Evolution of Vampires: From Dracula to Interview with a Vampire

Vampires have come a long way since their beginning in the eighteenth century. The quintessential vampire tale that marked the true beginning of the vampire and began the vampire's transformation is Bram Stoker's Dracula. The count paved the way for the modern vampire and began the vampire's widespread popularity in all mediums to the megastar status they hold in today's culture. Gender plays a major role in Stoker's novel, especially the portrayal of the vampire as poly-sex, and the flexibility of women's culturally defined gender roles. Gender and the introduction of the homosexual vampire combined with the glamour of the twentieth century mark the transformation of the modern vampire in Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles in general and particularly Interview with the Vampire. Each vampire reflects the society of their individual time and as each time period has characteristic problems so to does each vampire. The progression of the modern vampire, seen through Bram Stoker's Dracula and Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles, is best portrayed through an analysis in the changes of gender as they reflect the changes in the culture at large.