Was Barnabas Collins the First Sympathetic Vampire?

[Philippe Cordier]

Zahir's mention in another thread about the early English vampire novel "Varney the Vampire" got me thinking ...

I have always taken it as a given that Barnabas Collins was the first vampire to be presented sympathetically. This innovative approach to the vampire has been credited to Jonathan Frid himself for the interpretation he gave the role -- to Art Wallace who said he "created" Barnabas Collins -- and to other DS writers and producers (if I'm not mistaken).

I don't wish to take away anything from those whose contributions made Barnabas such a unique character. It's apparent that the sympathetic and also romanticized approach to later vampires (for example, in "Forever Knight" and in Francis Ford Coppola's "Dracula") was inspired by Barnabas.

But there may have been a very early sympathetic vampire near the beginning of the vampire tradition in English literature. In 1819, John Polidori published "The Vampyr," inspired by a fragmentary tale sketched by Byron (during the time the Shelleys were also visiting Byron in Switzerland). According to an article by British professor Juliette Wood ("Vampires in English Fiction"), Polidori humanizes his anti-hero vampire, Ruthven, arousing both the reader's horror and "sympathy." She says that one can recognize the "romantic figure of the Byronic hero" in Polidori's tale.

It would be interesting to know whether any subsequent depictions of vampires were in this mold of the bordering-on-evil yet sympathetic, romantic anti-hero ... until Barnabas Collins. Anyone?

[Gothick]

Hi Philippe,

that's an interesting speculation!  I seem to recall that back in the Sixties, Barnabas' look was often described as vaguely "Byronic," and I believe that Ruthven himself was modeled upon Lord Byron, with whom Dr. Polidori had a very complicated relationship (rather similar to Count Dracula having been modeled upon Bram Stoker's sometime employer, 1890s stage idol Henry Irving).

From very vague memories of reading The Vampyre back when I was in my teens (and you do realize we're going back to the Early Bronze Age here, so it was a loooonnngggg time ago), Ruthven is somewhat similar to the original 1967 characterization of Barnabas--unscrupulous, with a pronounced vicious streak, yet strangely attractive and undeniably erotic--perhaps it was in this sense that the critic you cite thought of Ruthven as "sympathetic."

My feeling is that there were variouis forerunners to Barnabas but the character brought these dispersed elements together in a new way.  In the Universal 1940s thriller, House of Dracula, the Count arrives at the home of an Eric Lang-like scientist claiming that he is seeking a cure for his "affliction" (but I don't think that word is used).  The medical explanation given for vampirism in the movie is similar to Dr. Hoffman's theory about a "destructive blood cell" which leads to disastrous consequences for the main mad-doctor protagonist in "House of Dracula."

The scenario of the vampire seeking a cure develops in a very different way in the 1940s film from how it played out on DS, but I do think of that movie as being influential in how Dr. Hoffman's storyline was plotted, and subsequent developments that grew out of that.  In the first script in which "he" was supposed to appear, Hoffman is described as an austere white-haired scientist in his early sixties, similar to the scientist character in HoD.

G.

[Zahir]

I've read Polidori's The Vampire and honestly see nothing much sympathetic in the title character.  He behaves as the narrator's more-or-less friend rather than as a stereotypical monster.  Perhaps that is it.  Or maybe because he is so obviously "Byronic".  That adjective implies deeper depths than one might assume from the dark exterior, as typified perhaps most of all in Mr. Rochester from Jane Eyre (who reminds me of Barnabas very much in terms of personality).

Carmilla (from the 1875 novella of the same name) seems more sympathetic to me, in that she seems in love with her victim and somewhat sad about her fate.  Interestingly, Mina Harker in the last pages of Dracula notes that when killed, the Master Vampire's face showed a peace she would never have imagined possible.

Methinks the next truly sympathetic vampire is almost certainly Countess Zaleska in Dracula's Daughter, the much-delayed sequel to Lugosi's film.  She longs to be human, and actively seeks a cure (from a male doctor).

[Gothick]

Golly, Zahir, how on Earth did I forget Dracula's Daughter??  I've loved that movie since childhood, and just sent a copy of it to a friend.

Surely DD was the first time we saw a vampire actively attempting to resist her natural inclinations--and seeking "release" from a member of the medical profession.

G.

[The Doctor and K9]

Varney the Vampyre or the Feast of Blood was a penny dreadful in the 1800s, a serialized story that presented the trials of the Bannerworth family.  Varney seems to be villainous at first, but turns out to be quite sympathetic.

[PennyDreadful]

 I was going to say the same thing.  I'd cite Varney the vampire as the literary archetype of the "sympathetic vampire." Countess Zaleska from Dracula's Daughter would definitely fall into the sympathetic category as well.  Lord Ruthven never particularly struck me as sympathetic.  I haven't read Polidori's tale in eons though.  

 Gothick, I agree about House of Dracula's influence on the medical vampire cure concept.  However, as far as DS and the supernatural goes, I maintain that any non-magical attempt at a cure is DOOMEDto inevitable failure with terrible consequences when it comes to vampirism, lycanthropy, etc.  Ain't I just the cheeriest ray o' sunshine?

~Penny~

Varney the Vampyre or the Feast of Blood was a penny dreadful in the 1800s, a serialized story that presented the trials of the Bannerworth family.  Varney seems to be villainous at first, but turns out to be quite sympathetic.

[Philippe Cordier]

Interesting to read the opinion of several posters who disagree with the British folklore critic.* Since I haven't read Polidori's "The Vampyre," I can't offer an opinion, but the fact that several disagree with this view gives one pause.

Looks like I'll have a couple of titles to add to my reading list -- "Varney the Vampire" and Polidori's "The Vampyre." I've known about both of these from the first book about vampires I ever got when I was 12 (could it have been from Scholastic?). I read the haunting "Carmilla" for the first time about three years ago, as well as a number of LeFanu's other ambiguous tales.

I never would have guessed that DS was inspired by a movie called "Dracula's Daughter." I'm afraid I gave it a miss when it has aired in the past. The title didn't sound terribly promising (for that matter, neither did "Varney the Vampire," until I saw now that "Varney" is a real English surname). I'll try to catch "Dracula's Daughter" next time it airs (maybe Halloween?).

I also just realized that I own a first edition of the book ("Mazeppa") wherein Byron's "Fragment" was first published, which inspired Dr. Polidori. The book actually isn't worth much - apparently everything Byron wrote was a best-seller, so it isn't exactly rare, and mine is an old discarded library copy. Still, it's an interesting item to possess.


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* "In folk-based vampire traditions, the creature is usually regarded as the manifestation of the devil and not the object for romantic pity. Polidori implies that if vampires are guilty, then so is all humanity. As a result, the supernatural being is humanised and given qualities that are intended to arouse the audience's horror or sympathy ... It is easy enough to recognise the romantic figure of the Byronic hero recast in the mold of a vampire."  -- Juliette Wood, "Vampires in English Fiction: Popular Tradition and Historical Sources"