The Palgrave Handbook of the Vampire1/1/2024·DOI·Read paper
Abstract
Vampires are found in almost all cultures, but the literary use of vampires to
comment on changing social conditions did not begin until the nineteenth century,
and it is not surprising that English and American writers between the 1880s and
the 1930s create vampires that evoke a real phenomenon, the New Woman, a
designation first used by Sarah Grand to describe women who wanted more
from life.
That Stoker was thinking specifically of the New Woman is obvious when
Mina mentions her directly. Other writers are more subtle, even F.G. Loring,
Everil Worrell, and Cynthia Asquith who also create supernatural figures.
Because neither writers nor readers believed in supernatural creatures that return
from the grave, writers frequently created psychic vampires who drained victims
of vitality without literally drinking blood. Among them are Arthur Conan Doyle,
Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Arabella Kenealy, Florence Marryat, Mary E. Wilkins
Freeman, and D.H. Lawrence. Richard Marsh in The Beetle creates a vampire-like
character that exercises a similar psychic power over its victims.
While real women were demanding equal social, economic, and political
treatment, literature often punished women characters who resemble the New
Woman or treated them as vampires who could be summarily destroyed. Exploring the connection between the New Woman and the vampire nonetheless allows
readers to gain insights into the period and understand women’s limited options.
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