The Vampire: Enemy Invader
Literature is ordinarily written in a manner that represents the thoughts and ideals of a society during a certain time period. Since literary vampires were the simplest and most effective scapegoats used by authors in order to convey a message of fear to their audience. However, while vampires represent the fears of a society, they simultaneously provide some insight on society’s hopes and desires. Despite the fact that Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla (1872) and Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897) were written twenty five years apart, the vampires in these works of literature represent the same ultimate fear of infiltration, but differ in the kind of subtle desires they projected – Carmilla was fixated on the hidden area of …show more content…
While there is no overt sexual interaction between Laura and Carmilla, Carmilla does make it known that she loves Laura: “I live in you, and you would die for me. I love you so” (Le Fanu 98). During the time that the work was written, homosexuality was something that was hidden, but not uncommon – a desire not publicly expressed. Since Carmilla is a monster, in a sense one could see her as a very negative representation of what could happen if female sexuality were prominently encouraged in society; however, one could also see Carmilla as the first highlight of explicit expression of homosexuality. While the homosexuality within the story centers around the relationship between Carmilla and Laura, their relationship could also represent the repressed homoerotic fantasy of the man. Although explicit expression of homosexuality was taboo during the Victorian era due to rigid societal standards – writers could be more obvious about female homoerotic desire than about the male one. Laura brought the homoerotic nature of the story in focus when she said Carmilla’s love for her “was like the ardour of a lover; it embarrassed me; it was hateful yet overpowering…” (90). Carmilla is killing …show more content…
The novel begins with Jonathan Harker’s experience traveling to Dracula’s Castle and meeting the mysterious Count for the first time in order to help Dracula purchase property in London. Dracula described his status as a foreigner when he told Harker: “Here I am noble; I am boyar… but a stranger in a strange land, he is no one” (Stoker 17). According to Dracula, at his castle he is master – he is in control and in power because everyone knows him and he in essence owns them. Boyar is a reference to the idea of feudalism – more specifically a feudal lord – and feudal lords own people – they are their masters. If Dracula should go to a foreign land, like London, he would lose power – unless he penetrated the land by usurping power from others. Dracula made his intentions clearly known: “Your girls that you all love are mine already; and through them you and others shall yet be mine – my creatures” (263). Dracula wanted to own people – to be the master of London, of England and probably of the world eventually. The Count had several abilities and qualities that made him into an unusual thing – for he is not human, but like his creatures he ceased to be human. One of the Count’s qualities is that “there was no reflection of him in the mirror”
Literature is ordinarily written in a manner that represents the thoughts and ideals of a society during a certain time period. Since literary vampires were the simplest and most effective scapegoats used by authors in order to convey a message of fear to their audience. However, while vampires represent the fears of a society, they simultaneously provide some insight on society’s hopes and desires. Despite the fact that Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla (1872) and Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897) were written twenty five years apart, the vampires in these works of literature represent the same ultimate fear of infiltration, but differ in the kind of subtle desires they projected – Carmilla was fixated on the hidden area of …show more content…
While there is no overt sexual interaction between Laura and Carmilla, Carmilla does make it known that she loves Laura: “I live in you, and you would die for me. I love you so” (Le Fanu 98). During the time that the work was written, homosexuality was something that was hidden, but not uncommon – a desire not publicly expressed. Since Carmilla is a monster, in a sense one could see her as a very negative representation of what could happen if female sexuality were prominently encouraged in society; however, one could also see Carmilla as the first highlight of explicit expression of homosexuality. While the homosexuality within the story centers around the relationship between Carmilla and Laura, their relationship could also represent the repressed homoerotic fantasy of the man. Although explicit expression of homosexuality was taboo during the Victorian era due to rigid societal standards – writers could be more obvious about female homoerotic desire than about the male one. Laura brought the homoerotic nature of the story in focus when she said Carmilla’s love for her “was like the ardour of a lover; it embarrassed me; it was hateful yet overpowering…” (90). Carmilla is killing …show more content…
The novel begins with Jonathan Harker’s experience traveling to Dracula’s Castle and meeting the mysterious Count for the first time in order to help Dracula purchase property in London. Dracula described his status as a foreigner when he told Harker: “Here I am noble; I am boyar… but a stranger in a strange land, he is no one” (Stoker 17). According to Dracula, at his castle he is master – he is in control and in power because everyone knows him and he in essence owns them. Boyar is a reference to the idea of feudalism – more specifically a feudal lord – and feudal lords own people – they are their masters. If Dracula should go to a foreign land, like London, he would lose power – unless he penetrated the land by usurping power from others. Dracula made his intentions clearly known: “Your girls that you all love are mine already; and through them you and others shall yet be mine – my creatures” (263). Dracula wanted to own people – to be the master of London, of England and probably of the world eventually. The Count had several abilities and qualities that made him into an unusual thing – for he is not human, but like his creatures he ceased to be human. One of the Count’s qualities is that “there was no reflection of him in the mirror”