Gothic context

Question 1

How is the gothic trope of the sublime explored in Dracula?

Answer 1

The Gothic trope of the sublime is explored through Jonathan’s journey through East Europe, as the vast natural beauty evokes intense emotions of both fear and awe. The landscape exceeds the limits of human understanding, as Jonathan has likely never left England. The overwhelming nature of this experience inspires dread, awe and fear.

Question 2

When was Dracula set?

Answer 2

Dracula is set in the late 19th century

Question 3

What is the Angel of the House?

Answer 3

Women were expected to fulfil the role of the ‘The Angel in the House’ - a wife and a mother who was selflessly devoted to her children and submissive to her husband. ‘The Angel in the House’ was a narrative poem by Coventry Patmore, published in 1854 and was later criticised by feminist writers such as Virginia Woolf

Question 4

What is the form of Dracula?

Answer 4

The novel is written in a fragmented and epistolary form

Question 5

How does Stoker explore xenophobic fears?

Answer 5

People become concerned about globalisation and the deterioration of the British Empire. Dracula drinking blood and being compared to a leech reflects fears of foreigners “leeching” British resources and women

Question 6

What xenophobia did Stoker experience?

Answer 6

Stoker was an Irish man who moved to London and experienced feeling like an outsider (and otherness) and Xenophobia himself. This is partially due to Anglo-Irish relations at the time, as the Great Famine took place in the 1850s and impacted Stoker’s family

Question 7

When was the period of rapid industrialisation?

Answer 7

The late 1800s-1900s

Question 8

How did Stoker discuss industrialisation?

Answer 8

In the novel phonographs and trains in the West contrasted with lanterns and candles in Dracula’s castle

Question 9

How is Dracula the anti-Christ?

Answer 9

Dracula as the driver parting the wolves = perversion of Moses parting the Red Sea and Dracula drinking blood = perversion of Christians drinking wine symbolising the blood of Christ

Question 10

What ethical dilemma did Dracula provide Jonathan?

Answer 10

Dracula forbidding Jonathan to explore beyond the locked doors evokes the stereotypical ‘Pandora’s Box’ ethical dilemma

Question 11

Why is it relevant that Dracula is a blood-sucking vampire?

Answer 11

They believed that STDs were transmitted through blood - preying on contemporary fears

Question 12

How do both eponymous characters prolong mortality?

Answer 12

They use supernatural methods - Dracula drinks blood and Dorian has the portrait

Question 13

How do Mina’s letters contribute to the narrative structure?

Answer 13

They disrupt the pace of the novel by interrupting Jonathan’s narrative, creating a cliffhanger

Question 14

How are Mina and Lucy’s letters structured differently?

Answer 14

Lucy’s letters are less structured and more chaotic, they strongly focus on her suitors

Question 15

How is the motif of three seen throughout Dracula?

Answer 15

Lucy’s three suitors, the three vampire sisters and Dracula’s three visits to Lucy

Question 16

What is Dracula’s historical allusion?

Answer 16

The 15th century figure Vlad the Impaler

Question 17

How is Dracula portrayed realistically?

Answer 17

The historical allusions, the Author’s Note and epistolary structure

Question 18

Give an example of reverse colonialism in other literature

Answer 18

War of the Worlds - HG Wells

Question 19

Why did Stoker explore ideas of reverse colonialism?

Answer 19

Perhaps Stoker explored this as a response to cultural guilt , to criticise imperialist ideologies or to warn readers of the dangers of Britain losing power?

Question 20

How are ideas of reverse colonialism seen in Dracula?

Answer 20

The novel centralises around reverse colonialism, which is a primitive force colonising a civilised one. This allows Britain to see its violent imperialism from another perspective. This stems from contemporary fears that the empire decline would create a vacuum for another invading force.

Question 21

What was the prominence of supernatural at the time?

Answer 21

There was a resurgence of interest in the occult and the supernatural in the 19th century

Question 22

How did Stoker warn against rapidly changing new values?

Answer 22

When Seward and Van Helsing fail to save Lucy through scientific methods and religion is depicted to be a source of strength against Dracula. This suggests that old practices and beliefs shouldn’t be hastily dismissed and that traditions can be reliable

Question 23

What gothic trope does James Vane embody?

Answer 23

The revenant = the return of an unwanted or unwelcome character who seeks retribution

Question 24

How do both novels differ from stereotypical gothic novels?

Answer 24

Usually gothic novels are distant in either time or space, but the novels transgress this by being set in contemporary England

Question 25

Which character wasn't in the original edition of TPODG and why were they added?

Answer 25

James does not appear in the original novella version of Dorian Gray. His addition adds context to Sibyl’s character and introduces an element of class struggle to the novel. His character exposes the superficiality of the upper-class and his death, being accidentally shot at a society hunting party, thus seems fitting. He dies by the careless act by the upper-class which goes unpunished

Question 26

How do the novels fit the type of time period associated with gothic literature?

Answer 26

Gothic novels often take place in clashing time periods as an underlying conflict for the plot, TPODG takes place at the fin de siècle This provided a hope for a new beginning, perhaps Wilde believed that his radical ideas were more likely to be accepted during this period

Question 27

When was TPODG accepted?

Answer 27

The more liberal 1960s

Question 28

What was Lombroso's theory?

Answer 28

Criminologist Lombroso alleged that there was a ‘criminal type’, he said that criminals exhibited a physical resemblance to primitive races and that criminality was visible on people’s faces

Question 29

What happened in Wilde's trial?

Answer 29

Wilde sued the Marquess of Queensbury for libel after he publicly accused him of being a “posing sodomite”. During the trial, evidence emerged about Wilde’s homosexuality and he was arrested under English sodomy laws for public indecency in 1895

Question 30

What group was Wilde part of?

Answer 30

Wilde was a member of the University Philosophy Society at Trinity College

Question 31

What was the Darwinian theory of regression?

Answer 31

the theory of reverse evolution was the idea that without morality, people could revert to their primitive and bestial forms