A paper which outlines the influence of John Polidori's "The Vampyre" on the vampire genre in literature, along with film, theater and popular culture.
Abstract John Polidori's The Vampyre (1819) is considered one of the most influential works of the vampire genre. The novel sparked a literary interest in vampires and has set many standards in the field. The paper shows how Polidori drew the premise of the story directly from an unfinished novel begun by Lord Byron. The paper discusses how John Polidori, a doctor by profession, accompanied Byron on a journey from England to mainland Europe in 1816, where Byron wrote the first few pages of the work that he shortly set aside. It shows how, with access to Bryon's composition, Polidori developed several of the elements and ideas that Byron had initiated, and created his own vampire novel. The paper examines how the characteristics of the antagonist in "The Vampyre", Lord Ruthven, dramatically altered the view of the vampire and the vampire story in Western literature and culture and gave writers a new direction with which to take vampire ideas.
From the Paper "Perhaps the single most distinguishing quality of a vampire is the uncontrollable thirst for blood. Lord Ruthven is, of course, no different. He preys upon his victims by putting them into a type of trance, sinking his teeth into their necks with his two extraordinarily long incisors, and finally sucking their blood. This is seen in the death of Ianthe, a Greek woman whom Aubrey comes to love (p. 274). Polidori's vampire, along with those vampires who had proceeded and all who follow, is a creature of the night. Still, unlike more modern vampires, Ruthven is able to travel during the day with relative ease. To today's reader, this trait may seem to contradict what are believed to be true vampire characteristics. However, according to Dilworth, Polidori's Ruthven, in this sense, was similar to previous vampires of legends and folklore."
Abstract This biographical study examines the critical contributions to computer science by Ada Augusta Byron King, Countess of Lovelace (1815-1852). In addition to describing and analyzing Bryon's technical achievements, the study examines various personality traits and important facts from her life that demonstrate both the technical and human side of this fascinating individual, and that led to her unique contributions to the development of computers. The study also discusses the historical context in which Byron worked to show how the prevailing technological, social, and political environments negatively affected her abilities, as a woman during the Victorian era, to advance her scientific work. The study demonstrates that Augusta Ada Byron was both one of the most acute minds and most picturesque characters in computer history.
From the Paper "A major turning point in Augusta Ada Byron's intellectual development occurred in 1833, when at the age of 18 years she met the famous scientist Charles Babbage at a social gathering (Freeman, 1996; Tee, 1979). Babbage was already widely known at the time as the inventor of the so-called "Difference Engine," a machine that applied the method of finite differences to perform mathematical computations (Freeman, 1996). The machine had to capacity to store numbers and perform additions, thereby enabling tables generated by polynomials to be computed by a uniform process (Freeman, 1996). Impressed with the young Ada, Babbage invited her to visit the studio where he kept his engine and was delighted when she showed up two weeks later, along with her domineering and meddlesome mother (Freeman, 1996; Tee, 1979). Ada was captivated by the Difference Engine and began regular correspondence with Babbage in an effort to learn all that she could about the invention and about Babbage's other ideas (Freeman, 1996)."
Abstract This paper looks at the three writers of the British Romantic period (roughly 1789-1832)-two poets and one novelist. How each of these writers addressed the concept of nature is examined with a detailed discussion of at least one of their works in this connection. The poets are Percy Bysshe Shelley and John Keats; the novelist is Jane Austen. In order to appreciate the context within which each considered the concept of nature, a general background of the period in which the Romantic period developed is outlined. Each artist is then considered in turn, before some conclusions are put forward.
From the Paper "The careers of the three writers being examined were at the culmination of the Romantic period. This was in an age which, following on the series of successful wars that had established British power all over the world, was one of the gloomiest in British history. If in some ways the England of 1800-20 was ahead of the rest of Europe, in others it lagged far behind. The Industrial Revolution, which was to turn Britain from a nation of peasants and traders into a nation of manufacturers, had begun; but its chief fruits as yet were increased materialism and greed, and politically the period was one of blackest reaction."
