Vampire Pedophile

I have been working with Mary Elizabeth Braddon's "The Good Lady Ducayne" (1896) which features the first scientific vampire, Lady Ducayne. She victimizes (vampirizes) several young girls, having their blood -- and their energy -- transfused into herself by her creepy Dr. She has been doing it thirty years by the time we join the story, and she is exposed. In my conference paper I note that she is never accused of lesbianism the way Le Fenu's "Carmilla" is, but she is ancient, so all we say is ... yyyyyuuuuccck ... at that very idea. I assume the difference is the blood is drawn through a test tube instead of by lips on a neck or breast. But the same reason we react so quickly to say yuck to the idea of sexual exchange between the two should, I believe, be the same reason we begin talking about pedophilia. That is if we assume that the Pedophile gets off as much on the power as on the sexual release, as modern psychologists tell us they do.

Let's bring it home. Edward Cullen is OLD. Bella is a virginal sixteen. From what I hear/read, none of the Twilight fans raise the specter of pedophilia when Edward is attracted to her youth and vigor. Yes, he looks young, but his reality, his identity, is that of an old man -- in fact a very very old man. So, since his outside appearance seems to match her outward appearance, the reaction to the sexual tension is "WoW!" The same with True Bood's vampires, Eric and Bill (and I would imagine Pam) each have a wide following of admirers, none of whom are particularly concerned by the age difference, except possibly to wonder if a long life = more sexual experience = better sex. As though the vampires even think of their human blood donors in terms of sex instead of in terms of food source.

A few months back I wrote an ezine article about May/December relationships between humans and vampires; I'm not sure now that I took it far enough. At what point in the age span difference does it matter if the human side of the equation "wants" to be in the relationship? Is it possible for an eight year old to really want to be in a relationship with a much much much much much older person? Has there been some sort of manipulation on the part of the older person, either economic or social that has unduly impacted the younger party? Taking the discussion back to a safe place, does Carmilla manipulate her young female acquaintance into a quasi-sexual relationship (I don't believe it ever crosses that line), so that she can "be" with her, or so that she can more readily obtain her blood? Ask yourself if Carmilla is a pedophile because she is really really old sharing a bed with a very young virgin? Again, is Edward?

No, I am not certain of the answers which I believe each of us will come to individually. But it makes food for thought.