ENG LIT: Dracula AO3

When was Dracula written?

• 1897 by Bram Stoker

• Written during Fin de Siecle, people feared the future and what it would bring

How could Stoker’s upbringing have influenced his work?

• He was bedridden with disease till the age of 7 so was sort of like the living dead

• Disease could be reflected in Dracula biting his victims, fears of Cholera discovered by John Snow 1854

What rumours were spreading about the dead?

• Myths about blood sucking had been around for ages

• People feared being buried alive

• When dead the body expelled air causing the grave to move and people believed this was the living dead

What books and events inspired Stoker’s vampire?

• Vampires said to originate from rabies

• The Vampyre written by John Polidori came about after a competition between writers like Lord Byron and Mary/ Percy Shelley

• Shelley wrote Frankenstein originating from the same copmetition

• Carmilla written 1872 by Joseph Le Fanu, depicted lesbian vampire

Which novel is considered the first Gothic and why is it so important?

• The Castle of Otranto, 1764 by Horace Walpole

• Walpole was influenced by a dream he had in Strawberry Hill

• Incorporates the supernatural, death and religion which remain key themes in the genre for the next 3000 years

Who came up with the theory of Orientalism and what was it?

• Edward Said 1995

• Said that in the 19th cent people were preoccupied with “orientals” being “irrational, depraved, childlike and different” while Western Europeans were “rational, virtuous and normal”

• This is reflected in depiction of Dracula who is an outsider in every way

What was Lombroso’s Theory of Atavism?

• An Italian criminologist that said people can be “born criminal” based on how they look

• Wrote it in 1876

• less than half of his findings complied with his beliefs

• E.g: said large nose = murderer, large lips = sex offender

• Any form of otherness = criminal

Who suggested the idea of the uncanny?

• Sigmund Freud

• Said it is the unsettling feeling when we recognise something that isn’t what we thought it was

What is the sublime and who coined the term?

• Edmund Burke

• Things that are overwhelmingly beautiful but not necessarily pleasant

• Particularly in ref to the Romantic period and natural features like cliff tops or storms

• It sits between being pleasant and terrifying - liminal state

How is religion important to the Gothic?

• Around the turn of the century many are debating religious beliefs esp Protestants and Catholics

• Due to the Reformation in 1500s

• Religion is a safety net for many at this time, the Gothic feeds on transgressing from normality so questions who or what is God and this invokes fear

• Religious commentary less impactful now

What is the difference between the explained and unexplained supernatural?

• Explained supernatural refers to phenomena that can be understood or rationalised through scientific or logical means.

• Unexplained supernatural leaves the reader unsure as to whether the ghosts or events were real or imagined, more uncertainty = more scary

Which other gothic text links to Harker feeling like a “prisoner”

• Jekyll and Hyde

• Jekyll says he is like some “disconsolate prisoner”

What the idea of the New Woman?

• The New Woman explored the different avenues women could take as opposed to traditional roles like being a housewife

• This was challenged and embraced by women at the time and Stoker’s view was confusing shown in the unclear depiction of it within Mina and Lucy

• Mina is both pious and educated while Lucy is both emotional and “silly” but also promiscuous

• They both show elements of the New Woman

When was the first successful blood transfusion and what was believed about the blood?

• 1665 in England

• People believed sin could travel in the blood linking to catholic ideas about original sin

What were the expectations of a Victorian Gentlemen?

• Supposed to be emotionless, not indulge in pleasure, be highly educated and wealthy

• Gothic men often subvert this e.g: Dracula indulges in his desire for blood (and sexual pleasure?), as does Harker, Van Helsing shows lots of emotion

• Hyde and Dorian Gray are other examples of letting loose their repressed desire

Which type of Gothic is Dracula?

Urban Gothic