Transgressive women in late romanticism: The female vampire and Lamia in the works of Edgar Allan Poe and Sheridan Le Fanu

The main purpose of this study is to examine the sociocultural position of women in the historical and literary context. In addition, this study examines the gender roles and literary value of women in the context of the formation process in mythology, folklore, and romantic period narratives and to compare their cultural changes and literary developments between their positioning in British/Irish and American literature. Decadent literature known as decadence art was based on vampirism and ghost motifs. For this reason, in the first part of our study, the connection of these motifs with historical events in folkloric stories has been revealed. In addition, mythological elements, which we describe as the oldest stories covering human consciousness, were also taken as the origins of these motifs. The Victorian period narrative manifested itself, which is another element that forms the foundations of decadent literature. The socio-cultural change of the Imperialist England of the period and therefore the new formations in the positioning of women in society, its effect on the romantic literature that will follow, was examined through Bram Stoker's "Dracula". At this point, the foundations of vampirism were made, but it was connected to mythological and folkloric roots. The ghost symbolism of decadent literature was examined in different works and paintings of early romanticism. Romantic period ghost motif was associated with the social roles of women and its literary reflection, the femme fatale in the second part of our study, the regressive identification of women and space were dominant elements through Edgar Allan Poe's works Berenice, Ligeia and Morella. That period showed that the female body represents a transition in the literary context. In the last part of our study, different mythological and social perceptions of the female figure were made in the romantic period. It was shown that the literary value of women had been in a transformation. Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla was analyzed through the sexually obsessed female imagery of the late romantic period. Key Words: Femme Fatale, Victorian Era, Woman and Genesis, Vampire Symbolism, Regression.