Vampirism as a Mental Illness in Victorian Literature

Abstract

In Victorian England, mental illness was frequently the theme of literary works. Victorian vampires are presented as embodiments of disease. There are many different depictions of vampires both in folklore and Victorian literature. This paper analyses three types of vampires in three Victorian texts (Bram Stoker's Dracula, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Parasite" and Florence Marryat's The Blood of the Vampire), focusing mainly on sexuality, the loss of humanity and insanity.