The Significance and Roles of Blood in the Context of The Vampire Diaries

Universität zu Köln

Englisches Seminar 2

The Significance and Roles of Blood in the Context of The Vampire Diaries

Name: Elizaveta Komnik

Matrikelnummer: 5523028

Semester: 3

Seminar: Cultural Studies in Practice: The Evolution of The Vampire from Bram Stocker´s Dracula to True Blood

Name of teacher: Celestine Caruso

Date of submission: 21.10.2013/ 24.02. 2014

E- Mail: [e-mail]

1. Introduction......................................................................................................................................... 2

2. The importance of blood as a liquid of life and energy....................................................................... 4

2.1. The meaning of blood in human life...................................................................................... 4

2.2. A brief overview of vampiric mythology............................................................................... 5

3. A brief overview of The Vampire Diaries........................................................................................... 7

4. The concept of the vampire in context of The Vampire Diaries.......................................................... 8

5. Roles and meanings of blood in context of The Vampire Diaries..................................................... 11

5.1. Blood as the only fuel for vampires..................................................................................... 12

5.2. Blood as the essential component of rituals and sacrifice................................................... 16

5.3. Blood as an expression of sexuality and intimacy between vampires................................. 18

6. Conclusion......................................................................................................................................... 21

References

1. Introduction

With pale, waxy skin, large eyes and shape teeth, and being much faster than an average person, a vampire leaves its grave every night in search of human blood to consume it. Combined with its supernatural strength and the fact that it has a decayed bodily system that does not hinder the movements of its body, the vampire can attack from any location, side or angle. Belief in these mythological or folkloric creatures that prey upon humans, generally consuming their blood, has existed since the beginning of human history, often appearing in different cultures simultaneously. Each culture’s concept of the vampire is unique. For instance, one type of vampires feeds on living persons or animals, while other types subsist by feeding on infants or only on the livers of their victims. (Encyclopaedia Britannica). All vampires are wonderful in their versatility:

Some come to life in moonlight, others are killed by sun; some pierce by with their eyes, others with fangs; some are reactionary, others are rebels /…/ (Auerbach, 1995, pp. 5-6).

The vampire, as many other legendary creatures that dwell in darkness of night, is forced to be a prisoner of two worlds, leading

/…/ a lonely isolated existence of darkness and horror, driven solely by a fierce, an uncontrollable lust for blood. (Melton, 2011, p. xiii).

The state of the vampire is pitiable. Actually, it is cut off from the living and cut off from the dead. Like an amphibian that is able to live in the water and on land, the vampire can freely cross the border between the graveyard and the real world of mortals, violating all of society’s norms. From former times, the nature of the vampire has been complex, powerful, immortal, incomprehensible and unpredictable, that is why it is regarded as a dangerous and malevolent outside that is always chased away by the frightened people. But all vampires unchangeably stay tragic creatures of the night with a sad destiny and negative characteristics who are unavoidably close to the living mortal because they must take life, consuming the life essence, blood, in order to prolong their own semblance of it. This powerful portrait of the vampire is just one small part that makes him such captivating, intriguing and incompressible figure to us, humans. (Melton, 2011, xiii).

Throughout the 20^th century and into the 21^th century, however, we have witnessed dramatic alterations in the concept of the vampire. The success of Bram Stocker´s Dracula bred a totally new genre – the genre of vampire fiction. In little more that 100 years time, the real fear, danger, evil and superstition of vampires have been transformed into an important entertaining media genre. The United States entertainment industry, which became the focal point of the vampire genre, has become so successful in it that the vampire addiction has taken over the world. (Kallen, 2011, p.7-8) The public's thirst for vampires seems as endless as vampires' thirst for blood. We see vampire influence everywhere – in book stores, on the movie screens, in television, in modern music; in schools we see girls who wear vampire T-shirts or possess any product which promotes the image of vampires in general. In this way, the concept of the vampire, which is now flavoured with a handsome and stylish appearance and a romantic relationship with a mortal girl, reverts to its former success, becoming one of the oldest, most resilient archetypes in modern media. But now the focus is no longer on their supernatural nature but rather on their social relationship with human beings and on the vampires´ interactions with each other. Of course, we cannot deny the popularity of the vampire, which is developed by an ever-growing presence among the audience of female readers and viewers (Melton, 2011, pp.xiii-xiv), but we cannot omit one fact of the vampirical nature, which is seemed to be relegated to the back burner – vampires are supernatural, blood-sucking predators. The lions that really lie down with the lambs. So what does blood exactly mean to vampires? Is it something special or the only kind of food which vampires subsist on? The significance of blood is always an underlying theme of all vampire stories. Feeding on human blood is the only component of the vampire diet; it is a bodily fluid of mortal beings which sustains and prolongs existence of vampires. There is no way out of being a vampire – they have to feed on mortals, compelling and afflicting them, or die. Therefore, blood plays a crucial role for vampires and has its own metaphorical meaning – as a provider of life, energy and strength. But is it the sole role of blood in current vampire stories? This term paper, which is focused on a supernatural television series The Vampire Diaries, investigates the meaning and significance of blood in three known dimensions that are represented in this series – blood as the fuel for vampires, blood as the essential part of rituals and sacrifice and blood as the main expression of love, sexuality and intimacy between two vampires. In summary, the main purpose of this term paper is the analysing of the roles and metaphorical meanings of blood and its impact on the nature of vampires as blood-thirsty creatures in the context of The Vampire Dairies. Chapter 2. starts with subchapter 2.1. that focuses on the significance of blood as the liquid that sustains life of all mortal beings. A definition of the term “Blood” and depiction of its functions are given. The focus of the following subchapter 2.2. shifts to a folkloric concept of the vampire as the blood-thirsty creature and its alterations during existence of humanity. Chapter 3. gives a brief overview of the television series The Vampire Diaries, presenting the main vampire characters and providing the information about the story. Chapter 4. deals with the concept of the vampire and its nature which are depicted in The Vampire Diaries. Chapter 5. is devoted to three known roles and meanings of blood in the context of the given series – the subchapters 5.1., 5.2. and 5.3. present the role of blood as the fluid of energy and life, blood as the main component of blood sacrifice and blood as a metaphorical expression of sexuality and affection through the process of blood-sharing respectively.

2. The significance of blood as a liquid of life and energy

2.1. The meaning of blood in human life

Humans cannot live without blood. The heart is pumping blood, or billions of blood cells, through a network of veins and arteries in our bodies during the whole life. Beyond the fact that blood is very essential for our life and health, what do we know about this mysterious, life-sustaining fluid under our skin? According to Medilexicon's medical dictionary:

Blood is the “circulating tissue” of the body; the fluid and its suspended formed elements that are circulated through the heart, arteries, capillaries, and veins; blood is the means by which 1) oxygen and nutritive materials are transported to the tissues, and 2) carbon dioxide and various metabolic products are removed for excretion. Blood consists of a pale yellow or gray-yellow fluid, plasma, in which are suspended red blood

cells (erythrocytes), white blood cells (leukocytes), and platelets.

Blood performs many vital functions within the body, including the body’s transport of oxygen and nutrition, the body’s defense against infection, regulation of blood pressure and the body’s temperature, removal of metabolic waste products etc. It is important to notice that there is no substitute for blood. It cannot be made or manufactured. Humans are the only source of human blood. In other words, as an element that integrates all the physical functions of the organs, blood sustains your life. (Wilson, 2002). Due to its importance to life, from the earliest time, blood is endowed with mystical, mysterious and magic features and associated with a significant number of beliefs. Blood has always charmed and repelled humans at the same time; moreover, it symbolizes innocence and sinfulness, sacramental and secular things, life and death. In many human cultures, blood is seen as a prevailing symbol of life because it accompanies us, humans, throughout our whole life – from the life-giving process of childbirth to bloody injuries and death. Blood can, in this sense, be metaphorically compared to the materialized structure that represents the movement of energies within physical bodies and considered to be the source of vital force. From former times, blood was given a sacred meaning in many areas of human life – in various religions, in rituals, in myths and legends. (Gilders, 2004, pp.16-18).

2.2. A brief overview of vampiric mythology

Based on the significance of blood, almost all cultures existing in our world have stories telling about living corpses that raise from their graves to feed on human blood. (Stewart, 2011, pp.9-10)

In folklore, /…/ the vampire is very different /…/. His color is never pale, as one would expect of a corpse: his face commonly is described as florid, or of a healthy color, or dark, and this may be attributed to his habit of drinking blood. /…/ The limbs remain flexible, the body is undamaged and swollen up and can give forth fresh blood, his face is red from blood he has drunk /…/ the eyes are open. (Barber, 1988, p.41)

The English name "Vampire" possibly derives from Old Slavic languages and means something in between "flying being", "drinking/sucking" and "wolf":

Bulgarian “вампир“(vampir), Czech and Slovak “upír”, Polish “wąpierz”, and (perhaps East Slavic-influenced) “upiór”, Russian “упырь“ (upyr'), Belarusian “упыр“ (upyr), Ukrainian “упирь“ (upir'), from Old Russian “упирь“ (upir'). Many of these languages have also borrowed forms such as “vampir/wampyr” subsequently from the West; these are distinct from the original local words for the creature. The exact etymology is unclear. (Vampirologist, 2009).

Although, until recently, we did not know a lot about the history of vampire, the notion of these malevolent and bloodthirsty creatures has existed for millennia. Vampires were thought to be evil ghosts, spirits or demons – creatures of night and death – that subsist by feeding upon innocent people or even young children, prolonging in this way their own existence. (Stewart, 2011, pp. 9-10). This thirsty of blood of children is similar to the function of another folkloric figure. So Hebrew Scriptures of the Old Testament mention a demoness Lilith, who was originally the first wife of Adam (before Eve was created) and left him to become a demons´ leader. (Kvam, Schearing, Ziegler, 1999, p.204) According to these legends, Lilith strangled newborn children and drank their blood. (Hurwitz, 1999, p.178-179). Greek, Egyptian and Roman mythologies also have numerous legends about malevolent vampiric creatures that sucked the blood of living beings. (Stewart, 2011, p. 10). These ancient legends must have triggered the evolution of the concept of vampire, eventually spreading to other countries and cultures all over the world. However, the main interest and belief in vampires surged in the Middle Ages throughout the Renaissance in Europe. (Frost, 1989, p.7). In those times, another important reason why people believed in vampires was that they could not find an appropriate explanation for unexplainable things. (Stewart, 2011, p.15) So, unexplained illnesses such as the plague in the 16^th and 17^th centuries, misconceptions about the natural process of decomposition, grave robbing and lack of medical knowledge became suddenly a vampire attack. (Choi, 2012). Superstitious stories of real mortals who consumed blood also sustained the fearful belief of people in vampires. So there were an autocrat Vlad Tepes Dracula, the Prince of Wallachia, or Vlad the Impaler who killed people for his own pleasure and later originated a character of a bloodthirsty vampire in Bram Stocker´s novel “Dracula” (Clark, 2008), and the Countess Elizabeth Bathory, who killed her own young peasants to take a bath in their blood in order to stay young and beautiful forever. (Frost, 1989, p.16). So, the figure of the vampire can be found through so many centuries not only in Europe but also in Asia and Africa. (Stewart, 2011, p.12 and Kallen, 2011, pp.14-16). According to the speculation of famous literary historian Brian Frost, the “belief in vampires and bloodsucking demons is as old as man himself” and may go back to “prehistoric times”. (Frost, 1989, p.3). That is why it is very difficult to make a single, definitive description of the vampire, though there are several elements common to many legends.

Perhaps the most remarkable characteristic of the vampire is its ability to adapt to changing social and environmental conditions. Ever moving with the times, it has evolved over untold centuries from obscure beginnings /…/ to its present-day embodiment. /…/ And yet, despite its many faces, this multi-monster has remained basically the same – a destructive, self-seeking force. Another link between all the different vampire species – the common denominator, if you like – is the exclusivity of their diet. For no matter what form they take, all vampires obtain their sustenance in the same way – by absorbing or ingesting the vital essences of living organisms.(Frost, 1989, p.1).

The vampire is without a doubt the single most adaptable monster that humankind has ever created. At every stage of the social development, the vampire was there. Our culture today is not an exception - it is obsessed with vampires. Numerous of them are disembodied spirits, some of them are spirits of dead persons or predators who still retain their decaying body and just resemble humans outwardly. However, it is commonly understood that the main characteristics that is shared by all of these vampires is their urge of blood which they take from living humans and animals in order to survive.

3. A brief overview of The Vampire Diaries

The Vampire Diaries (2009 – present) is an American supernatural-fantasy horror/drama television series, which is based on novels written by L.S. Smith. Originally, the series of books was a trilogy (The Awaking, The Struggle and The Fury), which was released in 1991, but pressure of reader compelled Smith to write a fourth book entitled Dark Reunion which was published in the following year in 1992. In these four novels Stefan Salvatore and Elena Gilbert are the main protagonists and narrators, but the last novel of the series is told from Bonnie McCullough´, Elena’s best friend, point of view. In 2007 Smith announced a sequel of the original story – a trilogy entitled The Return (2009 – 2011). The new trilogy presents Damon Salvatore, Stefan’s malevolent brother, as a new narrator. A third trilogy after The Return is The Hunters (2011 – 2012) which goes back to Stefan’s and Elena’s narrations. The trilogy focuses mainly on their college life in Mystic Falls and all of the events surrounding them. Two books of the last trilogy The Salvation were released in 2013; the final book of the vampire series will be published in 2014. (http://www.vampire-diaries.net/the-books).

The television series based on novels was premiered on The CW Television Network on September 10, 2009; it attracted the largest audience since the network began in 2006. (MacKenzie, 2010.) According to TV by The Numbers, the first season averaged 3.60 million viewers and following seasons have maintained an audience of over 2 million viewers. (Gorman, 2010). Now the series is officially renewed for a fifth season which will be premiered on October, 3, 2013.

The story of the series of novels and the adapted television series take place in Mystic Falls, Virginia, a fictional small town haunted by supernatural beings. The story centers on a young and beautiful heroine, 17-years-old Elena Gilbert, who is described as a star student. She is popular, sociable, amiable, empathetic, smart and always enveloped by a drama. After a car accident, in which Elena and her brother Jeremy lose their parents, Elena attempts to start a new life and learns to cope with this tragic loss; she decides to make a next school year different and happier. When the school year starts, Elena meets Stefan Salvatore, a new high school student, and is immediately intrigued and attracted by his personality. Stefan is charming, athletic and handsome; and seems to be mysterious and good-hearted. During the first season viewers learn that Stefan is 163-years-old vampire who was born and raised in the colonial town of Mystic Falls, but left it in 1864, short after his turning into vampire. After many years, Stefan comes back in his hometown Mystic Falls where he meets Elena who bears an uncanny physical resemblance to Katherine Pierce, a malevolent vampire that he had fallen in love with over a century ago and his creator. At first Stefan is suspicious and appalled by this fact, so he decides to research Elena’s background in order to convince himself that she is not Katherine, pretending to be a new high school student. Stefan and Elena are instantly drawn to each other, so over a gradual period of time they develop a romantic relationship and eventually fall passionately in love. Both Elena and Stefan keep track of their thoughts and feelings by writing in their diaries, but Stefan's diary also contains fascinating details about his complicated past and the town's surprising supernatural history. In the first season, Damon Salvatore, the older brother of Stefan, appears in Mystic Falls and anchors there. Damon is over 170-years-old, he is seductive, charming, trendy and stylish. His main purpose is to free Katherine Pierce, the vampire who turned him into vampire as well and the woman he still loves. He constantly tortures Stefan by threatening his new love interest, Elena Gilbert. Damon seems to be malevolent and serves as Stefan’s antagonist throughout season one - he acts arrogantly, cruelly, manipulatively and sarcastically, paying no regard to human life and using innocent inhabitants of Mystic Falls as food reserves and his personal playthings. In the first episodes Damon seduces Caroline Forbes, Elena’s best friend, and feeds on her (Season 1, Episode 2 – The Night of The Comet), manipulates Stefan’s dreams, creating a nightmare where Elena becomes his next victim (Season 1, Episode 4 – Family Ties), kills Stefan’s best friend Lexi Branson (Season 1, Episode 8 – 162 Candles) and turns Vicki Donovan into a vampire and compels her not to follow the same moral path as Stefan, but to feed on humans or at least to feed on them and erase their memories (Season 1, Episode 7 – Haunted). Damon displays no pity to anyone, trying to show that he has no humanity left because he is a true vampire. Originally, Damon disliked Elena and was rather apathetic about whether she is alive or died. He even remarks that Elena is only a dead ringer of Katherine Pierce. Although, Damon is gradually drawn to Elena, she still keeps a distance due to his impulsive, sadistic and inhumane behaviour. Throughout the season one, Elena cares deeply about Damon, befriends him and even shows warm and considerate feelings for him, but she is still in romantic relationship with Stefan. In this way, Elena becomes an object of the passion of the two vampires brothers – one good, one evil – who are at war for her heart and for the souls of her friends, family and all the residents of the small town of Mystic Falls, Virginia. (The Vampire Diaries – Seasons 1–4, DVD).

Most probably that young people all over the world will want to watch The Vampire Diaries, this supernatural drama. One obvious reason is that The Vampire diaries has everything to attract teenagers, it is just about everything, including young, handsome, good-looking, trendy and stylish heroes and heroines, teen problems and angst, romantic, amorous and sexual relationships, close and faithful friendship, dramatic tension, adventures, dangers and vampires and other supernatural beings such as witches and werewolves who subsist by feeding on the blood of living creatures.

4. The concept of the vampire in context of The Vampire Diaries

The history of vampires in The Vampire Diaries universe is a long, dark, and brutal glimpse into the past. The story implies that humans are the oldest species known to man. As mortal beings, humans possess a range of weaknesses. Humans have a relative short life-span, they are vulnerable, can be easily killed or turned into immortal beings – vampires. So the first vampire and immortal being, Silas, was a human over 2,000 years ago. He was powerful and rich and wanted to create a spell for immortality. He asked his friend, a very powerful witch, to create it. The witch agreed, expecting that Silas would offer to make her immortal as well, as she was in love with Silas and hoped that they could stay forever. However, Silas intended to make his lover immortal. The witch was infuriated when she found out that Silas was in love with another woman. So she killed the competitor and imprisoned the immortal Silas on an island with the cure of mortality, hoping that he would take it and die. But Silas did not take the cure and stayed buried on the island for over 2,000 years.

During the early Middle Ages, vampires reappeared in Europe. A very old and powerful family, the Mikaelson family, decided to leave their homeland, Europe, in order to avoid plague, which spreaded throughout their settlement, and survive this grievous time. With the help of a powerful witch, who told them that there was a land where everyone was healthy and strong, the family traveled to the land that happened to be the New World, America, and settled there in the next to the folk of werewolves and lived peacefully. However, one night, Mikael´s sons Henrik and Niklaus witnessed the werewolves’ transformation, and one of the monsters killed Henrik. Deranged by the grief, Mikael decided to find a way to protect his family from the werewolves. Therefore, he asked the witch to turn the whole Mikaelson family into second known vampires. For spell, she used the sun as the symbol of life and the white oak tree as the source of immortality. In order to complete the ritual, the Mikaelson family drank wine laced with blood of the witch and killed themselves. In period of transformation, all of them drank human blood and became vampires. Over the years, the legend about the original vampires became lost to history – contemporary vampires only know that the Mikaelson family was the first generation of vampires who gave the birth to all modern vampires.

Thus, vampires of The Vampire Diaries universe are supernatural beings of undead immortals that were originally humans converted into vampires. Their primary characteristics include a lack of heartbeat, blood flow, need to breathe or other functions of body. Vampires are immortal and do not physically age or change over time. However, despite this fact, vampires become stronger, faster, more experienced and powerful with age and human blood. Older vampires, especially the Originals, dominate younger vampires. Vampires are indistinguishable from humans outwardly, but they can be easily identified due to their secondary, additional characteristics or abilities. (The Vampire Diaries – Seasons 1–4, DVD)

· Immortality. Vampires become immortal after turning into vampire. However, they can be killed through decapitation, heart extraction, sunlight or fire, vervain, a potent herb which causes burning, wooden stakes, magic rituals of witches, werewolf bite or vampire bloodline – if one of the Originals dies, all vampires descended from his or her bloodline will die as well.

· Super strength. Vampires are much stronger than humans. As a rule, they grow stronger with age, experience and human blood consuming.

· Super speed. Vampires are the fastest creatures of The Vampire Diaries universe. They are able cover short distances in one moment, faster than human eye can see. When they move in this way, they appear as vibrating blurs.

· Emotional control. Vampires are able to manipulate, control and alter human dreams, emotions and subconscious, hypnotizing them.

· Supernatural senses. Vampires are able to hear conversations on a distance, see in total darkness, and smell better than humans.

· Supernatural endurance. Vampires are able to endure pain and damage better than humans. In comparison to humans, vampires typically bleed less because of their supernatural healing and endurance. A vampire can actually bleed similarly to a human, but it requires much more force to damage them.

· Healing factor. Vampire blood has strong regenerative properties and when it is consumed by an injured human, it heals his or her wounds within few moments. However, vampire blood cannot revive a person if the person is already dead before the blood is ingested.

Although, vampires of The Vampire Diaries universe are immortal, very powerful and strong due to their additional supernatural abilities, they can be also defeated and possess some weaknesses:

· Vampires can be defeated by sunlight, wooden stakes, heart extraction, werewolf bite, which contains poison, and vervain – a herb that causes burn to vampire skin or even death. If a human consume vervain with some fluid and a vampire feeds on them, the vampire will feel extreme weakness. Moreover, if a human holds vervain somewhere on the body – for instance, in jewelry, the human is protected from vampire compulsion.

Although, vampires of The Vampire Diaries world look like mortals and are capable of displaying human feelings and emotions such as love, passion, compassion, happiness, hate, anger, hunger and self-control, they are more rapacious, ferocious, savage and predatory creatures than their outward human-like appearance represents.

Stefan, these creatures are of the darkest parts of hell. They have the ability to control your mind, seduce your spirit. They are deadly. And they must be destroyed. Those who stand with them, those who bring shame to their families, will be destroyed as well. (Giuseppe Salvatore, Season 1, Episode 13 – Children of The Damned).

After turning into vampire, they lose a part their original personality and their humanity, behaving themselves completely different, forced by one sole urge – the urge of blood.

It’s difficult to separate your feelings. Love, lost, anger, desire, it can all blur into one urge. Hunger. (Stefan Salvatore, Season 1, Episode 7 – Haunted).

5. The meaning of blood in the context of The Vampire Diaries.

For all differences between vampires all over the world, there is one notable correspondence: the persistent urge for blood of living creatures. In Chapter 11 of Stocker´s Dracula, Renfiled licks the blood from the floor and exclaims, repeating over and over again: “The blood is life! The blood is life!”. This oft-used phrase in vampiric literature and film is indeed the main characteristic of the concept of the vampire – from folklore to modern society. Blood has a rich history that has evolved from the earliest civilizations and has been looked upon as the life force. The symbol of blood, be it spiritual, physical, scientific, religious or supernatural meaning, has been always immortalized and analyzed. Blood is unique. It can be deemed and offered in many levels – in revenge, sacred rituals, as a sacrifice, a symbol for the blood and body of Christ, in exchange for saving life or, as in case with vampires, used to take life. (Karg, Spaite, Sutherland, 2008, pp. 80-81). In context of The Vampire Diaries, blood, as the most metaphorical and significant object, has different meanings and roles. First of all, blood, including human, animal and werewolf blood, is trivially represented as the essential characteristic of an “undead”, a predatory blood-thirsty species. This habit of sucking blood is the only way to sustain vampire life – like drug addict vampires need some blood for survival. The second role of blood is a sacrifice during rituals. In former times, since blood is connected to life, the act of willingly spilling of blood is regarded as a gesture the one is willing to sacrifice in order to reach a certain goal. (Kastenbaum, 2002). In context of The Vampire Diaries, one of the many ways which witches perform their magic is spells and rituals. While spells are simply words which are used to achieve an effect, rituals are accompanied by physical actions, including the bloodletting. The last but not the least role of blood is the reflection of sexuality and intimacy through blood, which symbolically refers to semen – an interchangeable bodily fluid and the process of blood-sharing which reminds sexual intercourse. (MacLeod NicMhacha, 2005, pp. 71-72). This chapter is devoted to the main question of the term paper – to three main roles of blood in context of The Vampire Diaries – blood as the main fuel for vampires, blood as the essential component of rituals and sacrifice and blood as the symbol of closeness and affection between vampires.

5.1. Blood as the main fuel for vampires.

For vampires of The Vampire Diaries world, the meaning of human blood is very essential – blood is what fuels them – it is the only component of the vampire diet. Moreover, blood accompanies vampires during their long, eternal life – everything starts with vampire blood in the system of humans and, after turning into vampire, lasts forever due to animal or human blood. First of all, a human must drink vampire blood to have it in the system before he or she die. After death the process of the transformation starts. Humans, who stand shortly before the turning into vampire, endure occasional attacks of pain, nervousness, panic, rage, alterations of their personality and the constant urge for human blood.

All I can think about is blood! (Vicki Donovan shortly after turning into vampire, Season 1, Episode 07 – Haunted).

I never thought I would be saying this, but I can’t stop thinking about blood. (Elena Gilbert shortly after turning into vampire, Season 4, Episode 1 – Growing Pains).

Only feeding on human blood can accomplish the final phase of the transformation because newborn vampires are bloodthirsty and need to drink human blood to survive. If an individual chooses not to suck human blood, the process will be interrupted and the individual will die. Most of newborns, who choose being of vampires, have little control of themselves, their abilities, feelings and emotions. So they can cause serious harm and many accidental deaths of humans who are around them because in most cases, newborn do not control their hunger impulses and cannot resist the view of blood. After the process of transformation into vampire, the constant urge for human blood becomes a crucial part of vampire life. The lust of blood is as usual and natural for vampires as breathing and every vampire has to adjust to this new lifestyle during the whole life.

I have this hunger inside of me. (Stefan Salvatore, Season 1, Episode 18 – Under Control).

It’s horrible fighting the urge for blood every minute of every day. (Caroline Forbes, Season 2, Episode 4 – Memory Lane).

If I just give over to the blood, I can make that pain stop. Every day, I fight that. (Stefan Salvatore, Season 1, Episode 20 – Blood Brothers).

This ability to control the constant urge for blood and potency of other vampire powers such as supernatural speed, strength, endurance, senses, emotional control and healing factor are learned and developed with time and feeding only on human blood. However, all of vampires of The Vampire Diaries Universe are different types and have their own blood preferences. So some vampires, such as Stefan Salvatore, prefer to subsist by feeding on animal blood rather than on human blood.

- What is his favorite type of…animal blood?

- Eewww! Gross! /…/ Stefan likes… puppy blood. Little golden retriever puppies, cute floppy ears. That is his favorite.

(Damon Salvatore to Elena Gilbert, Season 1, Episode 20 – Blood Brothers).

Animal blood or blood of a werewolf, a supernatural species who turn into huge, ferocious and malevolent wolves during full moons, is not exactly what vampires need to survive because it does not provide the same level of satisfaction and “fullness” as human blood does this is the reason why vampires that drink animal blood are more vulnerable and possess decreased supernatural abilities.

Bad dream? Do you know how easy it was to get in your head just now? You really need some human blood! (Damon Salvatore to Stefan Salvatore after a dream manipulation, Season 1, Episode 4 – Family Ties)

Therefore, blood provides power and supernatural abilities to vampires. That is why if vampires who do not drink blood on a regular basis or cannot feed on blood for a while at all, will start to weaken and experience the process of desiccation – after a long period of time without blood they will be paralyzed and mummified. Moreover, the longer vampires abstain from blood the more likely that they will lose all of their properties of humanity and personality and become totally uncontrollable predators. But not only the lack of blood can change vampire nature completely. Originally, vampires are capable for human emotions and feelings – however, the emotions of vampire are more intense – but by the point when their morality and humanity are regarded by them as irrelevant, they can switch it off. As a rule, these vampires, or rippers, become more sadistic, bloodthirsty and remorseless. The processes of hunting, terrorizing and killing people are far more interesting and exciting for rippers than for other average vampires. So rippers can be regarded as predators that bear only the outward resemblance to humans. Throughout the season two, we learn that in 1920s Stefan was one of the worst rippers ever. This shows that the bloodlust of vampires can be so strong and overwhelming, that it can overtake their morality and humanity.

On a healthy diet /on animal blood/ I can control it. I’m getting better at it. I’m better than Stefan. He’s a bit of a problem drinker. A blood-a-holic. (Caroline Forbes, Season 2, Episode 06 – Plan B).

We are predatory species. We enjoy the hunt, the feed, and the kill. When guilt gets too bad, we switch off our humanity and we revel in it. (Damon Salvatore, Season 4, Episode 4 – The Five).

As we can see, the nature of the vampire is unpredictable and inhumane – it is driven by the sole urge, the eternal urge for blood. When vampires experience the moments of hunger or other powerful emotions such as fury, happiness, arousal, love etc, or see bleeding humans, their vampirism become recognizable and evident in facial changes. Their faces transform into a paler complexion, eyes redden, veins around their eyes darken and protrude, and their canine teeth extend into long and sharp fangs. This outward transformation gives vampires a more predatory look in order to scare their prey.

The Blood brings out what is inside me. (Stefan Salvatore, Season 1, Episode 19 – Miss Mystic Falls).

- The blood? It doesn’t change anything.

- It’s changing you.

(Elena Gilbert to Stefan Salvatore, Season 1, Episode 19 – Miss Mystic Falls).

So, this internal urge for blood, which is unconsciously expressed externally, moves vampires away from their humanity. However, blood does not solely satisfy blood thirst, but also strengthen their supernatural powers. Due to their strengthened abilities such as super speed, strength and mind compulsion, vampires are free to feed on any human - they are even capable for detecting and avoiding humans who have recently consumed alcohol, cigarettes or drugs, because their blood is unclean and creates, according to vampires, a repugnant aftertaste.

Apparently, the main object of the vampire being is blood. According to the concept that “the blood is life”, it is the most obvious diet of all vampires in The Vampire Diaries universe – the vampire would not survive if he did not live on blood. In this sense, blood is the elixir common to all living and dead forms; it is what keeps humans and vampires functioning and alive.

From the beginning of the times, it was strongly believed that “blood carried the vital force of the body and was the seat of the soul”. (Gilbert, Seigworth, 1980). For instance, the Aztecs believed that the vital energies of one person could be transferred into another person through drinking the blood or eating the flesh. Likewise, warriors have been known to consume the blood of their enemies in order to increase their own strength. Perhaps, the most famous manifestation of metaphorical meaning of blood is wine which symbolizes the blood of Christ. This particular symbol of blood is arguably the most relevant when it comes to vampires. The vampire, as any negative mythical personage, can be regarded as the devil – it sucks blood, which is equated to life, transgressing God’s word. The vampire personifies eternal conflict of life and death, good and evil, and his disgusting habit to drink blood personifies depravity of not just human morality, but also Christianity. To put it in a nutshell, vampiric denomination is an opposition of Christian religion – vampires drink blood and instead of taking pleasure of eternal afterlife, they spend their immortality in the world of mortal people. (Kastenbaum, 2002). Thus, it is generally believed that blood plays an important role in life of the vampire; it is needed for his survival. It goes without saying that human beings need energy to maintain vital activity, and this is blood for vampire. However, unlike human beings, vampires do not eat food for sustenance. While in human bodies, food is digested and transformed into vital force and energy, vampires do not have active or alive digestive system. Therefore, blood of other creatures is the only source of life and power that can be ingested and absorbed by the vampire, and later can be transformed into energy which sustains their immortality – fresh blood allows their dead and decaying body to stay alive; it allows them to regenerate any wounds which they may acquire and stay invulnerable; it strengthens supernatural abilities and powers over time and age. The thirst of blood is very strong and it cannot be compared with something else, this thirst turns their mind and their body to the only aim and this aim is to get blood. Blood is a great temptation and seduction for vampires and they try to avoid such situations that can stimulate hunger. The state of vampiric hunger can be compared with paranoia, suicidal syndrome or obsessional ideas; furthermore, this state of hunger can be accompanied by irritability, anger, dissatisfaction, depression, panic and loss of control. However, it is not connected with mental insanity, but rather with their physiology, because the vital energy of blood is necessary for vampires. The reason of hunger is lack of energy and absence of channels to living creatures. And by drinking blood the vampire makes these channels to the energy of his victim. Blood is like a key to energetic and vital force of other persons, that is why there is no sense to drink blood of dead animals and their own blood. In other words, blood, being the fluid of life, is used in The Vampire Diaries to symbolize the vital force, strength and energy. The act of blood-drinking vampirism in context of the series is symbolic and metaphorical of taking away another person’s blood – his or her essence, vital force, nature, spirit and mortality – in order to stay immortal.

5.2. Blood as the essential component of rituals and sacrifice

Since the beginning of time, blood has been regarded as the life force. Therefore, there have always been cultures throughout history that have made sacrifice to their god deities or idols in order to be successful. In many former cultures, the sacrifice of children or young women blood (in most cases, people or animal that was sacrificed were virgin. This is because they were pure) was important in assuring that the seasons would be conductive to a good harvest. According to twenty-first-century historians, these special rituals were intended to renew the fertility cycle or to serve as a guaranteeing a victorious outcome in the battlefield. (Kastenbaum, 2002). The Incas of Peru and the Aztec of Mexico considered it a privilege and great honor to be sacrificed to their gods who had a great appetite for human hearts. (Kallen, 2011, pp.21-22). Blood, therefore, has been used in sacrifices in order to appease the gods. There were many times throughout the Bible that sacrificial offerings were made to God. In most of cases it was a virgin animal, for instance, a lamb. (Gilders, 2004, pp.1-2). In the story with Cain and Abel where Abel used animal blood sacrifice and Cain used only vegetables, God found only blood sacrifice pleasing. (McEntire, 1999, pp.19-20). So Cain got jealous and killed his brother. Moreover, the Bible is full of blood, blood sacrifices and killing in the name of God. (Gilders, 2004, p.19). Prayer and blood sacrifices were, therefore, an integral and essential part of religions. Blood sacrifice, like prayer, signifies a form of communication with a deity or other spiritual being. Words which are addressed the objects of worship are often offers, craving for blessing, forgiveness, protection or victory. In contrast to prayer, sacrifice implies offering of a valuable object which is symbolically significant. According to historians, blood sacrifice was often regarded as the most powerful thing to appease the gods. Bleeding is extremely unpleasant for most of people as the act releases painful memories of situations associated with pain; the thought of causing oneself to bleed borders on the irrational, and the willingness to go through with it, indicates the intensity of one’s devotion and craving for something. It indicates a willingness to sacrifice ones time, health, life and energy in order to express devotion to the gods and obtain something. According to ancient beliefs, the sacrificial human or animal should be very valuable, otherwise the gods would be offended. (Kastenbaum, 2002).

In The Vampire Diaries, vampires of the Original family are vampires who are always enveloped by the magic, including spells and rituals. The Originals differ from other vampires by a number of characteristics. They become vampires through the spell of a witch, not through the transformation which is usual for other average vampires. They are older, therefore stronger, much faster and more powerful. It is hard to kill an Original; they cannot be killed trough decapitation and wooden stakes. They can feed not only on humans and animals but also on other vampires. Blood of the Originals is even more supernatural than vampire blood because it can heal even a dying or injured vampire. The fundamental speciality of the Original Family is bloodline. It is obvious that the Mikaelson as the first vampires in the world are ascendants of other existing vampires. In other words, each of the Originals has created his own bloodline, turning many mortals into vampires.

- It is the blood. The bloodline. It has to be. Think about it: Finn turned Sage, Sage turned Troy. They are all part of the same vampire bloodline that originated with Finn.

- Wait, so when an Original dies every vampire turned from their bloodline dies along with them?

- If the Originals die, so do all of you. The entire vampire species would… it’d just be dead. (Stefan Salvatore, Caroline Forbes and Elena Gilbert. Season 3, Episode 18 – The Murder of One).

So, if one of the Originals dies – only the white oak stake will permanently kill an original, all vampires of his or her bloodline will die as well. Doubtless, the Originals are the most powerful and invulnerable vampires of The Vampire Diaries Universe. But one of them seems to be even more powerful, fast invincible – Klaus, a supernatural crossbreed between a vampire and werewolf, who possesses abilities and characteristics of both vampires and werewolves. As the most powerful and dangerous being in the world, in the 10^th century he was cursed by witches in order to keep his werewolf side inactive because the nature would not bear such an imbalance of power. The only way to break the hybrid curse is a ritual with a vampire, a werewolf and a doppelgänger – a person who is outwardly identical to another (for instance, Elena Gilbert is a human doppelgänger of Katherine Pierce and Stefan Salvatore is a vampire doppelgänger of Silas) – whose blood has to be sacrificed and spilled over the moonstone on a full moon.

- The blood of the doppelgänger. You’re the doppelgänger. Which means, in order to break the curse, you’re the one that has to die. (Rose to Elena Gilbert, Season 2, Episode 08 – Rose).

So, Niklaus Mikaelson plans and orchestrated the most significant blood sacrifice in the series. The sacrifice takes place in Mystic Falls during the full moon. Klaus first sacrifices the werewolf Jules, then the vampire Jenna and finally he kills Elena Gilbert – the doppelgänger of Katherine Pierce. The curse, which was placed on Klaus more than 1000 years ago, was finally broken, and Klaus becomes immediately the true hybrid and acquires a train of new abilities, becoming the most powerful creature in the world. The spilled blood of all these supernatural beings, including the blood of the doppelgänger, the rarest and, therefore, the most valuable blood, is the key ingredient of the ritual which helps Klaus to accomplish his main purpose. In this ceremony, the spell which is carried out by the witch recalls a prayer, while the ritual of the blood sacrifice reminds itself of an ancient appeal to gods or other spiritual deities in order to succeed.

5.3. Blood as an expression of sexuality and intimacy between vampires

Usually, the original vampires return from their graves not just for blood, but also love, seeking for sexual relations with a sleeping woman. In ancient folklore, there is demon that is known as an incubus in male form, while a female demon is called succubus. Later both apparitions are often linked to the early vampire. (Karg, Spaite, Sutherland, 2008, p. 8). The modern vampire is even more beautiful and sexy, and seeks for sexual and love relationships, reflecting our needs and wants in sexual pleasure. He is the creature of the night. He was banished in former times, excluded from society, light and warmth. In modern life, however, nightlife does not equal danger or exile. Rather, it represents excitement, freedom, and limitless possibilities. At night, the familiar world of daytime changes into a place of mysteries, adventures, intriguing shadows, and, perhaps, erotic encounters.

The symbolism of blood in vampire stories is not a new phenomenon. In Bram Stoker’s Dracula the author represents the totally new, unique meaning of blood. Combining the traditional folklore of vampirism and the implicit sexual undertones of the Victorian era, he creates an exiting and horrific story which confuses the emotions and feeling of the reader completely. However, while overt sexual activity is not present in Dracula, sexual themes were openly manifested in the vampire media of the previous century.

The underlying sexual theme of vampirism that had slowly been building since Victorian literature and that was barely suppressed in the Hammer Horror Films (1958-76) was finally unleashed in Coppola's Dracula (1992). This led way for sex to be emphasized much more in future vampire offerings, so much so that it has become rare to find a contemporary vampire film that does not utilize a sexual theme. (Beresford, 2008, p.153).

In the same manner as Bram Stoker and contemporary television industries, the creators of The Vampire Diaries use the significance and importance of blood in order to convey sexual lust and desires of the vampire characters through the symbolism. So, eroticism and blood are closely associated with each other, representing the union between vampires by the feeding on each other blood as an exchange of bodily fluids which is associated with sexual intercourse. The most vibrant illustrated scene and the most vibrant example of the expression of sexuality through blood is the exchanging of blood between Elena Gilbert and Damon Salvatore. At the end of the third season, Elena becomes a vampire. It is very hard for her to cope with the extreme highs and lows, and constant hunger that are part of becoming and being a vampire. Stefan, who drinks animal blood, tries to get Elena to learn and follow the diet of drinking animal blood. However, Elena cannot keep animal blood down. That is why Damon decides to help Elena in his own way – he takes her to the bathroom and offers her his own blood but he also tells her not to tell Stefan.

- Just don’t tell Stefan.

- Why not?

- Because blood sharing is kind of... personal. (Damon Salvatore to Elena Gilbert, Season 4, Episode 2 – Memorial).

Because of strong blood thirst, Elena drinks Damon blood and has no idea what she does. Later she is confronted by Stefan about feeding on Damon. According to Stefan's explanation, the sharing of blood between vampires is a very intimate and personal experience. In an interview, executive producer Julie Plec answers a few question concerning the meaning of blood-sharing between Elena and Damon and confirms that blood should be seen as a symbolic expression of getting pleasure and euphoria that can be regarded as a substitute for sex:

That’s a little bit of a shout-out to the books, but also just to vampire folklore in general. If you look at any of it metaphorically, it’s a very intimate exchange of bodily fluids. So you can read into that what you will. /…/ It’s like vampire naked cuddling. /…/ Elena doesn’t know what she’s doing, but Damon damn well knows what she’s doing. That’s really Stefan’s point: It meant something to him, which means it means something to me. (Bierly, 2012).

In this sense, Elena’s seduction by Damon is similar to sexual seduction, although, the exchanging of blood seems to give a sexual satisfaction to both of them. Although, vampires of The Vampire Diaries world are capable of penile-vaginal intercourse, the scene confirms that for vampires, true erotic pleasure does not center on normal sexual relationship, including some kinds of physical penetration, but rather on “the experience of unity and sharing through oral gratification” (Worley, 1989, p. 33). Sigmund Freud, in Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality writes:

If the store of semen is exhausted, not only is it possible to carry out the sexual act, but the susceptibility of the erotogenic zones to stimulus ceases, and their appropriate excitation no longer gives rise to any pleasure. (p. 79).

Lloyd Worley also argues that

/…/ a male that lacks semen – as would be expected in demons and vampires – would be impotent and would find no pleasure in normal sexuality. (pp. 28-29).

In other words, if semen is not presented – vampires fall into this category due to the fact that they are already dead and appropriately can no longer create natural life – pleasurable sex is impossible. Therefore, the prime fluid of interest to the vampire is blood, not semen. In his further arguments, Worley says that, therefore, vampire sexuality is not expressed through genital sexuality, “but through activity involved in teeth, lips and tongue” (p.29). So semen, as a fluid without which the procreation cannot occur, is substituted for blood which is famous and valuable for the same life giving properties, while kisses and oral blood-sucking between vampires recall the process of normal sexual intercourse. Could it, therefore, imply that the lack of sperm, the male reproductive fluid, equals both vampire female and male? An article in Rolling Stone Magazine titled “The Joy of Vampire Sex” discusses the addiction of vampire sex in the popular television show True Blood. Stephen Moyer, the actor who portrays Bill Compton, the main vampire protagonist, says

If we go from a base level, vampires create a hole in the neck where wasn’t one before. It’s a de-virginization – breaking the hymen, creating blood and then drinking the virginal blood. And there’s something sharp, the fang, which is probing and penetrating and moving into it. (Grigoriadis, 2010).

Vampires of The Vampire Dairies as vampires of True Blood, in both their textual and television adaptations, are able and active sexual beings. They can both penetrate and deliver fluid – semen, as well as receive the fluid of a victim or lover – blood. So, omitting the fact that vampires of The Vampire Diaries are capable for usual sex, we can conclude that all vampires, including males and females, are originally impotent and androgynous – females, as Elena in the case of feeding on Damon, are also capable of male sexual performance and creating children – new vampires – through the main vampiric erotogenic zones such as lips, tongue and teeth.

6. Conclusion

Vampires are not a new phenomenon or trend. They have existed in a variety forms in nearly every culture all over the world since the beginning of humanity. Historically, vampires have reflected the unknown, superstitions, fears, values and social structures of the culture they have existed in. In the twentieth century, as vampires became integrated into modern media, their nature and concept have been gradually changed, acquiring new character traits, new abilities and new appearances. Current vampires embody the things our society possesses today – a fear of mortality, death, power, danger, social problems, sexual desires and homosexuality. Today our culture is obsessed with vampires – these blood-sucking monsters are everywhere these days! Comics, books, movies, music, theater, internet, television – there is no form of media that vampires have not conquered. From Bram Stoker’s classic novel Dracula to more modern narrative examples such as Twilight, True Blood and The Vampire Diaries, stories of these creatures have been fascinating many modern cultures and viewers for many years. The recent television series and shows depict vampires as young, trendy, stylish and handsome supernatural beings with a tragic destiny – former humans, often unwillingly turn into vampires, who are forced now to live in the eternal night and misunderstanding, fighting with themselves and circumstances, afflicting pain and misery to other mortal beings, feeding on them, in order to survive. The vampires of The Vampire Diaries universe are typical present day vampires who have captivated us in the last decades. The influence of American culture has helped vampires to transform themselves from solitary killers to the highly organized, complex predators that dominate current vampire media. (Auerbach, 1995, p.161). Social and cultural attitudes about diseases, spirituality, technology, gender, sexuality and homosexuality contributed to these changes. The new concept of the vampire has continued to represent humanity’s constantly changing attitudes, social problems, behaviours and fears. In other words, we can say that every generation “embraces the vampire it needs”. (Auerbach, 1995, p. 145). Today, the more or less traditional concept of the vampire is transformed into an attractive and sexy hero or, sometimes a villain, rather than into horrible one. Contemporary readers, viewers and writers more see the today vampire as a handsome person who is stylish, trendy and dresses with care. Women love the current vampire and crave for sexual pleasure with him. The vampire is regarded as “the new beau ideal of the popular culture”. However, the vampire is still a vampire “who wants to make dinner of a bucket of blood” in order to slake their thirst. (Fields, 2008). Blood, such an ordinary chemical element, is the very unique liquid for vampires and can function in different ways for them. The present term paper is an attempt to make things clear about some moot points about blood and its roles, importance and meaning in life of the vampire in the context of television series The Vampire Diaries. In the course of this work, it was found out that blood is the source of nutrition, vital activity for the vampire, the component which is spilled during magic rituals and sacrifices, and the way to get some kind of sexual pleasure that can be expressed through the blood-sharing between vampires.

Consuming someone else’s blood means to consume some vital part of life, psychic and spiritual energy. Vampires are blood-drinking creatures whose very existence depends on slaking their thirst. Without a ready supply of blood they will perish. The deep, physical craving for this crimson liquid is the one characteristic that all vampire share. Therefore, the underlying theme of all current vampire stories remains the same – the vampire’s singular craving for blood, for this vital fluid. Vampires of The Vampire Diaries world are vampires of the classical sense – they cannot survive without consuming the blood of the living, they flourish on the blood of others – blood of live humans is always preferred, but during the series it is confirmed that it could be animal, werewolf or a range other blood-related fluids, though it is less effective – it provides less strength and reduces supernatural abilities. However, it is not the sole role of blood in the context of The Vampire Diaries. There are two additional and rather subtle roles of blood – it is represented as the main component of magic rituals and is used in blood sacrifice. Blood, which metaphorically regarded as the main life force, indicates a willingness to sacrifice someone’s energy, life and strength in order to accomplish a task. The third role of blood performs the process of the blood sharing between vampires as very intimate and crucial. Closeness and intimacy are expressed through blood where blood sucking indicates sexual intercourse, personal sexual desires and affection. Blood becomes, therefore, a direct analogy of semen. Therefore, unlike original vampires, who were unable to penetrate genitally, modern vampires are quite frequently used to demonstrate some kind of sexuality, which is rather characteristic of humans; vampires are able and active sexual beings. Today’s vampires seem to be more human than original vampires. Keeping the fact in mind, we have to wonder – is it vampires that have become more human or humanity that is becoming more vampiric?

References:

1. Primary sources:

The Vampire Diaries – Seasons 1–4, DVD

2. Secondary sources:

Books:

Auerbach, N. (1995). Our Vampire, Ourselves. Chicago: Chicago University Press, pp. 5-6, p. 145, p.161

Barber, P. (1988). Vampires, Burial, and Death: Folklore and Reality. The United States of America: Yale University Press, p.41

Beresford, M. (2008). From Demons to Dracula: The Creation of the Modern Vampire Myth. London: Reaktion Books, p.153

Frost, J. B. (1989). The monster with a thousand faces. Guises of the Vampire in Myth and Literature. Ohio: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, p.1; p.3; p.7; p.16

Freud, S. (2000). Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality, translated and edited by James Strachey. New York: Basic Books, p.79

Gilders, W.K. (2004). Blood Ritual in the Hebrew Bible: Meaning and Power. The United States of America: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp.1-2; pp.16-18; p.19

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