In the past two hundred years the world has undergone social and industrial revolutions, resurrections, insurrections, and interjections of fictional flare. And no myth is a better encapsulation of the changing sentiments of an ever-evolving world than the vampire, a monster who is, at his root, a reflection of mankind's fears.
The literary vampires spawned between the late Georgian period and the height of the Victorian period- the Varney's and Ruthven's and Carmilla's and Dracula's- were creatures fired in fear and molded by superstition. They were creatures monstrous in appearance and action; tempestuous harbingers of desire, desperation, and damnation. Their weaknesses were our weaknesses exaggerated; their fear of the cross representative of our feared damnation, their intolerance for the sun an exaggeration of our unwillingness to venture into the light beyond life. Deborah King explains this phenomenon best, writing, "Vampires represent the things our society is afraid of: danger, death, sexual desires, and power."
Gradually, the vampiric aristocratic romantics of the past evolved into the anti-hero heartthrobs of the modern age- the Lestat's and Damon's and Edward's- the tormented outsiders desperate for redemption, creatures more human than we and consequentially unforgettable. Thus, the vampire evolved from a reflection of our fears into a symbol of our greatest desires. Death, time, hurt, the vampire escaped them all and we, the flawed humans we are, can't help but long for the same.
But not every narrative presents the vampire as an idealized, sparkling quasi-saint with flowing hair and impeccable attire. In fact, some of the most esteemed vampire narratives depict vampires in the negative, painting them as unequivocally monstrous. Of these, I Am Legend stands out as a true turning point in a genre plagued with questions of morality and the cost of immortality. Dan Schneider elaborates, writing, "despite having vampires in it, [the novel] is not a novel on vampires, nor even a horror nor sci-fi novel at all...Instead, it is perhaps the greatest novel written on human loneliness." While I Am Legend is far from the first vampire novel to grapple with the effects of loneliness, it is the first of its' kind to illustrate how desperation borne of loneliness perpetuates cycles of abuse and neglect. Afterall, it was loneliness that needled Edward closer to Bella, loneliness that prompted Lestat to sire Louis and Louis to coddle Claudia; it was from loneliness that Dracula lusted after the unattainable Mina, and Carmilla sought comfort in the open arms of Laura. And while loneliness is an ever-present shadow hovering over every vampire-centric narrative, it has become ever more integral to the vampire of the modern age. For we can all sympathize with loneliness, whether monster or man.
Citations:
Schneider, Dan (1953-01-05). "I am Legend by Richard Matheson". Hackwriters. Retrieved 2013-06-03.
Our obsession with vampires – vampires and our culture. Deborah King. (2012, August 7). Retrieved April 15, 2022, from https://deborahking.com/its-no-myth-vampires-are-among-us/?doing_wp_cron=1649951584.3696510791778564453125
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Vampires: An Essay Collection
VampireIn recent years, the vampire has become synonymous with eroticism and seduction; he has become, "Gentleman Death in silk and lace, come to put out the candles." (Rice). The vampiric myth, however, dates at least as far back as Mesopotamia, with our...
