The Effects of Modern Vampires on Society

1970 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The history of the vampire

Introduction

Kresley Cole, Stephanie Meyer, J. R. Ward, Cassandra Clare, Lisa Jane Smith, Spirit Bliss, Claudia Gray, L.J. McDonald, Anne Bishop, Juliet Marillier. Only a few names of those authors, who constitute in a genre, which is one of the biggest phenomena of this decade, especially among young women. Romantic fantasy has become particularly popular with the Twilight books, which were released in 2005. Since then, the vampire-and other supernatural creature-themed fantasy romance novels have been extremely popular all over the world. According to statistics brought out by Romance Writers of America, in 2009, the paranormal subgenre made up 17.16% of the popular romance genre, which in itself 54% of all books sold by the publishing industry.(Bailie) Vampires have come a long way from the 19th century until nowadays. Not so long ago they were a sort of evil, but nowadays they are rather teenager’s fantasy heroes. How could such a big change happen? How do these books affect young people’s minds? Are they dangerous for teenagers’ ideas about life? I try to solve the mystery and find answers to the vampire craze in teen literature in this essay.

In the past two years I read almost thirty romantic fantasy books. I bought the first book because I was wondering why this genre is so famous. I was surprised and I continued reading. Then I researched further. I was a kind of skeptical, but also addicted reader. Finally, I made a conclusion that Bram Stoker, the author of the novel “Dracula” is certainly turning over in his grave. After I got used to the fact that in this century vampires in literature are vegetarians, spark in the sunlight, all of them are attractive creatures with a 17-year-old body, but with a 104 year-old sou...

... middle of paper ...

...enormous popularity since the Twilight movies arrived in cinemas. The movies made the whole vampire-theme popular again, although in a slightly different and unusual version which is often strongly controversial.

Works Cited

Bailie, H. T. Blood Ties: The Vampire Lover in the Popular Romance. The Journal of American Culture, 34: 141 (2011)

Meyer, Stephanie. Twilight, Little, Brown and Company: New York (2005)

Tori E. Gibbs, (2010) Vampires: The Ever-Changing Face of Fear

http://www.studentpulse.com/articles/247/vampires-the-ever-changing-face-of-fear

22.05.2014.

Amanda M. Podonsky (2010) Bram Stoker's Dracula: A Reflection and Rebuke of Victorian Society

http://www.studentpulse.com/articles/184/bram-stokers-dracula-a-reflection-and-rebuke-of-victorian-society

22.05.2014.

Leonóra, Mörk (2011) A vámpír vonzásában- Miért szeretjük a sötét lényeket?

Show More
Related

  • Sexuality And The Vampire Analysis

    139 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Vampire And Their Victims

    1122 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Dracula and the Threat of Female Sexual Expression by Bram Stoker

    1398 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Inverted Gender Roles: Dracula by Bram Stoker

    1455 Words  | 3 Pages

    Stevenson, John Allen. A Vampire in the Mirror: The Sexuality of Dracula. 2nd ed. Vol. 103. N.p.: Modern Language Association, 1988. JSTOR. Web. 6 Jan. 2014. .

    Read More

  • Victorian Sexuality in Stoker’s Dracula, LeFanu’s Carmilla, and Polidori’s Vampyre

    1689 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Two Vampires

    920 Words  | 2 Pages

    While Bram Stoker’s Dracula has been described as the “quintessence of evil creatures we meet in our everyday lives” and “the Darkness” in the hearts of men (Herbert, 2004, pp. 62), Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight

    Read More

  • Embracing Female Sexuality in Bram Stoker's Dracula

    1997 Words  | 4 Pages

    Conclusively, while Bram Stokers novel Dracula is seen as a gothic and horror story, I argue that it is a novel that seeks to address female sexuality directly. Seen through numerous passages, Stoker confronts and battles the views between sexuality during the Victorian era though his genius of characterization of characters present within the novel. As it seems highly intentional to me, I respect the way in which he criticizes and critiques upon female sexuality by bringing into light new ideas regarding female desires. When contrasting his text upon today’s culture, the differences to how one perceived the vampire has changed significantly.

    Read More

  • Carmilla and Dracula

    1368 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Vampire Lore In Dracula

    1871 Words  | 4 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Abuse Of Power In Dracula

    1071 Words  | 3 Pages

    Since the 19th Century, Bram Stoker’s Dracula has entertained its readers taking them to heights of excitement in the climax

    Read More

  • Compare Dracula And Twilight

    1055 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Twilight, Edward Cullen presents the question; “ But what if I’m not the hero? What if I’m the bad guy?” The role of vampires is very controversial. Back in the day they were evil, soulless monsters and people genuinely feared them. However, in the present day it seems that we have grown to love them and even hope to one day be them. There are a plethora of vampire stories and many of them have become immense hits. With so many vampire stories, it is not uncommon that readers are able to identify a vast amount of similarities. Although similar in aspects, there are still many differences between the classic and modern day vampires. Two highly popular stories, in which we can easily identify similarities and differences, are Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight.

    Read More

  • Comparing Sexuality and Power in Dracula and Buffy the Vampire Slayer

    1644 Words  | 4 Pages

    At first glance, Joss Whedon's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," the hour-long TV series which premiered in 1997 and is now in its third season, bears little resemblance to the book which started the vampire craze -- Bram Stoker's Dracula, published a century earlier. And yet, looks can be deceiving. Although the trendy -- and often skimpy -- clothing and bandied about pop-culture references of "Buffy" clearly mark the series as a product of a far different culture than that of the Victorian England of Dracula, the underlying tensions of the two texts are far similar than one might think. Beneath the surface differences in the treatment of their heroines, the two texts converge in similarly problematic anxieties about gender and sexuality.

    Read More

  • Gothic Tropes In Dracula And Carmilla

    1087 Words  | 3 Pages

    Bram Stoker and Sheridan Le Fanu’s texts, Dracula (1898) and “Carmilla” (1872), use gothic tropes in similar ways to captivate readers with horror and terror. This essay will illustrate how, in comparison, both texts include gothic tropes: the New Woman, sexuality and setting, in order to provoke emotions and reactions from the readers. To achieve this, this essay will focus on the women that challenge traditional gender roles and stereotypes, and deconstruct each text in regards to the very strong undertones of homosexuality; specifically between Carmilla and Laura, and Dracula and Harker. By discussing the harshness and darkness of the environments described, including ruined castles and isolated landscapes; this essay will also explore the

    Read More

  • Monsters in Literature

    952 Words  | 2 Pages

    This fetish has been manifested in the movies I view, the television shows I watch, and the books I read. When my obsession with reading is crossed with my obsession with monsters, the result is a bookshelf containing more vampire novels than most people would consider healthy. I have discovered that every vampire novel varies vastly; no two books are ever alike. For example, the Twilight Series, the Anita Blake Series and the Vampire Chronicles Series have different legends and lore, different relationships between vampires and society, and different genres, theme, and purpose; this array of novels displays most clearly the range of audience the vampire genre can cater. The Twilight series is a bestselling series written by Stephanie Meyer that has captivated millions of teenage girls.

    Read More

  • Critical Rhetorical Analysis: “Why Vampires Never Die”

    723 Words  | 2 Pages

    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...

    Read More

More about The Effects of Modern Vampires on Society

Open Document