AO3 Dracula Flashcards
(25 cards)
Who coined the term ‘New Woman’?
Sarah Grand
What year was the term ‘New Woman’ coined?
1894
What is sanguine economy?
- Literary and cultural analysis pioneered by William Hughes, who used it to interpret the symbolism of blood in Dracula.
- The belief that blood is the source of life and vitality, and that a person’s health and strength depend on the amount of blood they have
- blood loss=threat to life
- Arthur states how Lucy’s blood transfusions make her ‘truly his wife’
What is spermatic economy?
The belief that semen is the source of life and reproductive potential.
What is ‘Angel in the House’?
- Victorian idea that women are self-sacrificing, nurturing and devoted to their families
- Patmore’s poem ‘Angel in the House’ further popularized this ideal of domesticity
What are Eugenics?
- a set of beliefs and practices that aimed to improve the genetic quality of the population
- eugenicists often inhibited the fertility or altered the phenotypes of certain groups they deemed inferior.
- Pioneered by Sir Francis Galton
- rooted in deep racial biases
- Based on Darwin’s theory of natural selection
Who was Lombroso?
- became known as the father of modern crimonology
- influenced by physiognomy, he measured criminals’ weights and heights to look for patterns
What is degeneration and how did the idea become popular?
- many Victorians feared that humanity would regress and that civilisation would decline due to biological change
- became popular in the 1890s through the work of Max Nordau
What is muscular christianity?
A religious movement that originated in England in the mid-19th century, that focused on patriotic duty, masculinity and the moral and physical beauty of athleticism.
What is theosophy and its relevance to Dracula?
Theosophy refers to the belief that a knowledge of God derives from spiritual ecstasy, direct intuition or specia individual relations.
- Dracula touches upon themes of esoteric knwledge and occult practice which are central to Theosophy.
- Theosophy posits that vampires are disembodied entities that feed on the life essence of others.
- Stoker’s native Ireland saw the prevalence of this movement, so it is lkely he drew inspiration from it.
What is invasion literature and its relevance to Dracula?
- A literary genre that was popular between 1871 and the First World War
- these texts depicted an actual or planned invasion of the homeland
- Dracula can be compared to H.G. Wells’ ‘The War of the Worlds’, which also exploredthe idea of a foreign power invading England
What were the Contagious Diseases acts?
- A series of acts passed in 1864, 66, 69 that aimed to control the spread of sexually transmitted diseases among the armed forces by allowing for the examination and detention of women suspected of being prostitutes.
What year was the Alien Act passed?
1905
What were the aims of the Alien Act?
- aimed to restrict immigration
- declared that ‘undesireable immigrants’ would be denied antry, primarily targetting Jewish and Eastern European migrants.
Who was Jack the Ripper and what is his significance to ‘Dracula’?
- unidentified serial killer active in Whitechapel, London in 1888
- many scholars believe that Stoker used these murders as the framework for his own writing
- the prevalence of the murderer in this time period only strengthens Stoker’s exploration of gender, male dominance
- interesting to note that whilst many assume the victims were prostitutes, there is no definitive evidence to prove this was the case - demonisation of Dracula’s brides when they were just victims too?
What was the attitude towards the Jewish community like in this time period?
- Jewish community was often used as the scapegoat for social and economic hardships in society
- e.g - Jewish population in Whitechapel was significant during Jack the Ripper murders - people did not hesitate to blame it on the Jewish community
- Similar to Stoker’s antisemetic descriptions of Dracula.
Who painted ‘The Nightmare’ and when was it created?
1781, Henri Fuseli
What is ‘The Nightmare’s relation to ‘Dracula’?
- explores the traditional Gothic, depicting a damsel in distress with her eroginous zone exposed
- Both explore themes of the unconscious, the subliminal etc.
- both evoke a mixture of intrigue and disgust
- shows an incubus hovering over the girl
What is the significance of ‘Dracula’ having an bright yellow cover in its earliest publications?
Yellow was a colour that came to be associated with novels featuring racy or controversial content - Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Picture of Doran Gray’ famously included a yellow book that poisoned Dorian Gray.-
- Oscar Wilde was even reportedly carrying a copy of ‘The Yellow Book’ at his arrest in 1895 for indecency - Leading journal of the British 1890s, especially known for its aestheticism and decadence
What is the Madonna-Whore complex?
- First identified by Freud as ‘physic impotence’, it is a psychological complex that develops in men who either see women as the saintly Madonna or the debased whore
- ‘where such men love they have no desire, and where they desire they cannot love’
- relates to Jonathan’s encounter with the three vampire women
- a concept of psychology that contrains female sexuality
What was Stoker’s strange dream about?
- ‘Young man goes out…sees girls one tries to kiss him not on lips but throat. Old Count interferes’
- Went on to inspire Jonathan’s fake journal entry about his encounter with the three vampire women
What was Stoker’s life before ‘Dracula’ like?
- He worked for Henry Irving as business manager at London’s Lyceym Theatre for nearly thirty years
- from early on, Stoker felt a deep respect for the type of the noble and independent master
- It is theoried that Dracula himself is modelled on the forceful personality and arrogance of Irving - mix of fear and admiration
What is the significance of the Mark of Cain?
- God places the mark on Cain to protect him from being killed, emphasising God’s mercy, but also being a constant reminder of Cain’s sin
- For Mina, the red mark acts as a constant reminder of her tainted purity and innocence. Leads to a discussion surrounding attitudes towards women and how they are often blamed for the predatory acts of men.
- the fact that the mark only disappears once Dracula is killed demosntrates her ties to Dracula/the way people view her no matter how much she proves her chastity
What are the speculatiosn surrounding Stoker’s sexuality?
- many beleive he was a closeted homosexual, evidenced by his close relationships with people such as Oscar WIilde and Walt Whitman
- the novel has been analysed for its homoerotic undertones
- Dracula’s possession of Jonathan and his rejection of the brides’ attempts to violate him
- letters to walt Whitman ‘I thank you for the sympathy you have given me in common with my kind’
