English Literature in the Victorian Era

Marxism is a system of political, economic, and social theories developed by Karl Marx in the mid-nineteenth century. It emphasizes the idea that social life is based on conflicts of interests between the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariats. Anyone who has ownership and controls the means of production is powerful within a society. This concept is apparent in Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, although not the notion of the lower-class attempting to rise up and overthrow those in the upper-class. Instead, Marxism is explored with Count Dracula being a true consumerist and a powerful, controlling, and demanding figure in the text, in the form of a rich aristocracy.

Are there still connections between Bram Stokers famous novel Dracula and modern day society? In Dracula, Stoker expands on many themes that indeed exist today. Not only does he touch on the most obvious theme, sex. He expands on gender division and good versus evil. Some say since times have changed the themes I introduced have changed as well, leaving connections between then and now irrelevant. However, I feel that although times have changed they still have roots from the time of the novel to now. In this essay I will expand on the themes of this novel while connecting them to modern day society, the critical texts I have chosen and will mention later on in the essay are a good representation of the commonalities between the chill, dark Victorian days in which the era that Dracula was written in and modern day.

Unremarkable though it may seem, to affirm the obvious truism that Bram Stoker’s Dracula originates from a century that historians often describe as the most significant in terms of revolutionary ideology, whilst wishing to avoid the clichéd view held, it is undeniable that the more one delves into the depths of this novel the greater wealth of meaning demonstrates significant correlation with Marxist ideology. The 19th Century saw the emergence of revolutionary socialist Karl Marx, who himself used the vampire metaphor to describe the capitalist system as ‘dead labour which, vampire like, lives only by sucking living labour’. Through Stoker’s opulent use of narrative structure, use of setting and imagery, this novel presents a multiple

Stoker’s novel Dracula, presents the fear of female promiscuity, for which vampirism is a metaphor. Such fear can be related to the time in which Dracula was written, where strict Victorian gender norms and sexual mores stipulated

In Dracula, what is Stoker revealing about the demonization of “others” in the Victorian age and how does this relate to treatment of “others” in this group today?

The play-script book “Dracula”, adapted by David Calcutt, is a captivating reword of the iconic epistolary horror novel of a same name which was written by Bram Stoker, The author outlines the power struggle between good and evil in the text through messages and symbols. The author focuses on Dracula and a group of friend’s actions and emotions in which he uses narrative conventions to convey key messages in the book. The messages I found that were prominent were “evilness is an infection”, “greed is consuming” and “good always prevail”.

The setting of Bram Stoker’s Dracula is in the late nineteenth-century London, where the flourishing of technology is replacing people’s belief of the old superstitious ways. The characters in this novel experience contacts with the supernatural beings that is unable to be proven even by the most advanced technology at the time, which leads them to doubt their own sanity. However, the progression of the novel proves that peace is restored into the characters’ lives after their doubts and confusions about what is reality and who is really mad. Ultimately, the categorization of the sane against the mad is unnecessary since the distinguishing factors shown in the novel are ambiguous. Subsequently, no characters can

Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” is a story about a Vampire named Count Dracula and his journey to satisfy his lust for blood. The story is told through a series of individuals’ journal entries and a letters sent back and forth between characters. Bram Stoker shows the roll in which a certain gender plays in the Victorian era through the works of Dracula. This discussion not only consists of the roll a certain gender takes, but will be discussing how a certain gender fits into the culture of that time period as well as how males and females interact among each other. The Victorian era was extremely conservative when it came to the female, however there are signs of the changing into the New Woman inside of Dracula. Essentially the woman was to be assistance to a man and stay pure inside of their ways.

William Wordsworth’s poem, “Composed A Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey, On Revisiting The Banks Of The Wye During A Tour. July 13, 1798” (also known as simply, “Tintern Abbey”), was included in the book Lyrical Ballads, with a Few Other Poems. This was a joint effort between himself and author Samuel Taylor Coleridge. “Tintern Abbey” remains one of Wadsworth’s most famous poems, and at its printing, the book was completely sold out in two years. The name of the poem reflects the inspiration Wadsworth felt upon visiting the ruins of an old church called Tintern Abbey, with his sister Dorothy.

Arguably, Dracula’s wives are guilty of another of Bertens’ proposed stereotypes, that of utter dependence on man. They rely on Count Dracula to bring them their food, and therefore without him they would presumably die. This seems to reflect the well-established idea of public and private “spheres” that pervaded so much of Victorian domestic life. In this system, the woman was effectively condemned to the role of homemaker, while the man became the breadwinner. The inability of Dracula’s wives to resist feeding on Jonathan when he falls asleep in the study could also reflect on the – once again, Victorian idea – that women were too hysterical and so inept at keeping control of themselves that they were unfit for a vast range of careers. However, while Stoker does indubitably include these stereotypes in his work, it does not necessarily mean that he agrees with them.

Anna Jeung English IV – AP Ms. Ryan 18 September 2014 Critical Strategy Essay – Feminism in Dracula The novel Dracula by Bram Stoker embodies ideals that reflect the gender roles and constraints of the Victorian Era. The plot satisfies the male imagination because it adheres to the rigid expectations of female behavior at the time. To clarify, a Victorian woman had to be a virgin, a mother, or a wife.

Bram Stoker represents this decline in morality in Dracula. One example is Lucy, who represents a “New Woman” that dates many men, and is very loose with her behavior. Her lack of Victorian ideals and morals are exactly what made it easy for her to succomb to Count Dracula’s charms. In this time women like Lucy, were mainly prostitutes and petty thieves. Religion was another part of the Victorian ideal.

Bram Stoker’s ingenious piece of work on writing Dracula has set the expectation for gothic novels all over the world and time to come. The mindset of writing Dracula through the Victorian Era really sets the tone for the reader by creating a spine-tingling sensation right through the novel. With this in mind, Stoker wouldn’t have been able to succeed his masterpiece without the effective uses of symbolism, imagery, foreshadowing, and its overall theme.

great prosperity in Great Britain's literature. The Victorian Age produced a variety of changes. Political and social reform produced a variety of reading among all classes. The lower-class became more self-conscious, the middle class more powerful and the rich became more vulnerable. The novels of Charles Dickens, the poems of Alfred,

The line between nineteenth-century psychology and fiction is almost nonexistent. Based upon the contemporary scientific, medical, and public discourses, the topic of mental illness was examined across all fields. The mutability of this term, mental illness, draws the question of what made it so changeable in the nineteenth century. It is the aim of this dissertation to show the treatment of social and medical discourse in Victorian literature by exploring Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre (1847) and Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886). Roger Smith’s essay on psychology in periodical literature was the main inspiration for this dissertation. His statement inspired this research to explore how the medical discourse sparked public debate. Although his focus is on the discourse of different sciences, his research also inspired this dissertation’s attempt to prove a connection between academic fields, specifically literature and science. Smith’s articulation of his research is presented in such a way that helps provide a beneficial understanding of the discourse of nineteenth-century England.