Narrative and the Vampire

My third vampire essay. I'm particularly proud of this one, since I wrote it in one evening and it turned out to be quite satisfactory.

Meredith Hershey

Professor Herndon

Literature 3312.S001

16 November 2010

Narrative and the Vampire

            The vampire has long been present in narrative. They started out as a one-dimensional archetype meant to shock or scare, but have since become a common factor in all sorts of stories. Recently, the vampire evolved into a more developed character, becoming more prominent in all types of media. Over time, they’ve stopped being the representation of the lurking evil around us and have become the representation of ourselves and the demons we all struggle with, an idea presented through narrative.

            There hasn’t been and will probably never be a consistent characterization of vampires, due to their important role in the reflection of culture. Eric Nuzum of National Public Radio points out that “Dracula can't see his own reflection in the mirror because he is a reflection of the culture around him. Ever since Bram Stoker penned Dracula in 1897, the vampire's image has been a work in progress” (Nuzim). The modern vampire is a relatable character, though this was not always the case. Characters of the Nineteenth and early Twentieth century, such as Nosferatu and Dracula, were painted to be bloodthirsty, evil monsters with no remorse for the murders they committed. More often than not, vampires were creepy, pale and inhuman in appearance, and storytellers put emphasis on their gross differences to make them more menacing. Vampires were portrayed this way as a reflection of the fears of the society that created them. They represented disease, murder, and rape. There was no deeper characterization beyond the bloodlust. Vampires were the embodiment of everything that could go wrong in one’s life.

Nowadays, vampires have been embraced by the people who used to fear them. As times have changed, human beings have chosen different ways to cope with unfortunate situations, and vampires have come to be something else entirely. Since Anne Rice’s iconic Vampire Chronicles series, vampires have been characterized as more human than their older counterparts. They’ve been shown to have thoughts and feelings that go beyond their thirst for human blood, and they long for companionship. It is easy for people to identify with the modern vampire, because like so many humans, they desire happiness and acceptance, even when they are vastly different from the rest of society. Writer Sam Asael states, “No longer were vampires thought of as being the terrifying, bloodthirsty undead creatures of the night; they became sorrowful creatures struggling to cope with the adversities of life as they watched the world evolve, while they remained immortal and unchanging, forever out of sync with nature and the world. (Asael)” There is a certain tragedy to the character of the vampire, a feeling many can relate to with their own lives. Vampires, who are forced to be solitary or confined to the companionship of their own kind, may be a reflection of people who have been treated in a similar manner. The modern vampire is likeable because he is an outcast, a far cry from the vampires of previous centuries, where being different was not something to be proud of.

It is possible that vampires have always reflected the outcasts of society and the way they are treated by the majority. In earlier times, when vampires were characterized as monsters, those who did not fit the bill of the average citizen were also treated thusly. Vampires were simply the fictional embodiment of lepers, pariahs, peasants, the mentally ill and any other person that was considered a freak of nature. In modern times, there’s scarcely a soul who can say they haven’t felt alienated or outcast at some point, making vampires altogether more sympathetic. The characterization of vampires is a constantly changing thing that molds itself to the desires and insecurities of society. 

The stories that feature vampires vary wildly. Once upon a time, vampires were confined to the horror genre. They were especially prominent in the gothic horror of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, having been featured in works by Bram Stoker and John William Polidori, amongst others. In recent times, they’ve been key characters in everything from science fiction to comedy. The story of the vampire differs from genre to genre, but there are elements that are a near constant. The vampire is nearly always a key character, if not the main character. Humans tend to project themselves onto the most relatable character is fiction, which is typically the main character. Over the years, vampires have evolved from their original villainous role. Now, they are most often anti-heroes, meaning their roles in the story are not strictly heroic, but neither does it mean they are villains. Vampires tend to do less-than heroic things, such as drink blood, but they usually fight on the side of good, in their own way.

            Romance has long been a vampire-friendly genre, though the role of the vampire has changed. When vampires first came to prominence in the gothic horror genre, they were the villains of the story. Gothic horror often contains romantic elements, usually between the male protagonist and the hapless female victim, who may or may not make it through the story alive. Vampires were portrayed as the romantic rival to the hero, though it was almost always a ploy to gain the woman’s trust so he could drink her blood. Modern vampires have since become the hero. Instead of harvesting helpless ladies for sustenance, they develop actual feelings for others, creating a story filled with angst, forbidden romance and some serious compromise between the vampire and his mostly always human love interest. The villain role is usually filled by a rival vampire or other supernatural creature. Curiously, vampire hunters, once a prominent enemy of the vampire, are either a minor inconvenience or not included in the story at all, perhaps as a result of the lack of fear for vampires.

            Vampires are so often included in romance stories because they can represent what people find attractive. Vampires, once thought to be sinister and devilish, are now the epitome of perfection. They can be anything the storyteller desires, and people who share that ideal can project themselves onto the corresponding human character. Vampires possess the ability to live forever which makes for both a romantic and tragic plot point. They long to be joined with their eternal love for all of time and oftentimes their human love interest is made a vampire in order to achieve that. If that isn’t an option, much of the plot tends to revolve around remedying their star-crossed lover status is some other fashion. These romantic elements give the vampire humanity, emotion and a sense of self. Rather than being a mindless killer, they are given personalities and back stories in order to appeal to both their love interest and the audience.

            Vampires have become increasingly dramatic in their presentation. Many plot points focus on their existential angst about being a parasitic being and the trials and tribulations they must face. Anne Rice’s Interview with a Vampire and its sequels tend to focus less on the romance between the vampire characters and more on their struggles with living with and feeding off humans, their issues with self-loathing and the drain of immortality. These troubles are in some ways similar to the struggles humans face. Many people have fallen into despair over struggles with both fellow humans and themselves. Vampires and humans share the same desperate need to find the meaning of life, and it is these story elements that make vampires so relatable to humans. In a way, they can be more human than the humans who create them, which is why they are featured in so many stories.

Vampire stories have appeared in many times and places in history. According to Benjamin Radford of Live Science:

The first recorded accounts of vampires circulated in Europe in the middle Ages. The stories follow a consistent pattern: Some unexplained misfortune would befall a person, family, or town—perhaps a drought dried up crops, or an infectious disease struck. Before science could explain weather patterns and germ theory, any bad event for which there was not an obvious cause might be blamed on a vampire. Vampires were one easy answer to the age-old question of why bad things happen to good people (Radford).

As mentioned before, vampires were the embodiment of the misfortune in people’s lives. Considering that such incidents happened all across the globe, the idea that different cultures would come up with an explanation for such happenings is not surprising. Humans consider their blood to be the glue holding them together. It represents their life force, and without it they’d die. The cropping up of a similar bloodthirsty monster in nearly all cultures is a result of the fear of death. Therefore, vampire stories take place all over the globe and in every time period, as they are a universal symbol for the cultures that created them.

            The narrator of vampire stories can sometimes be the creatures themselves, but are usually the humans who associate with them. When vampires were viewed as villains, the narrator spoke ill of these creatures and led the audience through the tale of the vampire’s destruction. Today’s narrator is typically the friend or lover of the vampire and he or she gives the audience a deep description of the vampire’s personality as he or she perceives them.  This narrator is altogether more sympathetic towards and fond of the vampire, and the story typically does not focus on destroying it. As the vampire has evolved, so have the characters surrounding it. Rather than being treated as a threat, it is now loved and idolized by the narrator and the other characters around it.

            Vampires have been around for centuries, as they represented the fear in people’s hearts. The modern vampire has instead become a symbol for outcasts, an example of the perfect lover, and the embodiment of what modern culture considers important. The stories told about vampires reflect the nature of the people who create them and they will continue to be the figureheads of human identity throughout time.

Works Cited

Asael, Sammael. "The Evolution of Vampires - Exploring Vampire Lore in Modern Media." Ezine Articles. N.p., 5 Jan. 2010. Web. 13 Nov. 2010. <http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Evolution-of-Vampires---Exploring-Vampire-Lore-in-Modern-Media&id=3510218>.

Nuzum, Eric. "Defining Dracula: A Century Of Vampire Evolution." National Public Radio. NPR, 30 Oct. 2008. Web. 13 Nov. 2010. <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96282132>.

Radford, Benjamin. "The Real Science and History of Vampires." Live Science. N.p., 30 Nov. 2009. Web. 14 Nov. 2010. <http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/091130-vampire-science-history.html>.