In thinking about the possible genres this novel fits into, I think the clearest and best fit is the Gothic genre. Gothic blends horror and romance, and we definitely have that here. In reading about the Invasion Novel, it seems to also be a valid reading. Dracula can been seen as an outside force invading […]
Expanding on my first Dracula blog post; I want to return to Stoker’s exposure to new science and its influence upon his writing. As I mentioned before, Stoker was well-aware of germ theory and other such budding scientific explorations as well as had family members involved in medical science; which, I believe, he may very […]
When trying to destroy Dracula, the means in which to do so are different than with the female vampires. Van Helsing says that there is a thorough process in which to destroy Lucy, but for Dracula it is just driving a stake through his heart. While Lucy is destroyed with just a stake in the […]
After our class discussion, I began thinking more about the format of the narrative and how it relates to genre. We’ve talked about realism before, and in this case, the novel as a whole isn’t exactly “realistic,” yet the narrative format seems to suggest a sort of realism of its own. After all, the novel […]
Religion continues to play a large part in the story within the last few chapters of the novel. Most striking in this section is the fact that Mina’s face is scarred by the communion wafer. Mina’s response is heartbreaking: “Uclean! Unclean! Even the Almighty shuns my polluted flesh! I must bear this mark of shame […]
Mina is the ultimate Angel in the House on the cusp of becoming a New Woman. She does whatever is her duty, but she still has an independence about her that is relatable. She goes so far as to sacrifice her own life should she begin to turn in order to save the lives of […]
The part in this last section that is the most striking is when Mina drinks the count’s blood. Not only is it a powerful and shocking scene, it’s weird and uncomfortable, but not because of the actual events. It’s unsettling because gender roles are being reversed in this scene. Instead of a male being the […]
Though they both fall prey to Dracula, Mina is able to maintain her pure status while Lucy suffers a darker fate. Mina rejects the possibility of becoming like Lucy, and is determined to sacrifice herself instead. Because she is caring and willing to die rather endanger those around her, she is able to remain an […]
After our discussion on “Orientalism” in class today, I saw a lot more about what Said was discussing in the clips we watched today. Especially in Ch. 27 when the gypsies are mentioned, the descriptions make you- as the reader- other them right off the bat. “The gypsies may not have known the language, but […]
The fantastic is associated with the supernatural. It is different than the uncanny because instead of accepting the story as a truth the reader hesitates and openly questions the reliability of the narrator. The fantastic as defined by Todorov has three elements. 1.Text as world of living people and hesitation of natural and supernatural events […]
Victorian London's Underworld 
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