The Vampyre Lesson Plan

What hints does Polidori give of Lord Ruthven's vampirism? When exactly does it become apparent that Lord Ruthven is a vampire, and why is this important to the structure of the story?

As some students will notice, there is never a direct acknowledgment that Lord Ruthven is a dangerous, bloodsucking corpse until the very last sentence of the story. However, Polidori threads evidence of Ruthven's vampirism throughout the text, allowing the reader to gradually draw his/her own conclusions about the suave aristocrat. An argument can be made that Polidori would have expected readers to be as naturally inclined towards skepticism about vampirism as Aubrey himself, making it...