Stuffy drawing-rooms
Polidori employs imagery to depict the social events of London's noble classes as stuffy, stifling, affected, fake, and even oppressive. The narrator describes the balls and drawing-rooms as "crowded" and "stifling." At the drawing-room where Miss Aubrey is presented, the crowd is "excessive." This imagery helps to portray this social scene as an overbearing one that values appearances rather than authenticity and authentic virtues.
Nighttime and obscurity
The author uses imagery to associate the nighttime with vampires. The dark woods at night are the vampires' favorite place for their "nocturnal orgies." When Aubrey is stuck in the woods at night, he gets caught in a powerful storm with thunder and "thick heavy rain" that makes it difficult to see. The forest is "entangled" and his horse can no longer advance. In this way, Polidori uses imagery of the night, darkness, and obscurity to create a feeling of terror and the unknown with regard to vampires.
Ruthven's gaze
Polidori uses vivid imagery to describe Ruthven's gaze. In general, the author describes Ruthven's gaze as dead, cold, and heavy. He has a "dead grey eye." His gaze falls like a "leaden ray" upon its objects. Only when Ruthven is engaged in beating the young or innocent at gambling do his eyes "[sparkle] with fire." This imagery of Ruthven's gaze—as deathly and animated only by vice and destruction—helps to highlight the lord's vampiric qualities.
Lake Geneva
Polidori describes Lake Geneva, the mountain Jura, and the Villa Diodati as a beautiful, inspiring place. According to the letter-writer's description, Geneva is filled with the homes of great writers and thinkers. In particular, the narrator describes Lord Byron's tasteful mansion, his balcony, and the beautiful, stormy view over Lake Geneva which likely inspired his poetry. In this way, the author fleshes out the landscape and social setting from which The Vampyre emerged.
