Vampires

By: Nicholas, Giselle, Justine

History (Not Literature)

❖ Thought to be a superstition during

the Middle Ages (Bubonic Plague)
❖ Porphyria disease appears like
vampiric marks in sunlight
❖ Check for vampiric signs when a
suspected vampire is dead
Dracula by Bram Stoker

❖ Book dated in 1897 and movie in

1992
❖ Story of John Harker travelling to
Transylvania to meet Count Dracula
for a real estate proposition
❖ Foundation of the vampire genre and
responsible for future growth
Other Pieces of Literature
The Vampyre (1819) Carmilla (1872)
 Famous Vampires/ Vampiric Literature
- The Vampyre by John William Polidori (1819)Honorable Mentions (Modern)
- Twilight
- Carmilla by Monique Snyman (1872)
- Vampire Diaries
- Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897) - Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- Interview with Vampire by Anna Rice (1976)
- Salem’s Lot by Stephen King (1975)
- I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
Evolution of Vampires into Modern Era

❖ Few literature pieces before Bram

Stoker’s Dracula
❖ Birthed the common stereotypes
known today of vampires
❖ Genre switch from horror to more
romantic comedy (i.e Twilight)
Physical Appearance/Traits
❖ Pale Skin
❖ Fangs
❖ Red/Glowing Eyes
❖ Gothic
❖ Beautiful
❖ Immortality
❖ Morphing
❖ Super Strength
❖ Strong Senses
Vampire Facts

❖ Survive on blood, preferably human blood

❖ Sensitive to sunlight
❖ Vulnerable to Garlic
❖ Sensitive to Holy Water
❖ Typically killed by sunlight and wooden
stake to the heart
❖ Created from getting bit by other Vampires
Sexual Aspects
❖ Manipulative
❖ Mind controlling
❖ Seductive
❖ Associated with eroticsm
Romantic Aspects
❖ Loyal to their lover
❖ Willing to sacrifice
anything for their loved
ones
❖ Overly Protective
Vampires as a metaphor
- Vampire: something that was evil, grasping, greedy and that “fed” on the lives
and blood of other people
- Common metaphors includes death, dread, darkness, negativity, fear, secrecy
and mysteriousness etc…
- Otherness:
- Different appearances
- The battle of “good and evil”, vampires represents evil
- Dracula is an outsider to society, he enforces nothing but repulsion within people
- Technology v.s tradition
- Free from social restrictions
- Lack of humanity
Vampires as a metaphor
Eroctism: bloodsucking resembles a
form of sexual intercourse

- e.g. Dracula feeds on the

sexuality of women in hopes of
corrupting them in order to
claim them as his own

Power: having power over another

(using another's vital resources and
energy)
Vampires as a metaphor
Desires:
- The dark version of “ourselves”
- They are free of guilt, remorse
or shame for what they do
- Vampires are very desperate to
remain hidden and anonymous
- Represents the deepest darkest
desires hidden underneath our
facade
- Leads to the metaphor for addict
Sexuality:
- Gender roles doesn’t apply, frees
people from social expectations
- Women are not portrayed as
submissive, they display
male-like dominance and
aggression
- E.g. Dracula’s three vampire
brides
Vampires as a metaphor

Religious:
- An antithetical figure of Jesus
- e.g Jesus gave his blood for the
salvation of his followers whilst
vampires consumes the blood of
humans
- Vampires can only be destroyed using
christian symbols, not modern
technology
- Some says it symbolizes jewish people
Infographic
Reference
https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/3828327.pdf?ab_segments=0%252Fbasic_search_gsv2%252Fcontr
ol&refreqid=excelsior%3A8ef4af34af872cc599ae1c9a0b06fb74
https://www.history.com/topics/folklore/vampire-history
https://www.grin.com/document/307974
https://writingbros.com/essay-examples/vampires-in-literature-as-a-metaphor-for-otherness/
https://medium.com/@ginabennett/dracula-as-a-metaphor-for-human-sexuality-a4f7387aadef
http://bylightunseen.net/metaphor.htm
https://symbolismandmetaphor.com/symbolism-of-vampires/