Conclusion: An Unlikely Confluence

This conclusion considers the various ways in which Austen-vampire mashups reflect changing cultural conditions. First, they mark the collision of two colliding trends: romantic fiction’s turn to sex, and vampire fiction’s turn to love. Second, they respond to new romantic ideals that centralise sex as a necessary part of a satisfying romantic relationship (as opposed to its function as a symbol of love). Finally, despite their ostensibly Byronic tendencies, Austen-vampire mashups tend to aspire to the romantic ideal of confluent love, a model of love based upon the contingencies of emotional equality and mutual self-actualisation. The merging of Jane Austen and vampires, then, is a confluent union in itself, and a precise reflection of its time.