The allegation of the vampire’s metamorphosis and the less frequent academic recognition of newer vampire fiction are what motivates this Thesis to examine the vampire yet once again. With the help of Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897) and Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Series (2005-2008), this paper will investigate the research question if the vampire of older literary works and the vampire of newer literary works are in fact so different from each other as previous academic works suggest.
Throughout the last years, a large number of new vampire fictions, television shows and movies emerged, and the vampire slowly gains a representation in academic works. Most of these works deal with the vampire’s symbolic nature, his function and what he represents, but it is evident that older works get treated significantly different than newer ones and they almost never include the vampire’s folkloric or "real’" background.
People of the academic works around the figure of the vampire will agree that a significant change in the vampire’s nature between the nineteenth and the twenty-first century took place, because while our ancestor’s vampires, such as human blood-sucking Nosferatu or Dracula, bring terror and evil to its people and are academically recognized far more often, the vampires nowadays seem to be tamed, sympathetic beings that utterly reject human blood.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction: There is no Metamorphosis
2. State of the Art
3. The Gothic
3.1. Roots of the Gothic
3.2. The British Gothic Movement
3.3. American Gothic Fiction
4. The Vampire
4.1. Real Cases
4.2. The Literary Vampire
5. Discussion: Nothing changed at all
5.1. Religion and Christian Virtues
5.2. Monstrous Female Sexuality and the Gender Discourse
5.3. Humanity and the Other
5.4. Genre and the Byronic Hero
5.5. Science and Anxieties
6. Conclusion: The Vampire – Vehicle to handle Human Fears and Conflicts
7. Bibliography
Research Objectives & Core Themes
This thesis examines the research question of whether the vampire figures in older literary works, specifically Bram Stoker's Dracula, and modern literary works, such as Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series, are as fundamentally different as prevailing academic discourse suggests. By analyzing the functions, behaviors, and core discourses surrounding these vampires, the study aims to demonstrate that no significant metamorphosis of the vampire-being has occurred, as both works address identical anxieties, social discourses, and vampiric associations.
- The religious discourse of Christianity and the struggle between Good and Evil.
- The discourse of female sexuality, gender roles, and the process of emancipation.
- The dichotomy between humanity and "the Other" within the context of social critique.
- The genre evolution from the Gothic tradition to contemporary romantic narratives.
- The scientific discourse and societal anxieties regarding technological and medical progress.
Excerpt from the Book
5.1. Religion and Christian Virtues
In the Victorian era, in which Stoker published Dracula, one finds himself in the midst of the Protestant Revival, awakened from the “corruption of the Church of England” (Warwick and Willis 2008: 78). Although the struggle between accepting or denying God became more prominent with time (cf. ibid: 80), values of Roman Catholicism were still intact “by evangelicals who remained loyal to […] [the] belief in original sin, a focus on prayer and communion and the idea that the Bible was the central source of revelation” (ibid: 79). In these times, the figure of the vampire seems to represent “the inversion of Christianity” (Varnado 2015: 97). In Stoker’s Dracula, the Count is presented as the “anti-Christ” (ibid.), a dangerous threat to Catholicism as he is “the real resurrection of the body […] disunited from the soul […] as he seeks to spread his infection to others” (ibid.). This is because first, the Count is a “vlkoslak” (vampire, cf. Stoker 2019: 9), meaning he resurrected from the dead, what Jonathan perceives with his own eyes when he invades the Count’s room and smells a deathly, sickly odour […] of old earth newly turned.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: There is no Metamorphosis: The chapter sets the research context, arguing that despite perceived changes, contemporary vampires share fundamental traits with their Victorian predecessors.
2. State of the Art: This section reviews existing academic literature, noting that previous research often focuses on contrasting works rather than identifying the persistent structural parallels addressed in this thesis.
3. The Gothic: This chapter defines the historical roots and development of the Gothic genre in Britain and America to provide a contextual framework for the primary texts.
4. The Vampire: An exploration of historical real-life cases of vampirism and the emergence of the literary vampire figure, including the creation of the Byronic hero.
5. Discussion: Nothing changed at all: The central analytical chapter where religious, gender, humanitarian, genre, and scientific discourses are compared across both literary works.
6. Conclusion: The Vampire – Vehicle to handle Human Fears and Conflicts: The final synthesis confirming that the vampire remains a consistent vehicle for expressing societal fears, irrespective of the century.
Keywords
Bram Stoker, Stephenie Meyer, Dracula, Twilight, Vampire, Gothic, Christianity, Female Sexuality, Gender Discourse, The Other, Byronic Hero, Religion, Literary Analysis, Science, Victorian Era
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the fundamental argument of this thesis?
The work argues that the vampire figure has not undergone a significant metamorphosis between the 19th and 21st centuries; instead, modern vampires continue to serve the same symbolic functions and address the same societal anxieties as their Victorian ancestors.
Which core discourses are utilized to compare the novels?
The thesis examines five core discourses: religion and Christian virtues, female sexuality and gender roles, the human vs. "the Other" dynamic, genre traditions (Gothic/Romance), and scientific discourse.
What is the primary objective of this study?
The primary goal is to re-evaluate the academic claim that the vampire has transitioned from a monstrous, evil creature into a sympathetic, "tamed" being by identifying underlying parallels in Stoker’s and Meyer’s works.
Which scientific methodology is applied?
The thesis employs a comparative literary analysis, utilizing a hermeneutic approach to contrast the textual portrayals of vampires within their respective historical, religious, and socio-political contexts.
What does the main part cover?
The main part focuses on the "Discussion" chapter, where the similarities between Count Dracula and the Cullen family are highlighted through detailed textual analysis and references to prior academic literature.
Which keywords best describe this research?
Key terms include Bram Stoker, Stephenie Meyer, Gothic fiction, Christian virtues, female emancipation, "the Other," Byronic hero, and scientific anxiety.
How does the thesis interpret the "monstrous" nature of female characters?
The author argues that female sexuality is often depicted as monstrous in both novels, serving as a vehicle for discussing female emancipation and sexual liberty, which is frequently punished or contained to re-establish traditional norms.
How is the concept of "the Other" applied to the vampires?
The vampire acts as "the Other" by functioning as an external threat that challenges societal cohesion. Both Count Dracula and the Cullens, despite their differences, are identified as "foreigners" or disruptive presences who use a "mask" of humanity to critique societal structures.
- Citar trabajo
- Katharina Wagner (Autor), 2020, The Vampire in Bram Stoker's "Dracula" and Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" Series, Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/909546
