Polidori: A Harmful Gothic Villain?

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Polidori’s story ends with the line ‘Lord Ruthven had disappeared, and Aubrey’s sister had glutted the thirst of a VAMPYRE!’ (Polidori 23). Lord Ruthven was anywhere in the world leaving the possibility for any young girl to become his victim. What makes the vampire a frightening Gothic villain is the fact that they bring the terror into one’s home. They are not drawn to someone by the evil residing deep within them. Everyone is at risk and the unknown is what makes this villain frightening on a different level than the ones before him. Alexandra Warwick discusses the tropes given to Lord Ruthven including the power he held over his victims. She makes the statement that ‘the complicity of the victim with the attacker which is manifested in