DRACULA The life and times of Bram Stoker and the Gothic
novel
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BRAM STOKER Born Abraham Stoker, April, 1847 in Ireland
Attended Trinity College in Dublin After graduation, became the
theatre critic for the Dublin Evening Mail; was known for the
quality of his writing Attracted the attention of Henry Irving,
became his assistant and manager of the Lyceum Theatre in London;
held position for more than 20 years
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STOKER THE AUTHOR Began writing while working for Irving
Highlights of published work: The Snakes Pass (1890); Dracula
(1897); The Lady of the Shroud (1909); The Lair of the White Worm
(1911) Dracula was allegedly originally titled The Un-dead, and was
changed to Dracula not long before publication Novel was not
immediate best-seller; made more popular by film After his death,
Stokers widow published Draculas Guest and Other Weird Stories
(1914)
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DRACULA IN CONTEXT Dracula often put in context with Mary
Shelleys Frankenstein (1818), Stevensons Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
(1886) Frankenstein considered the beginning of the science fiction
genre Novel part of invasion literature popular in Victorian
England Inspired by Carmilla (1871), a vampire who prayed on lonely
females, and The Vampyre (1811), which portrayed a vampire as
aristocrat
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DRACULA: THE PERSON Character based on the family name of Vlad
II of Wallachia (Romania) Took name Dracul after entering the Order
of the Dragon in 1431. Romanian Dracul can mean either dragon or
Devil Others believe Dracula comes from Gallic Droch Ola which
means bad blood
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THE GOTHIC NOVEL: Dracula considered to be part of Gothic
horror tradition Structurally: epistolary novel (told in journals,
letters, etc.) Horror should inspire emotional, physical or
psychological response of fear Began as a genre in the late 1700s;
written often by women for women at this time Gothic combines both
horror and romance (a pleasing sort of terror) Appreciation of
extreme emotion, thrill of fear, quest for atmosphere
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GOTHIC ELEMENTS Setting in a castle or mansion (place with
atmosphere) [Gothic ]fiction is characteristically obsessed with
old buildings a the sites of human decay An ancient prophecy
typically a gothic tale will invoke the tyranny of the past with
such weight as to stifle the hopes of the present Omens, portents,
and visions and/or supernatural or other inexplicable events High,
overwrought emotion Women in distress, threatened by
powerful/tyrannical male
