Vampire Lore
'The Vampyre' was written at a time when Europe was in upheaval, having just experienced the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. This can be detected in a slight xenophobia present in the story, evident in the distrust of the continent. Whereas Britain is depicted as a country of aristocracy, enjoying themselves frivolously but harmlessly (until Lord Ruthven's entrance), the countries visited by Aubrey and Ruthven on their travels are shown to be places containing endless ancient ruins to be discovered, populated by a superstitious people (particularly Ianthe's family, complete with "the supernatural tales of her nurse") that believe in such ridiculous notions as "the living vampyre". Europe is portrayed as being mysterious and, later, dangerous, with the unexpected and violent attack in the Greek hills. This view would seem to be more Aubrey's than the author's, however, for, as the story develops, each of the rural Greeks' portentous worries comes to pass. Rather than ultimately showing the superstitions to be baseless and ludicrous, Polidori in fact confirms it all, especially with the final, melodramatic and very conclusive statement that: "Aubrey's sister had glutted the thirst of a VAMPYRE!"
This happens upon Aubrey's arrival in Greece, after which he has learnt that Ruthven is now preying on a young Roman girl - "an innocent, though thoughtless girl". The entire narrative takes place very suggestively, in a curious way, as the majority of it is indirectly from Aubrey's point-of-view (although it is not a personal narrative) and we read his thoughts, which lead us to conclusions which he never quite gets to himself. When we are first introduced to the character, we are told of his "dead grey eye" and "of the deadly hue of his face", and later (but before Aubrey realises he is inherently evil) he is described as "this fiend" (importantly, upon the introduction of the 'vampyre' myth, the creature is also described as a 'fiend'), "something supernatural" and "an evil power". After Ianthe's body is discovered, Aubrey finds himself in possession of the 'vampyre's dagger, one of "a particular construction". It is not yet confirmed, however, and Aubrey certainly suspects nothing. This supports the foreshadowing of the story: as mentioned before, if one is being attentive whilst reading 'The Vampyre', most of the important plot developments can be predicted before they happen. This can be seen with the disappearance of Ruthven's body, his re-appearance into society and the fate of Aubrey's sister, as soon we learn of her impending marriage to the 'Earl of Marsden'. Perhaps the most prominent word in the text, however, is 'eye'. By this point in the story, it is clear that everything is relevant in some way, and that Polidori is not wasting any time on superfluous detail: consequently, the reader knows that the dagger will have some relevance to the future of the story. The mythology of what a vampire is does not seem to have changed greatly since Polidori's vision - his 'vampyre' is very recognisable as the modern-day film depictions of vampires. though its form and outline were beautiful" - all are classic vampire images. Also contributing to the atmosphere and general sense of fear in the text is the use of various horror staples and established elements of vampire myth. It also highlights Aubrey's blindness to Ruthven's true identity in the face of all the evidence (albeit somewhat circumstantial, but still relatively strong). To a contemporary audience, the material in 'The Vampyre' would have been original and unpredictable: it is only through the public's horror saturation in the 20th century that has numbed us to some of its effects.
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Acceptance Essays
