Deadly hue (Motif)
One motif in The Vampyre is the description of Lord Ruthven's pale, "deadly" appearance. His face has a "deadly hue" and he has a "dead grey eye." His gaze seems to look right through people without actually seeing them. Ruthven's strange physical appearance and mannerisms compel the curiosity and attraction of everyone he meets. From the outset, this description aligns Ruthven with the figure of the undead vampire.
The dagger and the sheath (Symbol)
At the scene of Ianthe's murder, Aubrey finds a dagger. Later, when he looks through Ruthven's belongings, he finds a sheath that perfectly matches the dagger. The matching dagger and sheath thus become symbols of the vampire. They represent the strongest proof in the novella that Ruthven is responsible for Ianthe's death and is thus a vampire. They also represent the strength of denial, as Aubrey wishes to disbelieve the truth about his companion.
It is also possible to read the dagger as a phallic symbol that points to the vampire's powers of sexual seduction and the sexualized violence that he commits against Ianthe. In this sense, it is worth noting the narrator's statement that Aubrey held "almost unconsciously in his hand a naked dagger." This description can lead the reader to question if Aubrey also played a role in ruining Ianthe's innocence and leading to her destruction.
The violet (Symbol)
Ianthe is a figure from Greek mythology whose name means purple or violet flower. In the Greek myth, Ianthe was so beautiful that after her death the gods made violets grow around her grave. In this sense, the violet becomes a symbol of beauty and innocence, as well as the tragedy of a beautiful, innocent life cut short. After Ianthe dies, Aubrey sees her image everywhere. He searches for the violet flower that symbolizes Ianthe's beauty and innocence. Yet once he imagines her, an image of Ianthe's bloody corpse brings him back to the harsh reality.
Aubrey's relationship with Ruthven (Allegory)
We can see Aubrey's relationship with Ruthven as an allegory for Polidori's real-life relationship with the romantic poet Lord Byron. Just as Aubrey is drawn to Ruthven, Polidori was fascinated by Byron. He was excited by the opportunity to travel through Europe with him as his physician. Yet as Byron made fun of Polidori and eventually fired him, the physician's idealized notion of the poet quickly dissipated. This ideal gave way to a darker image reflected in Polidori's portrayal of Ruthven—a Byron-inspired character—as a vampire who drains the vital essence from the people around him.
The vampire preys on the upper classes (Allegory)
Polidori reinvented the modern vampire as an aristocrat who preys mostly on society's upper classes. We can read this reimagining of the vampire figure as an allegory for the excesses of England's wealthy, noble classes in Polidori's 19th century context.
The association of the vampire with the aristocracy may imply that the wealthy classes suck the blood or the essence of the rest of society. The vampire's association with vice may also imply that the excesses of the wealthy classes are responsible for a breakdown of morality and virtue.
