Resumen
Resumen de The Vampyre; a Tale
Para quién es
For readers who love Gothic atmosphere, the roots of the vampire legend, or the circle of Byron and the Shelleys, and anyone who enjoys a classic chiller in one sitting.
De qué trata este libro
The Vampyre is a short Gothic tale by John William Polidori, first printed in April 1819. Polidori was a young doctor who had travelled in Europe as the personal physician of Lord Byron. The story grew out of a ghost story game played in the summer of 1816, the same game that produced Frankenstein. It is the first English tale to turn the vampire of folk legend into a polished gentleman who moves through high society.
In about nine minutes you will get the whole shape of the tale. A trusting young man named Aubrey meets a mysterious lord named Ruthven in the drawing rooms of London. He follows him across Europe. You will also hear how the story was written, why readers first thought Byron wrote it, and what it passed on to later vampire stories. Let us begin with the stormy summer in which it was born.
En este resumen
- 1A ghost story game by Lake GenevaFree
- 2A strange lord appears in London
- 3Kindness that ruins those it touches
- 4Aubrey chooses to travel with Ruthven
- 5Greece, a girl, and an old legend
- 6Trust, silence and the predator in society
- 7How the tale is told and what it began
Idea clave 1 de 7
A ghost story game by Lake Geneva
The tale begins outside its own pages, in June 1816. Lord Byron had rented a house near Lake Geneva called the Villa Diodati. With him was Polidori, his young physician. Nearby stayed the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Godwin, who would later be Mary Shelley, and her stepsister Claire Clairmont.
The weather that summer was cold and wet. The party stayed indoors, read German ghost stories aloud, and talked late into the night. Byron then proposed that each of them write a tale of the supernatural. Mary began the story that became Frankenstein. Byron wrote only a fragment, a short tale about a mysterious traveller who dies and leaves a strange promise behind.
Polidori took the outline of that fragment and built his own story on it. By then his relations with Byron had cooled, and the two went their separate ways before the year was out. Polidori kept the manuscript. In 1819 it appeared in a London magazine, the New Monthly Magazine, under the name of Lord Byron.
That was a mistake, and Polidori protested loudly. Byron himself also denied having written it. Still, Byron's name had already sold many copies, and the tale was read across Europe, and even translated into French and German, as his work. Polidori finally got his credit, but the rumour never fully left the story. He died in 1821, only two years after it came out.
That’s 1 of 7 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Who’s who
- Aubrey
- A wealthy young orphan, Aubrey admires Lord Ruthven and becomes his trusting companion on a European journey.
- Lord Ruthven
- Lord Ruthven is a mysterious nobleman whose magnetic presence attracts London society and fascinates the inexperienced Aubrey.
- Ianthe
- Ianthe is the lively daughter of Aubrey's Greek hosts, sharing local legends and guiding him through the countryside.
- Aubrey's sister
- Aubrey's sister is a young woman entering society, deeply loved by her protective older brother.
- Aubrey's guardians
- Aubrey's guardians manage his affairs and warn him about the character of his travelling companion, Lord Ruthven.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 13,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 50 min
- Listening time1 h 25 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary; paperback, hardcover and large print at cost
- LanguagesEnglish and 11 other languages
Questions about The Vampyre; a Tale
What is The Vampyre by Polidori about?
It tells of Aubrey, a young Englishman who befriends the mysterious Lord Ruthven. He travels with him across Europe and slowly learns that the lord brings ruin to those around him, and that something darker lies behind it.
Who is Lord Ruthven based on?
Many readers saw Lord Byron in him. Polidori had been Byron's physician, and Ruthven shares his pale looks and scandalous charm. The name Ruthven also came from an earlier novel by Lady Caroline Lamb.
Was The Vampyre written before Dracula?
Yes. It was published in 1819, nearly eighty years before Bram Stoker's Dracula in 1897. It is regarded as the first English story to make the vampire a refined aristocrat rather than a folk corpse.
Why was The Vampyre first credited to Lord Byron?
The magazine that printed it in 1819 put Byron's name on it, perhaps to sell copies. Polidori protested and Byron denied it, but the false credit spread across Europe before it was corrected.
Is The Vampyre hard to read?
No. It moves quickly. The plot is simple and clear.