Vampiric Emotion and Identity in Dracula and Interview with the Vampire

Abstract

The paper explores the representation of emotions and identity in Dracula and Interview with the Vampire. The paper focusses particularly on the differences of representation between the works with regards to the narratives’ gender roles. Dracula sets out on the traditional gender-role path, showing its women as the emotional being, while the Count is a businessman in control of his emotions and sure of his own identity as master of vampires and humans. In contrast, Anne Rice’s works reverse the gender-role when it comes to emotions as well as vampiric identity. The paper explores these key differences and how they are achieved to open the discussion on when and why, showing the vampire in literary fiction as a mirror of real life society.