Week 10

In what way is Buffy influenced by the romantic gothic tradition? Yet how does Buffy also provide a contemporary critique of this tradition?

Buffy is a good show. It is especially good because it is open enough to allow any number of possibilities to eventuate. Given its darker themes, it has provided a good outlet to rework some classic romantic gothic traditions, and bring them alive again for the viewer. Themes central to these involve the predilection for the medieval, exotic, the remote, the mysterious, the weird, the occult, the monstrous, the diseased, and even the satanic. (Pioch, 2002)

We will start with the most obvious comparison. Bram Stoker's Dracula (a frighteningly long book which starts off amazing then continues on for a few centuries). His very name conjures up images of dark, looming castles, black capes, silence, seduction and evil. He has frightened children and given Translvania an odd reason to welcome tourists. Stoker's story presented a man who seemed only slightly not normal, one so regular that he could invite people over from abroad to discuss business. He has two faces: the seemingly good and the bad. Buffy reworks this by presenting us with Angel, the vampire with a soul who just wants to help people. However, his evil side, known as Angelus, is historically one of the most evil vampires in creation, who inspires legends similar to that of Dracula. Stoker’s Dracula is revealed to be truly evil but possesses the (very useful) powers of seduction. We see this mirrored in Angel – both before and after the gypsy curse. Similarily, Spike is also portrayed as seductive however these two characters are the only vampires in the series I can recall as being this way. Buffy utilizes the general ideas of Stoker but only to develop stereotypes. For example, the everyday vampires are ugly and evil whereas Angel and Spike only turn this way when they revert to their vampire side – this way we know when they are enveloping stereotypical vampire qualities. Furthermore, Buffy herself is a prime example of tongue-in-cheek critique – the three vampire women in Stoker’s story were blonde, and blonde’s are stereotypically the damsels in distress and the first to die.

Buffy also draws upon popular myths such as werewolves. This is a subject that has been noted in folklore around the world, and is visited regularly in fiction. I am not personally up to speed with werewolf stories; the Were-wolf (1896) by Clemence Housman is the only novel I have read. This is one of the first stories that developed the idea from folklore and established the werewolf as a person rather than just a crazed monster. The wolf is a woman who comes to live with a family in Switzerland, which plays on the emotional level, and is not controlled by the full moon. This idea is borrowed and critiqued in Buffy by the early central character Oz. Although Oz is dangerous, we are anxious for his survival in the series due to his personality and closeness to the Scooby gang. At first Oz struggles with his werewolf side but eventually comes to accept it and control it, and achieves the ability to change at will. Furthermore, his struggle which is shared by the woman in the Were-Wolf story, perfectly mirrors the light and dark in people. The wolf-as-a-person idea is critiqued in Buffy by Oz’s lack of “wolfness” – he is clearly a man with wolf like urges, and his refusal to kill. The character of Veruca presents a character more similar to the Were-Wolf, in that they accept who they are and give in to their inner curse.

Buffy also embodies the ideas of Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde (1886), which explores the evil in all of us. Jekyll’s split personality is personified by Oz and Angel, and the episode “Beauty and the Beast” includes a direct reference to the novel. I found the idea of shadows in people is perfectly put in the following quote from www.tvtropes.org, “the point is, the villain lives inside the hero's body, and therefore hides in plain sight… the hero is trying to catch himself.” Dr Jekyll willingly chooses to become Mr Hyde (negating the whole point of separating the evil from his soul) and eventually begins to become evil. Buffy provides Angel, an evil character who is forced to turn good, and who brings out the vampire nature only in necessary circumstances. He spends a lot of time miserable until his new life (in spinoff series ‘Angel’) renews his sense of purpose. Oz never himself remembers what he does in werewolf form, and originally starts off battling his evil side, until he defeats it and embraces his human nature.

I am only going to mention Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein briefly, as many of its central themes are mirrored in the above examples. There are some obvious comparisons in the series, such as the episode we viewed in class, which involve humans creating a monster (as a weapon) which wreaks havoc, and borrows images from classic Frankenstein cinema scenes. However, I am just going to mention the general theme of good and evil in Frankenstein, and how Buffy critiques this. I personally find Frankenstein the most enjoyable text to read in the romantic gothic genre due to the fact that it raises profound philosophical questions. Whilst reading the book, I found myself disliking Dr Frankenstein more and more, and rooting instead for the creation – who really just wants an identity in the world, and to ease his loneliness. In Buffy, we see a similar dynamic occurring. The wittiest lines are usually spoken by the demons, and the central character [Buffy] is selfish and cocky. She is forever lonely despite being surrounded by a tightknit group of friends and endless lovers (whose character profiles are much more interesting).

To conclude, we can see that Buffy borrows many ideas from famous literary romantic gothic traditions, and develops them in its own style, in a way to make us think. In particular, Buffy concentrates on themes rather than direct character portrayals, often embracing the fact that good and evil are not necessarily black and white, more shades of grey, the lines often blurred by human nature rather than demonic interferences.

“I guess we're all two people. One daylight, and the one we keep in shadow.” Bruce Wayne, Batman Forever

REFERENCES

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2011, September 2). Retrieved October 13, 2001, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oz_%28Buffy_the_Vampire_Slayer%29

Buffy Episode Guide. Retrieved October 13,20ll, from http://www.buffyguide.com/episodes/beauty.shtml

Damsel in Distress (2011, October 7). Retrieved October 13, 20ll, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damsel_in_distress

Rose, A (2002) Of creatures and creators: Buffy does Frankenstein, in R.Wilcox & D. Lavery (eds) Fighting the forces: what’s at stake in Buffy the vampire slayer. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield.

The Were-wolf ( 2011, October 7). Retrieved October 13, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werewolf