{"id":32358,"date":"2021-04-14T08:05:26","date_gmt":"2021-04-14T12:05:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=32358"},"modified":"2021-04-20T19:33:20","modified_gmt":"2021-04-20T23:33:20","slug":"vampires-in-literature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/vampires-in-literature\/","title":{"rendered":"Vampires in Literature: What Do They Mean?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Why are vampires so commonly written about in literature? What do vampires symbolize?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In literature, dark creatures such as vampires, ghouls, and ghosts often have deeper meanings. It was especially common to write about vampires in the Victorian era because books were censored and vampires were a euphemism for sexual encounters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep reading to learn about vampires in literature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Vampires, Ghosts, and Other Exploitative Characters<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ghosts and vampires in literature are almost always a symbolic representation of the darker side of our reality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think about Dracula: An old, dangerous, alluring man who preys on beautiful, unmarried women. When he finds a victim, he uses her life force to become younger and more alive. Read that way, it seems that Count Dracula is about a lot more than just a cheap scare. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond the literal interpretation of vampirism (sucking blood and the rest), vampirism should be read symbolically to mean exploitation of others<\/strong>, seduction, and a lack of respect for others\u2019 autonomy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, literary ghosts are always about more than scaring the reader. Often, they are meant to present a lesson. For example, in A Christmas Carol<\/em>, Marley\u2019s ghost is there to teach Scrooge about ethics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doppelgangers and evil twins are scary, of course. But they also show the dual nature of humans, like Dr. Jekyll\u2019s other half, Hyde. Even a respectable doctor has a dark side that is capable of evil. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vampire Symbolism<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Victorian era of literature was particularly full of vampire and ghost stories because mythical characters were a convenient way to write about subjects that were considered taboo at the time\u2014like sex. Victorian authors translated these taboo subjects into symbolic forms, like vampires, to avoid censorship issues. Can you see how a man sucking the blood of a woman might be representative of a sexual encounter? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even today, writers use scary things to symbolize the dark side of human nature and experience. But the difficult part about recognizing vampiric symbols in literature today is that they aren\u2019t always presented as vampires<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n