Dracula - Context C1-4 - complete Flashcards
Give the 3 places that the uncanny can arise in according to Freud
○ First, they can arise when primitive, supposedly disproved beliefs suddenly seem to be confirmed or validated once again.
○ Second, the uncanny can arise when repressed infantile complexes are revived.
- the juxtapositions f qualities that shouldn’t be mixed
what is the style of the novel
Epistolary
give 4 things that the story being written in epistolary style does
○ The form also gives a sense of immediacy and vividness which helps the reader feel the extreme emotions the gothic genre aims to invoke within its readers
§ Builds tension with shifting perspectives, as we know some things the characters don’t
§ It’s disorientating
§ Adds to the verisimilitude (as multiple people verify the account)
How do vampires pervert the sacrament of holy communion
○ Catholics are granted spiritual life by drinking the blood of Christ through transubstantiation
○ However Dracula is granted physical life by drinking the blood of humans
What does the use of vampires as (atheistic?) degenerate figures link to in the context of the Victorian period
○ This exploration of vampires and soulless, amoral, atheistic degeneration links to the context of an increasingly secularised society obsessed with technological and scientific advancement, and thus potentially on the brink of moral collapse due to a loss of religion
What does ray cluley think about whether Dracula is a masculine figure or not?
he says he is a highly masculine figure - ‘it may be that Dracula is the ultimate patriarchal fantasy’
As he is able to create more vampires by biting them, and hence he has the strength of men and the power of women and is thus completely self sufficient
Thus, he sees Dracula as the epitome of male dominance over women
Harker becomes increasingly _____as the first few chapters progress
feminised
what did V____say in Fortified Masculinity about the ideal male
the ideal male is in a ‘constant effort of closing oneself off to the Other’
(Other means foreignness, exoticism or strangeness)
§ Harker at once begins to lose this aspect of his masculinity when he starts eating foreign food and living in the strange castle Dracula
give 5 aspects of mascluinity highlighted by Samantha _ in ‘Dreading he knew not what’
- virility
- chivalry and morality
- intent to exclude the other
- asceticism
- autonomy
○ Thus as the first four chapters progress, Harker loses his virility(constantly sleeping and often tired), intent to exclude the other(eating foreign food and living in a stranger’s house), his autonomy (as he becomes a prisoner), his asceticism (as he is sexually attracted to the vampire women), his chivalry (as he becomes increasingly fearful, although this is interspersed with moments of bravery like climbing into the Count’s room) and to a lesser extent his morality (which he sacrifices somewhat in his encounter with the vampire women? Or possibly sacrifices when he uses the crucifix however this is ambiguous as the crucifix seems to have protective qualities)
what is the study of physiognimy and give 2 main proponents of the ideas of physiognimy
a psuedo-scientific pursuit which included the judgement of the character of a person by their face
- cesare Lombroso - Italian criminologist famous for the study of physiognimy
- max nordau published ‘degeneration in 1892 on this topic
what are the two possible symbolci meanings of the castle dracula
psychoanalytic reading - it brings out harker’s subconscious desires
- or (gothic reading) brings out Harker’s and the readers primal fear of enclosed spaces
Who proposed the terror vs horror theory/frame for thinking about the gothic
ann Radcliffe (18th century author of gothic texts such as the Italian and teh Mysteries of Udolpho)
what is terror according to Radcliffe
- it precedes the horrifying experience
- it is dread/anticipation whcih can be drawn out putting a people in a state of anxiety
what is horror according to Radcliffe
- the revulsion that follows a frightening experience
Describe the use of terror vs horror in the first four chapters of Dracula
- the sense of terror builds on the way
- horror = seeing Dracula climb down the wall in a ‘lizard fashion’
- and the vampire women (horror)
- and the count in the coffin gorged with blood like a ‘leech’
what is the sublime and how does it link to the first 4 chapters
- vast/dark/gloomy/threatening/great and overpowering objects
- there is delight/pleasure mingled with ‘horror’ (according to John Dennis)
- links to castle Dracula
In 18__, sir Charles ___ publishes ‘__ ___ __’ , what does it say And why is it significant
the earth is millions of years old (it should be much younger according to the bible)
- this challenges literalist Christianity
what was Catholicism associated with in Victorian Britain
Foreign customs/superstitions
when did Darwin publish his books nd what was it called and why was it significant
arwinism - ‘On the Origin of Species’ published 1859
○ Directly challenged Christian creationist and design theories
○ Also begged the question of where the soul comes from?
§ The culmination of the Victorian love of science and Christian values
- The challenge of science to religion led to religious polarisation
How are vampires ‘other’
○ Part of the irrational world
○ Operate at night
Live in the world of dreams and nightmares
How is otherness ambiguous in society
both glamorous and threatening
what is liminality
tension between antithetical states of being
how are vampires liminal (what antithetical states do they straddle)
○ Human and animal
○ Living and dead
○ Young and old
○ Sane and mad
○ Modern and ancient
§ The characteristic of immortality/eternality straddles these two oppositions
○ Master and servant
§ Which Dracula literally straddles
§ But also metaphorically as the vampire has lots of physical strength (physical mastery), but is made servile by his desire for blood
What does sue ___say about the vampire
‘the vampire frequently acts as a lightning rod for the specific cultural anxieties of the moment’
