Vamp Willows Character Analysis

In considering those with a certain innocence and pureness, Willow from “Welcome to the Hellmouth” comes to the forefront. Thanks to Buffy, she escapes the fate of being turned into a vampire or killed in those first episodes. So, when the audience first sees Vamp Willow in “The Wish,” the character is based off the young Willow from the first two episodes. She is not the experienced Willow from the episode before and the transformation is startling. Carter argues that Willow is “a modern Drusilla” (qtd. in Kociemba 3). It appears to be a shock and awe technique as Vamp Willow is essentially the opposite of her human counterpart. First, she is giddy and outwardly confident, unlike her serious and shy personality. Part of this transformation is her appearance. Vamp Willow wears dark leather that is sexually suggestive. She also has dark lipstick and heavier makeup on. Even her hair is straightened. The contrast is clear in “Döppelgangland” when Willow steals Vamp Willow’s clothing to avoid slaughter at …show more content…
Rather there is a clear implication that female vampires are only sex objects for the male gaze to enjoy. Drusilla and Vamp Willow are reduced to their sexuality in many of the scenes above, shown as manipulative or deviant. In Chandler’s “Slaying the Patriarchy,” she writes that “evil female characters may be strong, but they manipulate the patriarchal system instead of opposing it, thus perpetuating negative stereotypes of women” (9). In regards to these two characters, this is true. While Drusilla could also be defined by her visions or Vamp Willow by her power, yet neither of these are consistently presented as their defining characteristics. They are presented as hyper sexual from the moment that the audience sees them, saunter onto the television screen to offer a little sexiness to a show that claims to be above such