to these tragic events were his unsuccessful love affairs which all together bludgeoned his faith in women. In Vampire, Munch displays a scene in which a woman seems to be embracing a man. She appears to be kissing him on the neck, but the title of the work diminishes that meaning. Although Munch intended the action of the work as just a kiss, he later changed the name to “Vampire,” possibly to capitalize on the 19th century literary obsession with vampires. The intense switch in meaning plays on the mind of the viewer very curiously. It turns from compassion for the two lovers to sympathy and sorrow for the victimized man. The woman’s red hair becomes almost demonic and the background’s darkness transforms from a sorrow-filled unity between the two figures to a desolate ambiance of confusion. The dark green in the background is tranquil, but the viewer’s knowledge of the situation happening to the vulnerable man leaves the viewer in a state of ambiguity. A peaceful image is portrayed, but the woman is literally sucking the life out of the man. The red hair can be seen as a rainfall of blood emasculating the victim. The man has been deceived into finding love where there is unhappiness. He has found the tortures of being in love. The distorted and tangled strokes in the whole work represent the man’s faith in love being distorted and tangled. The strokes can also portray the woman’s deception, which is so fabricated by her “loving” embrace. Jealousy also carries the tormented-man motif. In this scene, a woman is chatting with and exposing her body to a man as her husband stands by, swallowing his painful jealousy. The husband’s face is close-up and facing the viewer, demonstrating his quiet enragement.
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.
The late nineteenth century Irish novelist, Bram Stoker is most famous for creating Dracula, one of the most popular and well-known vampire stories ever written. Dracula is a gothic, “horror novel about a vampire named Count Dracula who is looking to move from his native country of Transylvania to England” (Shmoop Editorial Team). Unbeknownst of Dracula’s plans, Jonathan Harker, a young English lawyer, traveled to Castle Dracula to help the count with his plans and talk to him about all his options. At first Jonathan was surprised by the Count’s knowledge, politeness, and overall hospitality. However, the longer Jonathan remained in the castle the more uneasy and suspicious he became as he began to realize just how strange and different Dracula was. As the story unfolded, Jonathan realized he is not just a guest, but a prisoner as well. The horror in the novel not only focuses on the “vampiric nature” (Soyokaze), but also on the fear and threat of female sexual expression and aggression in such a conservative Victorian society.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula illustrated fears about sexual women in contrast to the woman who respected and abided by society’s sexual norms. Joseph Sheridan LeFanu’s “Carmilla” represented not only the fear of feminine sexuality, but also the fear of sexuality between women. John William Polidori’s “The Vampyre” showed society’s fear of sexuality in terms of the seductive man who could “ruin” a young girl.These texts are representative of vampire stories in the Victorian Era, and will be the focus here.
In Bram Stoker's Dracula, the most blatant and powerful symbol is blood. He takes the blood that means so much to the believers of this legend and has it represent more than even they could imagine. Blood is the main object associated with vampires and vampirism. From a mythical standpoint, it is the basis of life for the vampires as they feed off of the blood of young, vibrant souls. From a more scientific standpoint blood is what would drip out of the corpse's mouth when family members would dig up their dead kin to check for the dreaded disease. Stoker takes the significance of this symbol and puts his own unique twist to the meaning of blood. He combines the traditional folklore of vampirism and the immense sexual undertones of the Victorian era to create a simply horrific tale which completely confuses the emotions of his readers. Stoker knew bloods importance in vampire history and used the overwhelming symbolism to convey his own personal lust and sexual obsessions. The scenes where Lucy is receiving transfusions; first from Holmwood, then from Seward, and the unforgettable vampire baptism between Dracula and Mina all have these very erotic, sexual feelings associated with them. What makes these so powerful is the combination of violence and sex. As a reader, you know that what Dracula is doing are horrific and wrong, but because they are so sexually described and associated you think you should enjoy them, but you can't. This is the confusion which stoker implements into his readers minds, especially ones of the Victorian era. This is why stoker used blood as the most important symbol in the novel; to create an intense horror that was not just in the words of the book, but in the minds of the reader.
The idea of Victorian womanhood is extremely sacred, especially to a woman like Mina, who primarily wishes to be of use to her husband. Dracula’s penetrating the West and his actions are threats to female purity, and so they are threats to Victorian culture and order of England (Western world). Dracula is penetrating the entire nature of Vi...
Vampires have long been an icon that challenges the idea of ‘myth’ while also being a perfect example of the term itself. Long before Bram Stokers Dracula, there was Carmella, the lesbian vampire. Before this there were the ancient Greek tales of the Lamia, who are best described by Lawson "....the chief characteristics of the Lamiae, apart from their thirst for blood, are their uncleanliness, their gluttony, and their stupidity" (LAWSON) that would suck the life essence of children. The difference with the vampire, however, is that while other monstrosities of literature and entertainment are considered mostly a natural evil, that is, in and of themselves capable of harm to general human interest, vampires are a commentary of relationships through a sort of
Vampires have been a popular figure in literary works for almost 200 years; from John Polidori’s The Vampyre (1819) to Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight (2005), the figure of the vampire has changed and developed over time but still remains popular and recognisable throughout literary history. The figure of the vampire is often used to represent ‘the other’, or as a manifestation of social anxieties at the time of writing. This is why it is interesting to study the how the tropes found within vampire fiction differ between texts, and the reasons behind these differences or transformations in the figure of the vampire. I will look at a range of texts to study how sexuality
In the year 1897, Bram Stoker releases the crown jewel of the 20th century: his vampire epic Dracula. Ever since Dracula, Transylvania, and castles have been associative of vampirism, the world has become “bloody”. There are slight deviations to the novel, but the majority of them are fairly partial to the novel. Worldly views show Dracula as an old man with a new face. The inception of Bram Stoker’s Dracula has been the melting pot of the recreations and incarnations of the world’s deadliest, bloodsucking vampire, Count Dracula.
Carmilla, the title character and the vampire of the work, is especially important to the definition of vampirism in literature, not only because she threatens to take young women from their religious societies, but also because her victims are all women. A vampire’s victim is often synonymous with his or her lover. Both sex and homosexuality are considered taboo in Western society, because it presents both of these topics, the work is especially deviant from the time in which it was written. Le Fanu in particular was inspired by the near obsession the British Empire had with morality in the 17th century. While sex and sexuality was not necessarily suppressed during the time, and most of society was beginning to come to terms with their own agreement the topic was still banned from polite conversation. Homosexual acts, like those depicted in Carmilla were still considered extremely taboo, and often times illegal, as homosexuality was a crime punishable by death up to ten years before the work was written. Carmilla, like most of the other works in the time it was written is the product of strictly religious society and represents the amoral. Carmilla however was exceptional in the fact that the vampire is female, rather than a male vampire that has remained present throughout most vampire-centered work since their creation. Women were
“Let the Right One In turns away from the representations of sexual threat and desire that have long typified – and currently dominate – vampire fiction.”3. The novel attempts to copy the significance of seduction of the ‘original’ vampire but in doing so alters the meaning of the vampire. Although the novel cuts sex from its story of love and a vampire, seduction is still represented in the novel; however, it represents a different meaning – namely the loss of innocence. In Dracula for example, women vampires are portrayed as overtly sexual beings who use their seduction as a means to advance their desire to kill. This is seen when Johathan Harker is being seduced by the Count’s three brides. “Jonathan takes on a stereotypically passive, feminine role, peering coyly through his lashes, waiting and hoping for ravishment. Of course, what he waits and hopes for isn’t necessarily what this strange and beautiful, blonde and sapphire-eyed monster intends.”3. Unlike in the case of the ‘original vampire’ idea of sexual seduction as a means of death “Let the Right One In excises sex from its tale of vampire seduction, the book has its own erotic investments, which circulate around the idealized notions of loss of childhood innocence”3 . When Oskar is kissed for the first time, he notes that he is able to have a different perspective of life and that he is able to view life through Eli’s eyes.
Have you ever been bullied in school? Have you ever known a person who was bullied before in his life? Do you know that people who are bullied in school can grow up to have depression or social problems? Bullying was and still is one of the biggest problems schools have from a long time ago. To bully is to make fun of, tease or harass someone who is vulnerable or just younger. As a matter of fact, the victims of bullying and the bullies are turned up to have some serious issues when they become adults. In an article published by Ron Banks in 2013, “Educational Resource Information Center”, he explained how bullied victims and bullies are unknown by the authority members in schools. In my opinion, we should lighten up the parents and the faculty
Le Fanu’s approach using gothic tropes is obvious here, as he uses the tabooed deviations from the sexual norm, to explicitly showcase the rise of the New Woman, chasing sexual freedom. One of the main differences between Dracula and “Carmilla” is the way each author interconnects the gothic trope of sexuality. Carmilla is portrayed as beautiful and majestic (Le Faun Chapter III). Whereas, Dracula is portrayed as a horrid, hairy and harmful looking man (Stoker Chapter II). While both Stoker and Le Fanu create creatures that both hold power over there victims, Le Fanu effectively uses Carmilla’s beauty, to portray her victims as more willing. Therefore, readers’ are lead to believe that Carmilla depends more on the act of seduction, referring to the very strong lesbian undertones. By drawing on this, Dracula is predominately a more vicious attacker. This separates Carmilla from her male counterparts as Carmilla is seducing victims in a very literal sense, opposed to Dracula whose victims are just under his trance. Therefore, what has already been alluded to in Carmilla’s case, becomes explicit in Stoker’s Dracula. This is apparent during Johnathan being tempted and repelled (Stoker Chapter III) by the three vampires. However, Dracula focuses mainly on facets of male homosexuality and male hegemony, and
There are several challenges and blessings to being a parent of a special needs child. Additionally, the challenges have changed as our child has grown. When she was little the greatest challenge was probably accepting the disability and how others perceived the disability as well. As she grew, it was the worry about educational and medical options that would best benefit and assist our child. Currently, the greatest challenge is learning how to handle the frequent outburst and tantrums our child is having at home and at school. Every new stage in growth and development seems to present its own blessings and challenges.
Vampires, they have sharp teeth, black capes, perfect skin and black hair, one of the key inspirations to how we see the vampire today is Bram Stoker's book Dracula, written in 1897. Over time the idea of a vampire has evolved from the standard can't go out in the sun and can only drink human blood to sparkling in the sun and can live off of a animal's blood. Either the change occurred from the evolution of writing styles or just written in a way to make a book as popular as possible. This essay will explore the idea of a vampire before and after the book Dracula was made as well as the key inspirations for the book itself. Including comparisons of how we see vampires today versus how they were seen back when Dracula was originally written.
Life and death are two things that we as humans must all face. The road from one to the other, from life to death, is a long and at times, both joyous and painful one. Robert Frost’s poems are a prime example of these times and trials. The poems I chose for this paper highlight them, and with Frost’s allegory, they present a sort of silver lining to the string of dark and dreary words he’s pieced together for these poems. The depressing tone to the poems “Acquainted with the Night”, “Nothing Gold Can Stay”, and “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowing Evening” could be attributed to the death of many of Frost’s family members, and how despite this he overcame it all, and at the end of his life, was a successful writer. These poems to not go into great explanation of the details of Frost’s life, however, I believe that they are representations of the things path that he’s walked, and how he viewed his actions and death in general.