The Notable Vampire is John William Polidori´s Vampire

One of the most notable nineteenth century literary vampires is John William Polidori‘s vampire. Lord Ruthven– the man of mysterious past and one of the most charismatic and interesting nineteenth century vampires- is a Gothic villain that has been used by his creator (Polidori) as a social metaphor. How is that? It is worthy of note, as Christopher Frayling claims, that John William Polidori was the foremost nineteenth century authors whose penchant to blend together components of vampirism into a coherent literary genre was an immediate success in his ever prominent story The Vampyre. Here are some testimonial lines taken from Christopher Frayling’s book Vampyres: Lord Byron to Count Dracula. In this book, Frayling writes:† Polidori transformed the vampire from a character in folklore into the form that is recognized today- an aristocratic fiend who preys among high society† (Frayling ) In this respect, Senf also writes:†Polidori’s work anticipates some of the ways that other writers will use the vampire as a social metaphor in realistic fiction† (Senf: 39). On the basis of the evidence currently available, it seems fair to suggest that Polidori’ s The Vampyre is not just a story of a monstrous figure of the vampire from folklore tradition waiting to be destroyed by a wooden stake through the heart, it is rather that kind of nineteenth century vampire whose literary presence is highly loaded with metaphorical connotations. For instance, Lord Ruthven’s presence in the