Vampires have aroused a perennial fascination within humanity since their fictional materialization into history. However, it is over the course of the last century that these creatures have become an iconic symbol of mystifying horror and inexplicable desire. Recently, the vampire has undergone modifications that are imperative when considering two of the most notable vampires ever fashioned: Count Dracula and Edward Cullen. The dissimilarity between the appearance, behaviour, surroundings, and supernatural disadvantages of Bram Stoker’s 19th century Count Dracula and Stephenie Meyer’s 21st century Edward Cullen reflects the contrasting societies from which these vampires emerged.
To begin with, the acute variations between the presented images
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Although the Cullen’s are another wealthy vampire family, Edward does not reside in a castle. Contrastingly, he dwells in his family’s impressive home and drives a Volvo: a visible reflection of modern society. Unlike the traditional vampire, Edward is an idealistic partner and unwavering protector of humans. Bella’s character professes amazement regarding how “instantaneously the choking fear vanished” and a “sudden feeling of security” engulfed her in response to Edward appearing to her rescue, amidst a dangerous situation (Meyer 162). This sense of safety in Edward’s presence is one that Bella regularly expresses, and it demonstrates his determination to safeguard humans, namely, his love interest. Furthermore, Edward’s entire relationship with his human girlfriend exhibits the capacity of his emotional range. Unfailingly, he professes sincere affection towards Bella while going great lengths to prove it. Such lengths are multitudinous but include selflessly protecting her from harm, even in the form of himself, by continuously resisting the urge to bite her and all humans. Edward Cullen adheres to a strict “vegetarian” diet, meaning that he feeds off the blood of animals as an alternative to people because he does not “want to be a monster” (Meyer 187-188). This recreated diet reflects the dietary habits of contemporary society, as does the incongruity in Edward’s and Dracula’s magical
Siering states this in her article as she is breaking down female sexuality in the novel, Twilight. The simple fact in her statement is that Bella cannot resist Edward and cannot control her sexuality and lust for him. Both Siering and Kilbourne relate to each other through different forms of writing by implicitly agreeing that media portrays women as if they cannot make their own decisions and that women have no self control.
Since the beginning of time vampires have been categorized into different "types” and are portrayed in different ways throughout several books. This paper will focus on three vampires from the following books: Dracula by Bram Stoker, and I am Legend by Richard Matheson. Dracula is considered to be the traditional vampire, where it all started, and the vampires in Matheson’s book, follow somewhat Stoker’s concept, but is more of a modern “type” of vampires. Certain vampire elements have been presented, but others have been completely removed or altered. In addition, elements along with appearances are used to infer if the vampire is a form of “the other”. There are two types of vampires; the traditional or modern vampire which can be distinguished based on the elements present in their storyline.
The camera focuses on Edward’s face; it shows how pale and sad he is. The gothic horror feature used here is the physical appearance of the “monster”. Edward is a large, dark figure with objects (his scissor hands) that can cause harm. This is very stereotypical of the gothic monster as this has been used in Frankenstein (1931) and Nosferatu (1922), and is imprinted in viewers’ minds. But what makes us question how monstrous Edward truly is, is his facial expression and the way he talks. Unlike most gothic horror monsters, he does not have a scary personality. He is shy and is not the antagonist. As the story continues, all the bad deeds he does, are actually the result of someone else taking advantage of him. As viewers, we see this, and we are led to believe that it is not Edward who is the monster, but rather the community Peg has brought him into. By manipulating common features of gothic horror films, Edward Scissorhands is able to influence the audience into believing the “monster” of the film is Edward, but when the tradition is changed, it makes us think that not everything is black and white, and that to get the correct judgement, we must wait until all evidence is presented.
First of all there is nothing that indicates Edward as a vampire apart from his cold and white skin( and the fact that he shines like diamonds but only in the sun). But if this were a novel written by let’s say Anne Rice, the vampire would definitely have fangs. Stephenie
The truly shocking and terrible, blood-sucking-monster we once knew have now changed into beautiful, perfect,and healthy human beings. This paper will discuss the change and the reason why the change of idea many still accept and like the modern picture of vampires.In order to answer this, I will examine the differences between Bram Stoker's Dracula , the typical figure of horror before, and the soft light just before sunrise or after sunset's Edward Cullen, the obvious example of the 21st century vampire. From this, I will be able to decide out what changed in the features of the vampires we know today.Many would think about Edward Cullen as a "shockingly disrespectful behavior of the vampire old example" (Mole).
We see Edward for the first time in the company of other people when he has dinner for the first time with the Boggs family. We see him struggling to do a simple ‘normal’ task of eating food, but he
A horror classic by Abraham Stocker, Dracula, may be one of the most notorious villain stories of all time. Bram Stocker is a Irish writer who changed the view of what to read in his time. He shows dark and twisted situations and metaphors throughout Dracula and many other of his horror novels. This novel was released in the Victorian era, which saw his type of writing as equivalent to the devil. This era was a long time of peace and bright minded people. Stockers style surprised many readers, because he always has you thinking it can’t get any darker than it is but it always exceeds the previous twisted situation or event. Bram Stocker shows Dracula as an iconic creature, with many reasons to be feared, but displayed in the wrong time era.
A mythologist Joseph Campbell’s belief, of "the hero's journey" is a pattern that is found in many, many stories world wide. It’s a way we analyze a text, film, music… A movie that is a perfect example of Joseph Campbell’s monomyth is the 2009 film, Twilight, in which the main character Edward. Edward is a vampire whose family does not drink blood, and Bella; another main character is far from being frightened as she enters into a dangerous romance with her immortal soulmate. Edward feels some kind of connection that he can’t make sense of and makes it his duty to care and protect her from the other vampires that want to suck her blood and kill her. Joseph Campbell defines a classic sequence of actions that include the
While looking at the relationship between Oskar and Eli through the Forry article’s theme of hyper-sexualized vampires, I noticed that Eli and Oskar share more of a true love rather than the love captured in other vampire films that is dominated by a more sexual less intimate connotation. However, it is without a doubt that the classic vampire we recognize and have grown to love and hate would not continue to exist if the sexual context of all that they represent was taken
The vampire is an embodiment of society 's deepest fears. Throughout literary history, the vampire has always been characterised as a vile figure of pure evil. However the depiction of the vampire is affected by the social, historical and political context of the time. As context shifts, so does the collective fear of society, with the portrayal of the vampire following suit. Dracula, I Am Legend and Twilight, three extremely popular books of vampire fiction created during vastly different periods in history, are representative of this shift. In Dracula, the titular character is depicted as an anti-christ figure by the author, Bram Stoker, who attempts to warn people about the dangers of straying from traditional Christian ideals. I Am Legend, a nineteen-fifties post-apocalyptic novel, emphasises the dangers of a world ravaged by environmental destruction. The wasteland, that was once earth, becomes populated by animalistic, brutal vampires that have been created as a result of an environmental plague. Finally, Twilight is a teen-angst novel written by Stephenie Meyer in 2005 and adapted into a movie of the same name in 2008. In a day and age where more people have begun to adopt humanitarian views, society has put a strong emphasis on rehabilitation and redemption. Contrary to this ideology, Edward Cullen, the main vampire, has a deeply ingrained fear that he is beyond saving thus reflecting society 's fears that one can inherently be beyond redemption.
Oddly enough Bella and Edward’s skin tones are both significantly white and they are both drawn in by this whiteness. When Bella is new at the school many of the boys are interested in her but she only shows interest in Edward when he walks through the doors (“Who is that?” ). In addition, Edward has been at the school for a bit but has shown no interest in anyone (“no one here is good enough for him” ). However, when Edward sees Bella he falls in love automatically. Like many heroes, Edward is what one considers very masculine; he is both fast and strong. Bella was about to be hit by a vehicle but Edward “got to [her] so fast, he was nowhere near [her]...he stopped the van from crushing [her]” and left a large dent. Moreover, Edward is rich, worldly, generous, intelligent (he has been around for centuries), he is a saviour, he is significantly protective of Bella (“I feel very protective of you” ), and he is sensitive towards Bella, he is the dream man/boy who many people fantasize over. On the other hand, because Edward possesses all these characteristics, the heroine must lack these qualities and as a result Bella is small, clumsy, delicate, vulnerable, soft, fragile (Edward could lose control and kill her by accident ), desperate, uncoordinated (slips on ice ), less smart (“if you were smart you’d stay away from me... what if I’m the bad guy?” ) “In the end a good-looking boyfriend remains
Different depictions of vampires are commonly exhibited in vampire folklore in past and present literature and film. The diversity of different variations of vampire legends are prominently seen in most literature, but the main ideas and attributes are generally the same. This is not that case when focusing on specific novels discussed in class. The novels I Am Legend by Richard Matheson and Fledgling by Octavia Butler are two contrasting works of vampire folklore. The novels are about different societies of vampires. They both emerged in different ways, the survive and feed in contrasting ways, and they both represent completely different forms of vampires. This essay will examine the characterizations of the contrasting the vampire species in both I Am Legend and Fledgling, as well as, investigating how these different species of vampires relate to human species.
Vampires have aroused a perennial fascination within humanity since their fictional materialization into history. However, it is over the course of the last century that these creatures have become an iconic symbol of mystifying horror and inexplicable desire. Recently, the vampire has undergone a significant reconstruction of physical appearance, behaviour, and surroundings, along with, extensive modifications to its super-natural disadvantages. These distinct character adaptations are imperative when considering two of the most notable vampires ever fashioned: Count Dracula and Edward Cullen. The dissimilarity between Bram Stoker’s 19th century, Count Dracula, and Stephenie Meyer’s 21st century, Edward Cullen, is a complex reflection of the contrasting societies from which these vampires emerged.
The incident is never discussed as a sexual assault, and no such implications are detectable in Carlisle's turning of Edward either. Vampirism and sexuality coexist and overlap, but are not necessarily treated as synonymous in Twilight. This confirms Pollard's claim that metaphors become more flexible in recent vampire narratives.
If you’re a vampire, it’s all about you. Why is Edward Cullen obsessed to the point of erotomania by Bella Swan? Because she smells so yummy, but he doesn’t want to kill her. Here’s what he tells her: He must not be around her. He might sink his fangs in just a little, and not be able to stop. She finds this overwhelmingly attractive. She tells him he is the most beautiful thing she has ever seen. I don’t remember Edward ever saying that to her. Maybe once. He keeps on saying they should stay far, far apart, because he craves her so much.