Kendra Smith
Cline
Eng. 102
11/6/2011
A Dark Reflection
Most people have wondered and fantasized the stone cold, blood thirsty monsters that we call vampires. They are depicted as conniving, malicious individuals filled with dread and sorrow. They are usually thought of as having bloody fangs, pale skin, and wearing all black clothing. Vampires are depicted in so many ways, many of the cultural and through time eras. Vampires are viewed so differently throughout history up until the present, but overall represent one weakness that mankind cannot control, desire.
Some brief history on how the vampire came about dated back to 300 A.D when the Slavic people came about and started to for Bulgaria. Although there were no vampires yet, the era that started to formulate the foundation for vampires was present. “The all important development in the Balkan Peninsula... was the influx of the Slavic people” (Stavrianos). After the foundation of Eastern Europe was formulated the next stage took place. Vampires were in fact the last addition to Eastern Europe’s folklores. There was believed to be incubus and succubus spirits present that were believed to haunt the European people and cause them harm. The Incubus were the male spirits, and succubus spirits were female. It is unclear weather the Incubus or Succubus came before the vampire or not. A great quote from John Milton talking about the incubus and succubus spirits follows:
With these came they, who, from the bordering flood
Of old Euphrates to the brook that parts
Egypt from Syrian ground, had general names
Of Baalim and Ashtaroth, those male,
These feminine; for spirits, when they please,
Can either sex assume, or both; so soft
And uncompounded is their essence pure,
Not tied or manacled with joint or limb,
Nor founded on the brittle strength of bones,
Like cumbrous flesh; but, in what shape they chose,
Dilated or condensed, bright or obscure,
Can execute their aery purposes,
And works of love or enmity fulfill. (Milton, 419).
In the book Paradise Lost by John Milton he talks about these evil spirits that are later known as demons. J. Melton, the author of the vampire encyclopedia states the European Hypothesis on how the demon incubi and succubi came to be, “The incubus seemed to have originated in the ancient practice of incubation, where a person went to the temple of a deity and slept there overnight. During the course of the evening, the person would have contact with the deity. Often that contact involved sexual intercourse, either in a dream of with one of the very human representatives of the deity. Christianity, which equated the Pagan deities with devilish demons, viewed the practice of intercourse with the deity as a form of demonic activity”.( Melton) It is said that Vampires were created out of wrongful acts in life that god damned these people to suffer like all those that suffered from their greed and desire. The way that the folklore goes is that if you see a corps of a murdered body with holes in the neck or a severed head that it could have been the making of a vampire. They are said to be cold and icy like stone, with ugly features such as greenish hair all over their body. These monsters were said to have wreaked havoc in England during the medieval times.
Since that time period many different types of literature has come out talking about vampires and how they are portrayed. There have been books such as Dracula which had many films and different versions written. This story is about the vampire Dracula who has the insane thirst for blood, but an even more insane desire for love. Vampires from within the last 200 years have been depicted much different from the historical folklores from Europe and England. Vampires are now a big role in all the hit movies, shows, and Books. The vampires are idolized and fantasized about for their attractive looks. The shows and movies that I personally have seen are Vampire Diaries on ABC Family, and the anime Dance in the Vampire Bund. Both of these shows demonstrate vampires to be human like. They are depicted as both good and evil. Although still having the thirst for blood, they have more of a desire to have love and acceptance in society. I am a huge fan of the book and movie Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. This is a perfect example of how Vampires are pictured today. Edward Cullen and his family are a covent of vampires. They are seen as stunning by all who lay eyes on them and are envied. Many people cant even tell that they are vampires. The Cullens go to school like normal teenage kids, and the father Carlslisle is a doctor who is seen as very attractive unlike the vampires from the first folklores ““You should see the doctor; it’s a good thing he’s happily married. A lot of nurses at the hospital have a hard time concentrating on their work with him around.(Meyer, 37)” . The Cullens are what is termed as vegetarian vampires, meaning they don’t drink human blood. Edward Cullen meets and falls in love with a Bella Swan. Bella soon learns that Edward is a vampire because he and the rest of his family have special powers that other humans don’t have. Edward desires more than blood the love and safety of Bella. The vampires skin is white and cold with a glittery complexion in the sun. The cullens throughout the book are fighting off the vampires that are blood thirsty or what they call “newborns”. The love and acceptance is the only thing that is important to this covenant.
In historical times the vampire folklores were frightening. The vampires were unattractive, mangled, and hairy. They were said to have committed many murders with signs such as bite marks on the necks of the innocent and to have been demonic in nature. The current vampire books are filled with love and romance. The desire for love is above the desire for blood. The vampires are also viewed with beauty and kindness. With all eras of the vampire history and knowledge vampires are desiring something whether it be normality, blood, love, acceptance, or all of the above.
Work Cited
"Step 1--The History of Eastern Europe." Angelfire: Welcome to Angelfire. Horrorfind.com, 12 Mar. 2000. Web. 07 Nov. 2011. <http://www.angelfire.com/tn/vampires/step1.html>.
Meyer, Stephenie. Twilight. New York: Little, Brown and, 2006. Print.
Milton, John, and Philip Pullman. Paradise Lost. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2005. Print.
Melton, J. Gordon. The Vampire Book: the Encyclopedia of the Undead. Canton, MI: Visible Ink, 2011. Print.
Arthen, Innana. "Real Vampires." The EarthSpirit Community. Web. 07 Nov. 2011. <http://www.earthspirit.com/fireheart/fhvampire.html>.
