Vampiros: de predadores a príncipes - uma análise junguiana sobre as transformações do masculino a partir do relacionamento amoroso

Abstract

The vampire is one of the most famous creatures in the history of terror. Originated from folk beliefs and legends, he won editorial and film notoriety. During the twentieth as well as early twenty-first centuries, his figure has undergone a series of transformations which ensured his permanent success with the public. In the process, his image gained new possibilities of interpretation. This study aimed at identifying and analyzing the transformations in the vampire figure and his romantic relationships in films produced in the period comprised from1922 and 2012. In addition, we had the specific aim of reflecting on the changes that have been occurring in masculinity and loving relationship nowadays. In order to do so, the qualitative method was used. The following films were watched and analyzed: Nosferatu, a Symphony of Horror (1922), Dracula (1931), Horror of Dracula (1958), Nosferatu, the vampire of the night (1979), Bram Stoker's Dracula ( 1992), Twilight (2008), New Moon (2009), The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010), The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Parts 1 (2011) and 2 (2012). Those ten films were described and analyzed through the theoretical principles of analytical psychology. Such procedure was base on images, significant events and sequences regarding the composition of vampire characters, women desired by them, and the type of relationship established between them. The relationship with their antagonists and other influential characters in each film were also taken into account. Through the filmic production analyzed, it was noticed that some aspects were added to the vampire figure, while others became extinct or have undergone retrofits. The analysis suggests that in such trajectory, the vampire started integrating humanity as well as embodying heroic features. In such humanizing process, the importance of the affective bond that the vampire started establishing with the woman chosen by him was highlighted. Symbolically, the contact between repressed male traits and the anima takes place. Guided by the feminine principle, feelings and emotions − once dark − have become conscious, thus enabling integration to take place. Research also suggests that masculinity can be transformed to the extent that man has contact with the shadow, thus not only becoming aware of their emotional, erotic and creative content, but also establishing less projective relationships. Such aspects, when assimilated and reconciled with the ego, assist in establishing romantic relationships in which predominates otherness