‘Atrocious Lusts’: The Vampire and Transgressive Sexuality in Polidori, Le Fanu, and Rice

Authors

  • Stefan Čizmar Filozofski fakultet Novi Sad

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18485/bells.2023.15.14

Keywords:

the Gothic, transgression, sexuality, vampirism, Interview with the Vampire, Carmilla, The Vampyre

Abstract

Gothic literature has always tackled and played with various anxieties present in contemporary culture, often projecting those anxieties onto the figure of the vampire. One of such ever-present themes that the Gothic deals with is sexuality and the fears of changing norms and moral values regarding it, coupled with anxieties related to shifting gender norms and family structures. This paper aims to give an overview of how the Gothic genre deals with transgressive sexuality and the breaking of gender norms. The works discussed here are selected based on how historically important and culturally prominent they are. ‘The Vampyre’ is the first prominent vampire story in English literature, and deals heavily with the titular vampire’s sexual voraciousness. ‘Carmilla’ is the first prominent Gothic story to explicitly deal with lesbianism, while Interview with the Vampire is the most culturally relevant vampire story, and the first prominent one to openly embrace homosexuality. These works are analysed and compared to gain insight into how the representation of transgressive sexuality in the genre changed over time.

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References

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Published

2023-12-26

How to Cite

Čizmar, S. (2023). ‘Atrocious Lusts’: The Vampire and Transgressive Sexuality in Polidori, Le Fanu, and Rice. Belgrade English Language and Literature Studies, 15(1), 275–289. https://doi.org/10.18485/bells.2023.15.14

Issue

Vol. 15 No. 1 (2023): BELLS - volume 15

Section

LITERARY AND CULTURAL STUDIES

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Copyright (c) 2023 Stefan Čizmar

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