Summary
The novella closes with another extract of a letter, this one containing a fictional account of Lord Byron’s residence in the Island of Mitylene, in Greece. The letter-writer describes sailing through the Grecian archipelago into the beautiful harbor of Mitylene on one of His Majesty’s vessels in 1812. Accompanied by a clergyman, he visits various sites in the region. At Mount Ida, they hire a young Greek man as their guide. He tells them he has just come from working as a pilot for an English lord, "an odd, but a very good man." At present the lord has left the island, but he has resided in a cottage there for over a year and frequently takes his boat to visit the other islands in the region.
The letter-writer and his companion visit the lord’s mansion, where an old man who is caring for the home shows them around. The home is simply decorated but it is elegant and spacious. The caretaker explains that the lord’s many books and papers are currently stored in a large chest. However, he’s left open various books he was reading the night before he left. These include works by Voltaire, Shakespeare, Milton, Rosseau, and others. The books are filled with notes in Italian and Latin. In particular, The Messiah by Klopstock is "literally scribbled all over." The caretaker explains that the lord would be angry for days if he moved any of the books and papers, but otherwise he is a very agreeable man.
The lord passes his evenings reading, writing, and talking to himself from a roof with a gorgeous view of native plants, a stream, the sea and the surrounding islands. The caretaker says the lord is also "very devout" and goes to the local church several times a week. Yet the caretaker either does not know or is unwilling to reveal the lord’s name.
In town, the letter-writer learns more anecdotes about the lord. The lord is said to have given money to the families of eight young girls so they can be married. He also generously gifted items to community members and poor children. Finally, the lord has a very beautiful daughter who plays the piano. In short, he is "a very eccentric and benevolent character."
The letter-writer continues his travels. In Palermo he meets with another Englishman, an architect named Mr. Foster, who confirms that the mysterious man is Lord Byron. The letter-writer and his companion haven’t heard of Byron, but they read his poem, Childe Harolde's Pilgrimage, and immediately recognize the scenery of the island they have just visited.
The writer finishes his letter by defending "the lordship’s good name, which has been grossly slandered." People describe Byron as unfeeling, unsympathetic and uncaring. But the letter-writer insists that the anecdotes he has described show that the opposite is true: "[t]enderness, sympathy and charity appear to guide all his actions." To do good in secret is the surest proof of a virtuous heart, he writes.
Analysis
Polidori closes his novella in the same manner that he opens it: with a fictional letter extract. This letter extract has several parallels with the first one. Firstly, the chief concern of both letters is the poet Lord Byron, whose character, reputation and work inspired The Vampyre. Furthermore, both letters feature visits to and descriptions of Byron’s residences outside of England.
In the first letter, an admirer of Byron’s visits his home in Geneva, in the Villa Diodati, where Byron and Polidori actually stayed in the summer of 1816, and where the idea for The Vampyre was born. In the second letter, a man who has never heard of Byron visits his alleged residence in the Greek island of Mitylene. In this case, however, the account is fictional. In 1895, a letter surfaced in which Byron wrote that while he visited Mitylene, he never resided there. Some editors of The Vampyre have thus described the authorship of this second letter as questionable, since Polidori would have been familiar with Byron’s travels and residences.
The opening and closing letter extract share another important quality: they pay particular attention to Byron’s character and reputation. Both letters reveal anecdotes and rumors that the townspeople have allegedly shared about Byron’s eccentric behavior. In this second letter, the theme of Byron’s sexual deviance and eccentric romantic life continues. Here, the townspeople say that Byron has given dowries to the families of eight young Greek girls so as to marry them. He has even danced with each of them at the nuptial feast, which is traditional following a Greek wedding.
At the same time, the second letter ultimately seeks to defend Byron’s character, and goes a step further than the first letter in doing so. Here, the letter-writer—who travels with a clergyman and seems pleased by the description of Byron as a religious man—characterizes the poet as unfairly slandered. Most of the anecdotes regarding Byron in Mitylene concern the generous charity he has bestowed upon the local townspeople. Moreover, the poet gives charity outside of the public view, not expecting any recognition for his good deeds. With regard to Byron’s romantic and sexual relationships, the letter-writer, who was previously unfamiliar with the poet’s fame, cautions against believing in rumors.
Of course, the possibility of a tongue-in-cheek tone to the letter should not be discounted. The portrayal of Ruthven’s charity-giving in The Vampyre throws some doubt over the description of Byron’s generosity. In the novella, the narrator describes Ruthven as a generous giver of charity. However, Ruthven’s charity ultimately spreads vice rather than virtue, since he only gives to those who are wicked and all those who receive his charity end up cursed and doomed.
The reader is left to wonder if Byron’s mysterious charity has similar results. Moreover, while the letter-writer goes out of his way to defend Byron’s character, the reader is left to wonder about the stories of the poet marrying eight young girls on the island. Ultimately, the effect of the letter is only to deepen the ambiguity and mystery surrounding the poet’s character.
