, Research Paper
The Spirit of a late Victorian Age.
With reference to Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
Stoker’s monstrous figure, Count Dracula, has today reached epic and almost mythical proportions, like Frankestein (not the doctor), the Gordon Medusa, even Virginia Woolf (thanks to Albee). Like the aforementioned examples, what we associate in our minds to be these monsters, mostly conditioned by popular culture and Hollywood, are merely visual representation. In the novel itself, however, according to other essayists who have thoroughly examined this piece, Dracula represents an entire genre of thinking and human development, concentrated in the prose of literature.
Mark M. Hennelly, Jr. identifies Dracula as “an allegory of rival epistimologies in quest of a gnosis which will rehabilitate the Victorian wasteland; and as its conclusion dramatizes, this rehabilitation demands, a transfusion, the metaphor is inevitable, from the blood-knowledge of Dracula” (Literature of the Occult, 140). By the Victorian wasteland the essayist here is referring the superfluity and the redundancy of the Victorians, particularly the nouveau riche and the middle class. The homes of these upper classes are lacking space as much as the small rooms in which the proletariat are forced to stay; the former lack space because of an accumulation of furniture and objects, the latter because of the smallness of the rooms themselves. The epistimologies in rival are the rational and the irrational. “Beneath the ordered society of his time each [novelist of the Irrational] say an unordered chaos, a world disintegrating, a new order waiting to be established” (Literature of the Occult, 143). This duality between the rational and the irrational could only be captured in a novel that is unmistakably Gothic and Romantic.
The novel begins with “a travel diary” (Dracula: Between Tradition and Modernism, 35) of Jonothan Harkens, the young British lawyer who has been hired to handle Count Dracula’s estate. Particularly, Count Dracula’s strange castle which stands at the edge of a cliff. Jonothan Harkens becomes a “prisoner” (Dracula, 47) in this enormous tower in which there are no “servants” (Dracula, 32) and yet there is a redundancy of furniture and space and books. This device as a literary device works on the reader because he becomes engrossed in Harkens sincere writings and becomes a part of the castle. The castle itself represents one aspect of the Gothic, the second of which I will expatiate upon later.
The castle itself becomes a body, a vessel, if you will, from which there is no escape unless the owner of the castle allows him to. There is a kind of Medieval morbidity that underlies this idea but what Stoker was doing was using the gothic genre to push against the rational and tend into the realm of fantasy and the occult. By rendering Count Dracula’s as a silent character creates a stable focus for the rest of the changing narrators. That is to say, while the narration passes from Mina to Harkens to Lucy the castle itself remains a silent counterpart.
Why is this important? Like I have mentioned earlier, there is a kind of Medieval morbidity to personifying the castle. This represents both the body and the spirit screaming to a God who as pious persons we must believe in but in actuality we never do get to see. “There is no doubt that the Western European characters are at least nominal Christians or that the English characters are adherents to the Church of England,” Carol Senf writes in “Dracula: Between Tradition and Modernism” (67). A good example of this is when Jonothan Harkens is offered a rosary. “I did not know what to do, for as an English Churchman, I have been taught that these things as…idolatrous, and yet it seemed so ungracious to refuse an old lady” (Dracula, 67). This kind of ambivalence and “rival of epistimologies” runs throughout the entire novel, where the very nature of duality is concentrated.
The blood is the life, and for Victorian scientists, “genetic material circulated in the bloodstream…because it contained the information that communicated the animal’s or human’s mental and physical makeup” (Dracula: Between Tradition and Modernism, 75). Although this theory is unmistakably Darwin, what it tends to identify is a group of people who believed in Darwin’s biology and Newton’s physics. In fact, according to the essay “For Blood is the Life” it talks about Darwin’s nephew, Francis Galton putting his uncle’s theories into practice, by transfusing the blood of one animal into the body of the other in order to “influence the offspring” (Dracula: Between Tradition and Modernism, 75)
Bibliography
Dracula movie
Другие работы по теме:
Mrs Dalloway
– Analysis Of The Film Essay, Research Paper Upon viewing ?Mrs. Dalloway? I was not impressed. The movie seemed to jump from the present to the past. The character Septimus didn?t appear to have any purpose in the storyline. Clarrisa also seemed to be tightly bound by the Victorian lifestyle of the day to make her interesting to me.
Victorian Jewelry Essay Research Paper The quaintness
Victorian Jewelry Essay, Research Paper ?The quaintness and eccentricity of some of the jewels, particularly from among the less expensive lines, was partly a reflection of the mood of the times but was also the result of trading conditions? (Hinks6). Jewelry makers produced new ideas every season, whether they were practical or idiot because the competition between domestic rivals was so intense.
Alienation In Victorian Societ Essay Research Paper
Alienation in Victorian Society by Shivam Ray The Victorian period is often defined and pictured by its antique images of flowers, corsets, standard 18 inch waists and rosy-cheek children. However, Kate Chopin shatters this image in her Novel “The Awakening” published in 1899. The authors child hood experiences of tragedies in her family and a true story of a lady from New Orleans and her scandals greatly influence the matter of this novel.
The Awakening Of Women Essay Research Paper
The Awakening is a commentary on the restraints faced by women at the turn of the century. The novel is really all about independence and understanding. The peace that is offered in the promise of personal freedom concerning love and all else, shown in this novel, is enticing. Chopin writes about a woman who continues to reject the society around her, a notion too radical for Chopin’s peers.
Independent Spirit Essay Essay Research Paper There
Independent Spirit Essay Essay, Research Paper There can be a difference between a dependent and independent spirits. Independent spirits can be found in everyone and how your independent spirit can help others.
Nkohma Essay Research Paper Acts Summary xThe
Nkohma Essay, Research Paper .Acts Summary x The book of Acts is written by the author Luke the Apostle who also wrote the book Luke that is one of the four books in the Gospel of the New Testament. The book of Acts is a linking book that shows and describes the transition of Jesus final ministry by sending the Holy Spirit after His ascention into Heaven.
Jane Eyre Essay Research Paper Caretakers had
Jane Eyre Essay, Research Paper Caretakers had an important role in the renaissance and the Victorian period. Mainly women were accepted to be a caretaker while their class was usually a low one. Their duty changed from period to period, their class was not bound to be low, but still, it was lower than the person who hired them.
Jane Eyre As A Typical And Atypical
Victorian Woman Essay, Research Paper The image of Jane Eyre was certainly a startling one to the Victorian public. On the surface Jane Eyre seems like a quintessential heroine of Gothic and Sentimental literature: a plane and poor girl who, having virtuously defied the temptation of being seduced, is rewarded for her outstanding morality and chastity by the crowning elements of propriety and desirability –a husband and a fortune.
Dose Poetry Matter Essay Research Paper Does
Dose Poetry Matter Essay, Research Paper Does Poetry Matter? To me poetry does not matter. I do not like poetry because a poem is just a passage that contains a hidden meaning and I can never figure out what a poem is about. If poetry was not around then authors would just come out and say what they wanted to say . Their thoughts would not get confused and people would not miss the meaning that the author is trying to get across.
Sherlock Holmes Essay Research Paper When Sir
Sherlock Holmes Essay, Research Paper When Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created Sherlock Holmes, he had no idea that his creation would become on of the most read and talked about fiction characters ever. Doyle himself did not even think that the Sherlock Holmes stories were good literature, but as he found out, people were not interested in the quality of his writing but rather being entertained by the world’s most famous detective.
Fake Myth Essay Research Paper Many centuries
Fake Myth Essay, Research Paper Many centuries ago, before you, before me. Before water existed. There was a god, who roamed the earth in search of something, anything. He roamed the barren landscapes and searched under all rocks. Until one day he found something. It was a hole, a hole that seemed bottomless.
Victorian Literature Essay Research Paper Victorian literatureThe
Victorian Literature Essay, Research Paper Victorian literature The first decades (1830s to 1860s) of Queen Victoria’s reign produced a vigorous and varied body of literature that attempted to come to terms with the current transformations of English society, but writers in the latter decades (1870s to 1900) withdrew into AESTHETICISM, a preoccupation with sensation as an end in itself.
Victorian Dogamatism As A Gift From The
Romantic Age And Prior Essay, Research Paper Victorian Dogmatism as a Gift from the Romantic Age and Prior Walter E. Houghton prefaces The Victorian Frame of Mind by noting, “the
Spirit Of Mountains Essay Research Paper Spirit
Spirit Of Mountains Essay, Research Paper Spirit of the Mountains Grace, Beauty, tranquillity, man conquering majestic mountains, mammoth in size. Thus describes the experience, of a mountain. Like
Inept Victorian Regimes Essay Research Paper During
Inept Victorian Regimes Essay, Research Paper During the late 19th Century, society deemed women as housewives, with little or no chance for social mobility. As a matter of fact, they weren t even allowed to vote in National Elections until the 1920 s. Kate Chopin, who lived in this time era, writes three different stories, Ripe Figs , Story of an Hour , and The Storm about three young women in very similar situations, Babette, Mrs.
Jane Eyre Role Of Women Essay Research
Paper A traditional woman of Victorian Society was seen as a caring mother and a loving wife. She was born to give and to love. Often, the upper-class women were taught languages and the arts; this made them very well rounded and appealing to the gentlemen. In Jane Eyre, the women characters that are encountered have both traditional and non-traditional characteristics of the Victorian Society.
Victorian Literature Essay Research Paper When considering
Victorian Literature Essay, Research Paper When considering the debatable relevance/irrelevance of the study of nineteenth century literature to students today, works of the Victorian era, such as Charlotte Bronte s classical masterpiece, Jane Eyre, can be used as an example. Jane Eyre contains such issues as religion, the role of women and morality during the Victorian Era.
Amy LowellS Patterns Essay Research Paper On
Amy Lowell?S ?Patterns? Essay, Research Paper On the outside, the speaker in Amy Lowell’s “Patterns” acts the way Victorian society expects of her. However, on the inside, she expresses her emotions and what she
Marriage In The Victorian Essay Research Paper
Marriage in the Victorian In the Victorian, marriage was seen mainly as bringing up ones status, people didn t marry for love they married for money. In this case, Victorians kept marriage between family members to keep the wealth there. Throughout many Victorian works this trend in seen often.
Julius Caesar A Dead Man
’s Party Essay, Research Paper JULIUS CAESAR: A Dead Man?s Party In Shakespeare?s Julius Caesar, the character of Caesar remains a active force throughout the play, even after his assassination. Caesar is
Victorian Literature Essay Research Paper
” The Victorian literature (1832-1901)”Victoria became queen of Great Britain in 1837. Her reign, the longest in English history, lasted until 1901. This period is called the Victorian Age. During the Victorian Age, great economic, social, and political changes occurred in Britain. The British Empire reached its height and covered about a quarter of the world’s land.
Madame Bovary Essay Research Paper Madame BovaryThe
Madame Bovary Essay, Research Paper Madame Bovary The Victorian era was a time of both beauty and elegance. Many wonderful novels were written during the period including Jane Erye by Charlotte Bronte and her sister Emily s famous work, Wuthering Heights. But in contrast there are novels that express Anti-Victorian sentiments as well.
The Holy Spirit Essay Research Paper The
The Holy Spirit Essay, Research Paper The Holy Spirit Paul talks lot about the Holy Spirit and the role that He plays in peoples lives in Romans 8:3-17. His main point though, is that there is a very distinct difference between people of the flesh and people of the Spirit. If the Spirit of God is alive in a person, then that person is alive because they died to sin.
Your Late Essay Research Paper Your late
Your Late Essay, Research Paper Your late, what’s your excuse this time? No, no I don’t want to hear it you can tell me later in detention, sound familiar? Well to half the students in my school it does. That was the usual answer that teachers distribute when students are late to class, which is permissible, but what about what about when your late to home room? Well before you answer that let me explain to you what home room is.
Jane Eyre Passion Vs Reason Essay Research
Paper Many of Jane s values are based on reason but ultimately many of her actions and decisions are driven by the heart. Discuss The character of Jane in Charlotte Bronte s novel Jane Eyre, was entirely revolutionary for the Victorian era. Whilst her values were shaped by her environs, her actions and decisions were often driven by an intense passion often contrary to societies norms.
Propsero
’s Relationship With Caliban Essay, Research Paper Prospero generally greets Caliban and Ariel with the words ’slave’ and ’servant’. Prospero calls Ariel the servant and rarely uses Ariel’s name. Prospero also calls Ariel ’spirit’. It is quite apparent that Prospero feels that he owns Ariel, always calling Ariel ‘My brave spirit’ and ‘Why that’s my spirit’ using ‘my’ in these sentences when he speaks to Ariel, showing possesion.
The Victorian Age Essay Research Paper The
The Victorian Age Essay, Research Paper The United States during the second half of the 1800s was in a stage called “The Victorian Age.” The basic style of this time was actually borrowed from the English or to be more exact Queen Victoria hence the name Victorian Age.
What Is The Purpose Of Their Journeys
? Essay, Research Paper WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THEIR JOURNEYS? Mary Espedal English IV 9/20/00 The Victorian period lasted from 1830 to 1880. This era marks the climax of England?s rise to economic and military supremacy. The Victorians brought increasing efforts to achieve political, social, and economic quests to met changes made by industrialization.
Romantism In Essay Research Paper Even though
Romantism In Essay, Research Paper Even though it was written in the Victorian era, Kate Chopin’s The Awakening has several romantic qualities, especially with the main character, as she struggles between society’s obligations and her own desires. Chopin writes about a woman who continues to reject the society around her, a notion too radical for Chopin’s peers.
Women In The Victorian Era Essay Research
Paper In the Victorian Era (1832-1901), women faced many challenges. Women were not treated as they are today. They were treated unfairly and not heard. There was a need for women to express their own needs as human beings, and finally overcome their hardship. But the question remained, what was their position in life? Two pieces of literature that deal with this topic are A Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen and A Woman s Thoughts about Women by Dinah Maria Mulock.
Hardy
’s Use Of Jude And Sue In Jude The Obscure Essay, Research Paper Hardy?s Use of Jude and Sue in Jude the Obscure In Jude the Obscure, Thomas Hardy presents the characters Jude Fawley and Sue Bridehead, who violate the conventions of the repressive Victorian society while attempting to follow their natural instincts.
Dover Beach Vs Dover Bitch Essay Research
Paper Hecht’s parody “Dover Bitch” is a mockery of Victorian values shown in “Dover Beach”, as well as those of his own period. Hecht candidly exaggerates the speech, ideas and symbols in “Dover Beach.”.
Art Appreciation Essay Research Paper DARK ROCKS
Art Appreciation Essay, Research Paper DARK ROCKS Georgia O Keeffe ( oil in canvas) Victorian Bouquet Severin Roesen ( Oil in canvas) In this piece of art, Georgia O Keeffe transforms ordinary natural objects (rocks) into abstract things. By setting the dark rocks against the white background she magnifies the rocks.