Sorry this is late... this week's been pretty crazy. Anyway, after reading The Oval Portrait, I was still unsure as to how it hinted at vampires. I guess that the narrator was so drawn to the portrait, but I really have no idea.
I think in order to make the connection to vampirism with the oval potrait you'd have to have heard of them keltic vampire legends. In their beleifs vampires have no need for sustenance like blood - there not alive why do they need to eat? But they don't have emotions so they steal the emotions from their prey, not blood. I'm not sure how others become vampires in this version of the myth... But I think with the oval potrait the idea is the woman's life force is stolen by the man who paints her potrait and trapped in the picture. And the narator that it starts with who is watching it seemed to be a vampire trying not to eat people and thought the potrait was a real person becasue it was so life like containg the life force of the person it was a painting of so he was tempted by it. Or it's (only remotely) possible that I'm reading too much into the story lol.
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I really couldn't find much in Oval Portrait either it was so short. I'll have to read it again.
I think in order to make the connection to vampirism with the oval potrait you'd have to have heard of them keltic vampire legends. In their beleifs vampires have no need for sustenance like blood - there not alive why do they need to eat? But they don't have emotions so they steal the emotions from their prey, not blood. I'm not sure how others become vampires in this version of the myth... But I think with the oval potrait the idea is the woman's life force is stolen by the man who paints her potrait and trapped in the picture. And the narator that it starts with who is watching it seemed to be a vampire trying not to eat people and thought the potrait was a real person becasue it was so life like containg the life force of the person it was a painting of so he was tempted by it.
Or it's (only remotely) possible that I'm reading too much into the story lol.
To Maggie. Those are some really good points and they helped me clarify a lot and a learned a lot too! Thanks!
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