Ambivalence in Vampire Fiction: Attraction, Female Sexuality, Abusive Relationships & The Gilded Elite

Abstract

This senior project is a combination of a literary critical analysis of vampire novels and novellas, and the beginnings of an original fiction vampire story. The critical essay includes the texts "Carmilla," "Dracula," and"A Dowry of Blood" and how they portray the themes of female sexuality, same-sex attraction, and abusive relationships, and how ambivalence plays a role in each of them. The second half of this project is the start of longer work of fiction set in an alternate New York City in the gilded age. The setting displays themes of class and oppression, with vampires being more powerful than humans and withholding mass amounts of wealth. This story follows two lead characters. One being Theo, a newly turned vampire who is starting to attend a vampire university. His point of view shows the conflict he feels with being a vampire, a creature he despises, while also having to assimilate and appease the exact beings he hates. The other lead is Vera, a human who lost her sister when she was last seen going off with a vampire. She now lives with the guilt of being responsible for her sister's disappearance, and lives within the human society, where there is a constant threat of vampires. The two leads will eventually cross paths, but this is their introduction.