(While contemporary interpretations of the motif have put a romantic spin on it, that is NOT my reading of the motif, and I am NOT suggesting anything romantic in my discussion of the motif in this essay.)

A famous example of the Death and the Maiden motif in film is in Werner Herzog’s 1979 Nosferatu the Vampyre and Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

In both texts, the young maiden is terrorized by the Count, who seeks to possess her. @henry-fox-biggest-stan wrote a comprehensive analysis on the Dracula influences in ST (influences I’m certain will continue in S5).

In fiction, vampires are seen as the embodiment of the taboo in victorian society: disease, impurity, queerness, sexual desire - anything that challenged/threatened the rigidity of victorian society.

We already see this idea in S4, with Vecna terrorizing victims who are hiding the “taboo” from their conservative small town.

If Vecna represents the unspoken in these characters, what does he represent for Will?

Queerness, and Mortality

Will is a closeted gay man living in the 80s in Hawkins. Since he was little, he has been referred to as a “f*g” by his own father, school bullies, and other members of the community. It is a name that has been attached to Will before Will could understand what it suggested. 

S1 and S2 do not delve into Will’s queerness, and I think this is because Will may not even fully realize he is gay - just that he’s different from others.

S3 is the season that introduces Will’s struggle. It was the season of love and budding romance, and Will was left out. However, he is not devoid of romantic feelings - he and Mike share many charged glances and romantically-coded exchanges which made this the season that clued many into the possibility of Byler (it did for me!).

S4 is the season that confirms Will is gay and in love with Mike. What was a childhood friendship has, for Will, grown into romantic love. While Will sacrifices his own feelings in the van in the futile hope to save Melvin, relegating himself to yearn on the side, his love for Mike, especially as he gets older, cannot be easily ignored.

…make of this shot what you will!

This is a very scary thing for Will, and his love/attraction to Mike, beginning in S3, is subconsciously associated with his trauma. In S3, almost every moment that suggests Will’s feelings for Mike are followed by the eerie fluttering sensation along his neck - the presage of Vecna/ the Mindflayer.

While Will and Mike are removed from the supernatural/Hawkins plotline in s4, the season ends with Will touching his neck - along with Will’s feelings for Mike fully realized.

I think Will’s queerness being tied to Vecna and the Upside Down serves as a manifestation of Will’s feelings about his queerness that S5 will explore in greater depth.

Will was labelled by bigots before he could figure out a label for himself by himself. 

His experience with Vecna in S1 can be read as an allegory for CSA.

Phallic imagery has been attached to both Will’s relationship with Vecna (the tendril in S1, the shadow monster in S2) and now arguably with Byler’s infamous Hosegate. Feelings that are occurring naturally for Will regarding his attraction to Mike are also reminders of what occurred to him too quickly and violently as a child. There are already echoes of what happened to Will in S1 in S5.

But there’s more to the threat of Vecna than reminders of specific trauma. Again, Will is a queer man in the 80s, a period where homophobia was rampant and the AIDS crisis was believed to be a “gay disease”. Extreme puritanicals believed that AIDS was a punishment by God for queer people and their lifestyles.

Going into S5, Hawkins is gripped by the Satanic Panic and extreme evangelicals have mobilized (S4 has Eddie read a magazine that claims homosexuality is caused by D&D). 

S5 has been labelled as Will’s “coming of age” season several times. This is the social climate that Will is living in.

Vecna represents all this fear for Will - specifically, Vecna represents what Will believes is his future…which is death. 

This belief has already been stated in S1 - school bully Troy (influenced by his own homophobic father) tells Mike, Lucas, and Dustin that Will was “probably k*lled by some other queer”. (…Troy wasn’t far off - Will was abducted by Vecna, who has lots of queercoding and parallels to Will, a queer character).

It’s a fate that is expected for Will by other characters, and it’s possible that Will has internalized that fear, which is manifesting in S5 as Vecna’s unrelenting pursuit of and desire to claim him running parallel with Will’s coming of age.

I believe that this reading is supported by the “Death Knocks” motif seen in the date announcement teaser. The S5 portion of that video featured four sets of three knocks. Three knocks are associated with the superstition that three knocks signal impending death from the spirit realm. The final set of knocks is coming from a coffin-shaped door just beside a fainted Will:

Vecna is the incarnation of Death, knocking for his “maiden”, Will, to return to his possession. Whatever Vecna sees as a chance to create something “beautiful”, (“we are going to create such beautiful things”), Will sees his own end. The internal conflict for Will in S5 may be resisting the pull to Death, while also feeling that escape is futile.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that S5 reportedly has tons of Byler scenes (according to Noah, who said most of his scenes were with Finn), while also having Will battling his connection with Vecna. The two stories are deeply intertwined.

As in my previous posts, I will be referring to both Nosferatu and Bram Stoker’s Dracula, following the narrative beats of their respective leading men, Jonathan Harker and Thomas Hutter.

Jonathan/Thomas are the ‘everyday man’ who come face to face with the horror of the unknown - Dracula. Jonathan/Thomas effectively anchor their maidens, Mina/Ellen, to reality whilst the maiden is tormented by Death incarnate. They are loyal, steadfast, and determined to save their love interest.

We already see this characterization with Mike prior to S5; he is the everyday man who gets pulled into confronting the horror and the unknown. In S2 during the shed scene, Mike helps pull Will out of the depths of his possession by using the memory of the first day he met Will. Mike’s D&D character is a paladin who must swear devotion - in S1-2, Mike was devoted to saving Will (he is still devoted to Will in S3-4, but it’s muddled by his own internal conflicts). With the return of leader Mike in S5, we are going to see these traits amplified.

Jonathan/Thomas begins the story by leaving his wife to go to Transylvania, where he will arrange real estate acquisitions with the Count. Mina/Ellen are both hesitant to let their husbands go while they stay behind - rightfully so, as this is where our gothic husband first meets Death.

I was initially confused as to why Will was remaining back at WSQK while Mike and the other boys seemed to leave to conduct the burn. However, it would be similar to Jonathan/Thomas leaving for Transylvania, while Mina/Lucy stay behind.

While Thomas is gone, Lucy/Ellen is plagued by visions of death and bouts of sleepwalking, induced by her psychic connection to the Count.

“Death surrounds us. We’re all at his will.” - Lucy in Nosferatu (1979)

“Everything will be mixed in abomination, and you’ll be knee-deep in blood. Everyone will cry, there will be none to bury the dead.” - Ellen in Nosferatu (2024)

There’s a solid prediction that the horror Will witnesses while at WSQK is the Wheeler House attack. This calls to my mind how Dracula attacked Lucy Westenra, whom Mina was living with while Jonathan was travelling, and it’s confirmed the Byers are living with the Wheelers…

Jonathan/Thomas end up getting imprisoned within the Count’s castle, who makes his way to claim the maiden. Jonathan/Thomas make daring escapes out of the castle, changed by the horrors they witnessed and spurred by the knowledge that the vampire is after their wife.

It’s possible Mike will have to make a daring escape during the Burn plan in E1. Mike may be on the militarized base by himself, as Lucas seems to be in the church, surveying the scene through his binoculars. How the plan goes haywire I have no idea, but I think it would be interesting to have Mike see Vecna in E1 - or at least bear witness to Vecna’s abilities. Mike should get to see the face of the man behind the horrors.

When Jonathan/Thomas escapes from the Count, he shares with Van Helsing and the rest of the heroes what he witnessed. This aids the group in planning how they may defeat the Count.

“I know where the bastard sleeps!” - Jonathan in Dracula (1992)

Based on Nancy’s costume, this shot seems to take place in late E2 or beginning of E3

However, these plans fail; the gothic husband doesn’t have the full story of the monster and the maiden always succumbs to Death.

Mike will be a tether for Will to keep from succumbing to Vecna’s influence, but that very tether will be used against the two. As their love story becomes more obvious, Will’s connection to Vecna will only worsen.

“Thomas, it was you that gave me the courage to be free of my shame. You.” - Ellen to Thomas in Nosferatu (2024)

“Upon the third night, you will submit! Or he you call your husband shall perish by my hand!” - Count Orlok to Ellen in Nosferatu (2024)

Across the adaptations, there is always a pre-existing relationship between the maiden and the vampire, a relationship the gothic husband is not privy to. While the 1992 Dracula adaptation adopts a more romantic approach, the Nosferatu adaptations show the Count as obsessive and dangerous, the maiden both fearful of him and yet nevertheless drawn to him because of what he represents for her.

When Jonathan/Thomas learn of this connection, they become even more determined to defeat the monster, seeking out the vampire’s body in order to destroy it. But transactions have been made in the night without his knowledge.

When Jonathan/Thomas rush to save Mina/Ellen from her fate, they are always too late. I believe that the downtown massacre will see Mike running for his life to try and save Will from Vecna’s grasp, but, as the start of every season tells us, Mike will be too late (and he’ll probably earn that bruise on his face, too).

While it ends tragically for our gothic husbands, it will not for Mike and Will. We can look to another gothic favourite of mine for reference: The Phantom of the Opera.

After Christine Daaë is taken by the obsessive Phantom to his lair during the fiery red musical number “Past the Point of No Return” (which the fiery downtown massacre in the trailer visually echoes), Christine’s childhood friend turned love interest, Raoul, ventures into the opera catacombs to save her (with the assistance of Mme. Giry, who knew the Phantom from years before). I theorized that Mike will turn to El for assistance in getting Will back from Vecna after the events of E4.

Christine and Raoul reunite, and they return to the surface of the opera.

The leading man does not defeat the evil - that falls on the shoulders of the gothic maiden. The gothic husband’s love aids in the defeat of Death. He has seen the evil that plagues his love interest and he continues to choose and love her.

I don’t think Mike will physically have a hand in defeating Vecna, but his love for Will and the heroic actions he takes to save and be with Will are key to giving Will the courage to confront Vecna. He will see the horrors Will has gone through and he will see Will as a survivor (“he’s a survivor” quote from the leaked merch style guide I think about it everyday).

“You make [me] feel like [I’m] not a mistake at all. That [I’m] better for being different. And that gives [me] the courage to fight on.” - Will to Mike

-------------------

A question Bylers are often asked is "why would the show spend four seasons building up Milevn just to tear it down at the last minute for some unrealistic woke ship? Mike literally said he loves El!" And yeah, Mike's grand love confession at the end of S4 certainly seems like a triumphant pay-off to all that build-up... but I have a few questions of my own.

Firstly: why establish in no uncertain terms that feeling loved is the key to unlocking El's fullest potential against Vecna--

--only to undermine the power of Mike's longed-for confession by having it only be good enough to delay Vecna instead of defeat him? Yes, it's the penultimate season -- so why did Milevn's pay-off happen here instead of S5 where it could properly shine?

Secondly: why couldn't Milevn fix their relationship by themselves? Even if you believe that El commissioned the painting (she didn't) and that the feelings Will describes are truly hers (they aren't), it was still Will who had to perform this romantic gesture on her behalf, and it broke his heart to do so. Why hand this important work off to a third party? Why weave queer tragedy into the build-up towards a heterosexual pay-off that's supposed to feel triumphantly romantic?

Speaking of which: why undermine the intimacy of this scene by having Will hover behind Mike's shoulder the whole time? Couldn't they have asked Noah to take a few steps to the left for the sake of a better shot? Couldn't they have waited until after Milevn's big romantic moment to remind us for the millionth fucking time how sad Will is about it?

In my opinion, this scene and its four seasons of build-up make much more sense if you read them as three entwined character arcs about the trials of growing up in a suffocatingly heteronormative era: the gay kid who doesn't think he's entitled to a happy ending; the abused girl who thinks shallow romance with the first boy who's nice to her will make her feel normal; and the confused hero who hasn't figured out the solution yet.

For all the insistence that this show has to stick to "realistic" depictions of 80s queerness... it's hardly a realistic depiction of 80s straightness for Mike to score an awesome magical girlfriend, either. That's just nerdy wish-fulfillment, and common only as a trope in fiction.

So it's not unreasonable to suppose that Mike's true role in the Subverting 80s Tropes Show might be to represent the actually very realistic 80s experience of getting swept up in compulsory heterosexuality.

Think about it: Will's vulnerability to the horrors functions as a metaphor for being visibly gay in a world that despises gay people--

--whereas Mike's girlfriend quite literally has the power to protect him from monsters and homophobic bullies alike.

This doesn't mean Mike is callously using El, though. He learned the hard way in S1 that treating an innocent girl like a means to an end would only end up destroying her, and the guilt and fear of hurting her again has been weighing heavy on him ever since.

Comphet isn't about taking advantage of other people's feelings so you can pretend to be straight -- it's about deluding yourself into believing you're straight because queerness isn't an option you're allowed to consider.

Mike genuinely does love El and he genuinely does want to be an important part of her life -- so surely that means he wants to be her boyfriend, right? Twelve is perhaps a little young to know that yet... but surely there's gotta be something here that sets his feelings apart from how a friend or brother would feel?

Surely the reason he later finds himself struggling to say to her face that he loves her is because he's just an immature loser who needs to try harder to grow up and be the man this girl he adores deserves to have...?

...and certainly not because the guilt and fear of losing her just keeps piling up as the romantic instincts he thinks he's been waiting to grow into turn out to be developing at exactly the pace they're supposed to -- in the wrong direction.

That would be ridiculous. Will's his best friend. Yes, he loves him and can't bear to be without him, but that doesn't mean anything. Why can't a guy display a little unhinged devotion to his special friend without it having to mean something romantic?

Why can't he, indeed.

At his core, Mike is someone who desperately wants to be as special as the straight heroes in the nerdy media he loves. But there isn't anything inherently heroic about being some lame middle-class white nerd who's bad with girls, so he believes that the best he can do is to be a dutiful sidekick who would sacrifice himself in a heartbeat for people he perceives as more special than himself.

For all the "build-up" Mike's romance with El has enjoyed across four seasons, it's done absolutely nothing to help him grow as a character and overcome this self-worth problem.

So is it really any surprise that even after realizing El would be fine and still want to be friends with him if he told her the truth, and even after realizing just how good Will is at understanding his insecurities and reassuring him of his inherent worth--

--Mike would still sacrifice his chance at happiness for the sake of the greater good?

El was literally dying in his arms. How could queer desire possibly be as important as this girl who needed him to be a man and do his damn job so she could do hers?

I'm interpreting Mike as gay here, but I think it's important to note that this principle applies even if he's bi or straight -- Mike can be attracted to girls and still be forcing himself to stay in a relationship with a girl he's not a good romantic match for because that's just what he thinks he's supposed to do.

His sister had a similar problem: Nancy was legitimately attracted to Steve, but her infatuation with him was more about doing what cool teen girls are supposed do than about authentic connection. And because this is a horror story as much a coming-of-age story, Wheeler's conformity had horrendous consequences -- her critical-of-comphet bestie was killed by the horrors.

Which sounds familiar, doesn't it?

(Sure, Max technically didn't die -- but she still died enough for Vecna's plan to come to fruition. Which just brings us back to my first question: why couldn't the Power of Heterosexual Love prevent this? In the same season that said "forced conforming is what's killing the kids", no less?)

Will describes Vecna as an inevitability that won't stop until he's taken everyone -- which in my opinion is the same defeatist attitude demanded by comphet.

It's not that Mr. Refuses-To-Participate-In-Society's-Silly-Play symbolizes comphet itself, per se; rather, he represents the despair of feeling like you can't truly escape it. But either way, this means that the solution to defeating Vecna is the same solution to defeating comphet:

Giving yourself permission to look and see that your true self is far more valuable than whatever you think you're supposed to be.