The New Vampire: Bram Stoker's Dracula and Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire
The vampire has been a mysterious and enticing figure since its entrance into popular culture, usually regarded as the tale Dracula written in 1897 by Bram Stoker. Stoker, and later Anne Rice, as well as many other writers and directors have capitalized on the fascination the public has with these dark creatures of the night. Whether they are in books or on the big screen vampires capture our imagination, tantalizing us with a taste of the darker side of life. But if vampires are so dark and so different than we are, is that what makes them so fascinating? Is it because they symbolize the forbidden? Is it because they resemble humans, but act nothing like them? Or is it because we all have a fascination with things that we don't understand? My aim is to find out why they have entered the mainstream consciousness and how they have managed to have such a successful, and seemingly unending run.
In order to analyze the transition of vampire, we must look at the idea of the vampire as portrayed in Bram Stoker's novel Dracula. The vampire is seen as a foreigner: someone much removed from society who makes no attempt to fit in. His accent, dress, home and manner suggest that he is in no way human, and he is very much a cold, evil character that could not be seen in any other way. We cannot identify with him, nor are we supposed to even want to. Wood refers to these characteristic depictions as “the obsolete codes” which show “humans as heroes, the vampire as enemy; humans as comrades, the vampire as loner; virtue as a human trait, evil as inhuman; humans as Christian, vampires as Satanic.” (60) However, some do credit Stoker with the introduction of the new vampire. Surely the characters in Dracula follow this stereotype of good and evil being completely distinct from each other.
Prior to the 1931 film Dracula the stereotypical vampire was presented as “an ancient, decaying, walking corpse with distorted features, razor-sharp fangs, and extended fingers”.
In order to analyze the transition of vampire, we must look at the idea of the vampire as portrayed in Bram Stoker's novel Dracula. The vampire is seen as a foreigner: someone much removed from society who makes no attempt to fit in. His accent, dress, home and manner suggest that he is in no way human, and he is very much a cold, evil character that could not be seen in any other way. We cannot identify with him, nor are we supposed to even want to. Wood refers to these characteristic depictions as “the obsolete codes” which show “humans as heroes, the vampire as enemy; humans as comrades, the vampire as loner; virtue as a human trait, evil as inhuman; humans as Christian, vampires as Satanic.” (60) However, some do credit Stoker with the introduction of the new vampire. Surely the characters in Dracula follow this stereotype of good and evil being completely distinct from each other.
Prior to the 1931 film Dracula the stereotypical vampire was presented as “an ancient, decaying, walking corpse with distorted features, razor-sharp fangs, and extended fingers”.
Cited: Wood, Martin J.. “New Life for an Old Tradition: Anne Rice and Vampire Literature”. The Blood is the Life: Vampires in Literature. Eds. Leonard G.Heldreth and Mary Pharr. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Press, 1999. 59-78. Reep, Diana C., Joseph F. Ceccio and William A. Francis. “Anne Rice 's Interview with the Vampire: Novel Versus Film”. The Gothic World of Anne Rice. Eds. Gary Hoppenstand and Ray B. Browne. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Press, 1996. 123-147. Senf, Carole A.. The Vampire in Nineteenth-Century English Literature. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Press, 1988.