Vampires Resurrected.

In recent years vampire fiction has become one of the most popular genres for teen and young adult readers,with novels and television programmes such as True Blood, Interview with a Vampire and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. While these are contemporary vampire stories, it can be argued their roots lie within the genre of Gothic fiction. Comparisons and contrasts can be drawn between 19C Gothic fiction and contemporary Young Adult Fiction,1 yet few scholars appear to have investigated these. The Twilight series in particular has dominated YAF over the past few years, and the buying manager for children`s books at Waterstones (the book sellers) claims that the Twilight series is more than popular, `Popular doesn't even begin to describe it - the Twilight Saga is a phenomenon in its own right...` (The Guardian, Alexander, 2009) and the figures from Waterstones again reiterate the immense popularity that this series has created, as there were reported sales of one million copies in the two-and-half-years after the release of the first book (The Guardian, Alexander, 2009) The appeal of the Twilight series has been widely discussed since its initial publication in 2005. But there are few, if any, plausible theories to why this particular genre has caused such a stir in the past decade. In order to establish why there is a renewed enthusiasm for vampire fiction, comparisons and contrasts have to be made with the original 19C Gothic vampire fiction, namely Bram Stoker`s Dracula (1897) and Stephenie Meyer`s contemporary YAF the Twilight (2005) series. The Twilight series is primarily aimed at the adolescent reader. According to Bean, contemporary YAF `offers a unique window on societal conflicts and dilemmas...much of its appeal rests on the immediacy of first-person narration and the unique point of view offered by an adolescent main character` (2004: 683) The Twilight series follows this conventional first-person narration, which to the reader creates an element of intimacy and familiarity. Not only this, but the appeal is further emphasised with regards to the first person narrator who is a teen character and usually `perceptive, sensitive intelligent, mature, and independent` (Herz & Gallo, 1996: 8) Many teens and adolescents face difficult choices, as these adolescent years help sculpt and mould them into the adults that they will become. Identity issues play a large part in shaping the adolescent mind and being able to identify with the narrator is important for the engagement of the text as well as the underlying moral issues. Conversely, Pare B Cole`s, Young Adult Literature in the 21st Century (2009), approaches YAF from two view points. The first is to encourage adolescent readers to form critical reading skills of this literature to help expand on their skills from an academic vantage point. The second further enhances a more student-centred approach in highlighting the needs of adolescents. Perhaps it is this that appeals to young adult readers. They are able to gain more than just a plot and story; they can acquire literary skills as well. Both Cole and Bean`s perspectives offer an interesting insight into how YAF influences its readers, however both perspectives are from opposite ends of the literary spectrum. YAF, as the name suggests, is aimed at young readers so it is expected that the novels are pleasure based, however also offer more than just a story, but the opportunity to explore moral and philosophical ideas. Both offer compelling arguments, but considering the audience, emotional identification, arguably, offers more to the reader as they are able to relate to both the story and the characters on a deeper, meaningful level. The suggestion that a large proportion of YAF invokes emotional identification, offers a good place to start investigating the success of the contemporary Gothic. Young adult vampire fiction contains some of the characteristics of the Gothic novel in so far as it is highly creative. This is seen throughout the series due to the normalising of an otherwise abnormal event; the ability for vampires to exist - and to be accepted - alongside humans. This to an extent, creates a realist notion of fairytales. As well as invoking emotions, the Gothic novel also deals with cultural and historical issues of the time, particularly gender and sexual issues. If YAF offers one route to explore contemporary vampire fiction, 19C Gothic offers another. The Gothic exposes:

...The desires, anxieties and fears that both society and the individual in their striving to maintain stability, attempt to suppress...exploration of what is forbidden...and is above all associated with transgression. (Byron, 1999:2)

The late nineteenth century saw boundaries collapsing and traditional Victorian values threatened, by the emergence of an Industrial Britain away from its former Agricultural roots. As a result of the unrest and uncertainty, anxiety and fear of what this change represented, echoed throughout Britain. Gothic fiction, as outlined by Byron, sought to expose these anxieties. Vampires in both 19C Gothic, and 21C YAF to an extent represent the same ideal. The presence of vampires symbolise change, transformation and fear. They linger between the boundaries of life and death. The 19C vampire represented the changes and threats posing Britain during the Industrialisation of a nation. The 21C vampire too represents an ever expanding society where morals and ethics are being pushed to the limits, with scientific advances and the moral and ethical implications that accompany them. Young people more than ever are faced with tougher challenges than previous generations, and so the use of Gothic and YAF will explore why there is a heightened enthusiasm for vampire fiction. Gothic, Sexual Repression & Invitation Dracula most certainly belongs to the Gothic, particularly through its association with transgression and disruption, both in its narrative structure and the issues the novel explores. Issues of sexuality and female sexual desire, as well as blood imagery will be explored in the following chapters. Comparisons will be drawn between the Gothic Dracula (1897) and the YAF Twilight series (2005-2009). 19C Gothic has been interpreted as a metaphorical representation of taboo or transgressive material. Sexual repression plays a pivotal role in Stoker`s Dracula, and arguably deals with female sexual repression and homosexual repression. Female sexual desire is key to both 19c and 21C texts. Weissman claims that `[Stoker] attacks women who are desired by other men and who are becoming sexually experienced...Single women are not attacked because they are not sexually desired like the engaged or newly married.` (as cited in Fry, 1972) To an extent this may be true, because married and engaged women are seen as a sort of forbidden entity. However, these particular women serve to emphasise the restraints and struggles women face as a result of being married. If anything, single female women would be regarded more highly in terms of sexual relations. Even though they too will have restraints - put in place by their family and Victorian norms - they are seen as more free, both sexually and in status. However, the appeal of temptation and going against what is believed to be right and deemed acceptable is where the appeal of these `taken` women lies. As well as female sexual desire, there are certainly some homoerotic undertones present in Dracula; clearly a transgressive desire in the period. Count Dracula states that Jonathon Harker `belongs to me` (D 55). The possessiveness of the word `belongs` alludes to some sort of sexual attraction and exclusivity. Also, the women in the novel could be seen as threatening to the Count`s relationship with Harker, as he is sexually desirable to Lucy and he of her, `...Lower and lower went her head as the lips went below the range of my mouth and seemed to fasten on my throat.` (D 54) Kissing of the neck is a sexually explicit symbol of desire and upon witnessing this, the Count feels threatened by the sexual inference. Does the Twilight series also serve as a metaphor for sexual transgression or does the comparison between the Gothic break down? Contemporary life no longer views sexual activity as deviant behaviour, and so Twilight does not serve as a metaphor for sexual transgression, but rather opens up the issue. So insofar as the Gothic comparisons go, it breaks down as YAF deals with delicate issues such as moral and sexual issues in a more philosophical way. This is seen throughout the Twilight series as Edward is reluctant to pursue any sexual relationship with Bella for two main reasons. Edward`s first explanation of why he does not want to have sexual intercourse with Bella is because he fears he may lose control and injure or kill her. Therefore, Edward is able to show a degree of self-control, compared to that of the Gothic vampire who were unable to control their thirst and blood-lust. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, Edward does not believe in sexual intercourse before marriage, nor does he wish to transform her into vampire. Edward gives Bella an ultimatum; to marry him. The third in the series, Eclipse, amongst other things, focuses on the relationship between Edward and Bella and their compromises to be together. Meyer allows Bella to be a strong-willed character and allows her to control her own future:

I took a deep breath. "Responsibly. Everything in the right order. I will not leave Charlie or Reneé without the best resolution I can give them. I won`t deny Alice her fun, if I`m having a wedding anyway. And I will tie myself to you in every human way, before I ask you to make me immortal. I`m following the rules Edward. Your soul is far, far too important to me to take chances with. You`re not going to budge me on this."(Eclipse, 2008: 618)

Although Bella is following the `rules`, she also writes her own rules, and makes it clear to Edward, that although she is willing to compromise, she too has her own will of what she wants. In that respect, Bella is in control of her own future and fate, unlike 19C Gothic, where Dracula is the determiner of fate. Meyer also contrasts Edwards Victorian values with Bella`s contemporary views to marriage. Although not hugely significant, it does offer a rather insightful contrast between the two 21C characters:

The rush was due to the fact I was getting closer to nineteen every stinking day, while Edward stayed frozen in all his seventeen-year-old perfection. Not that this fact necessitated marriage in my book, but the wedding was required due to the delicate...compromise Edward and I had made to get to this point, the brink of my transformation from mortal to immortal. (Breaking Dawn, 2009: 15)

This speech from Bella indicates a rather contemporary attitude towards marriage, yet has some Victorian undertones. Bella wants to get married to Edward so that she can be immortal and spend her life with Edward. However, the fact she has to agree to marriage in order to achieve her wish, definitely resonates a nostalgic Victorian attitude to marriage. However, Bella is very much in control, as illustrated in both speeches. She is freely able dictate her terms, which subverts the Victorian ideal of marriage as women were given to their husbands, from their fathers and were resigned to being adjuncts of their husbands. Very few were able to make any decisions for themselves, hence why sexual overtness was such an issue during 19C. While Meyer uses elements of the Gothic as a building block for her novel, issues of sexual transgression are no longer a concern within the Twilight series. However, as the series is aimed at adolescents, sexual references and ideas need to be dealt with delicately, as they are in Twilight. Ultimately, Twilight offers the readers freedom of choice, to an extent, without repressing individual needs. Twilight does hoever highlight the difficult choices one must make, and offers various resolutions. Despite t fact Bella had made her choice from early on in the series, there were a number of tests and obstacles which challenged her decision, mainly her relationship with Jacob Black. Jacob was a werewolf - the vampires only enemy - and Bella was torn between these two men in her life as Jacob and Edward represent Bella`s contrasting possibilities. By allowing Bella to control her own fate, and make choices for herself, Meyer effectively uses that as a tool for allowing the reader to do the same. By Bean`s account, as in previous chapters, Meyer, through her first person narrative, engages with the audience on a personal level and the genre of YAF creates a different platform for the vampire novel. How vampires become acquainted with their victims can potentially reveal information about the roles of sexual desire in the texts. The misconception is that vampires stalk and hunt their prey. However, in both 19C and 21C texts vampires lure their victims in a clever way. Perhaps the element of luring is less prominent within 19C texts, nonetheless, vampires are known for their awe-inspiring looks. Because they are `un-dead` and don`t appear to be from this world, the added element of mystery is added - this is evident in both 19C texts and 21C texts - which draws in the predator`s prey:

...The vampire in a Victorian novel might exercise a magnetic attraction or even inspire sympathy, the implied author of such a novels always took it for granted that vampirism as such was evil...since 1970...the vampire often appears as an attracitve figure precisely because he or she is a vampire...(Carter as cited in Hollinger, 1997:27)

By Carter`s criteria, the 19C vampire was portrayed as an evil figure in order to reinforce fear. However 21C vampires are still viewed as curious figures, are still feared, but the vampire is more clearly understood in 21C novels, as illustrated in the Twilight series. Traditional vampires, such as Polidori`s The Vampyre (1817) followed the conventional idea of the vampire being invited into the victim`s home/life, `His peculiarities caused him to be invited to every house; all wished to see him .` (V 1) Twilight follows a similar convention, as Edward states to Bella,`I`m the world`s best predator...Everything about me invites you in - my voice, my face, even my smell.` (T 265) Twilight perhaps gives some sort of explanation as to why vampires are so compelling and inviting. The following sections will discuss the respects in which the genres differ and to explain why this matters.

Fear plays a key role in both 19C Gothic and 21C YAF. However, the use of fear differs significantly in both periods. 19C Gothic heightens fear by exposing and exploiting abnormalities, through its imagery as well as it`s epistolary narrative. While the 21C version normalises the abnormalities, through the use of it`s first person narration as well as offering the reader a deeper understanding and engagement of the story. The 19C Gothic also uses the element of invitation to emphasise female sexual repression as well as deviant behaviour as will be explored. Within the 19C Gothic novel, the concept of invitation is usually implied, whereas, the 21C version has Edward making it explicitly clear that the vampires intention is to attract and invite in their prey. Why does the 21C version involve an explicit explanation of invitation into the victim`s life? It seems plausible that because the 19C dealt with transgression, the element of invitation, in keeping with its exploration of taboos, was implied and not openly discussed, in both a metaphorical sense and literal sense. In other words, the unspoken issues within the 19C text remain that; unspoken. Conversely, the 21C YAF overcomes taboo and fear, and therefore such issues can be explicitly and openly discussed. Discussing the 21C version in slightly more detail, the element of invitation is further emphasised when Edward states that Bella is `intoxicated by my very presence.` (T 284) Using the word `intoxicated` suggests that Bella is under the influence of something, in this case her predator; Edward. This illustrates just how powerful the lure of the vampire is, in both periods. Bella reiterates this - as the victim, `...I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.` (T 195) By Twilight`s criteria, fear is used as a way of acceptance. The Cullens are feared, but are integrated into society and are able to co-exist alongside humans. Twilight, therefore normalises the abnormalities by rationalising fear - in this case, a fear of the `other`, or even the unknown. The Cullens have an air of mystery about them, which too intrigues their prey. Conversely, focusing once again on the concept of invitation, in 19C, from the victim`s point of view, it could be suggested that the victims themselves desire penetration. This represents the sexual repression of women and other behaviour deemed as deviant. Within the 19C novel, issues of sex and female repression complement each other as being a sexual being is an innately human feeling, possessed by women as well. By repressing female desires, women become inferior and are forced to hide and conceal their sexual desires, wants and needs, `The virgin ideal of women in the Victorian age placed then under extraordinary strained because it dictated the denial of many basic instincts` (Frost, 2002) Stoker therefore uses the vampire as a symbol of power and fear to enforce and maintain societal expectations and Victorian values. It seems apparent that Dracula aims to heighten the sense of fear, by exploiting the anxieties and fears of the period, `I feel the dread of this place overpowering me; I am in fear...`(D 30)

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