East Tennessee State University Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University Electronic Theses and Dissertations Student Works 5-2021 From Byronic to Gothic Blood Sucker: Subversion toward a Non- Gendered Identity Hannah Hoover East Tennessee State University Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.etsu.edu/etd Part of the Children's and Young Adult Literature Commons, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies Commons, Literature in English, British Isles Commons, and the Literature in English, North America Commons Recommended Citation Hoover, Hannah, "From Byronic to Gothic Blood Sucker: Subversion toward a Non-Gendered Identity" (2021). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 3886. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/3886 This Dissertation - unrestricted is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Works at Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. From Byronic to Gothic Blood Sucker: Subversion toward a Non-Gendered Identity ________________________ A thesis presented to the faculty of the Department of Literature and Language East Tennessee State University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts in English Literature ______________________ by Hannah Hoover May 2021 _____________________ Dr. D. Michael Jones, Chair Dr. Judith Slagle Dr. Scott Honeycutt Keywords: Byronic Hero, genderfluidity, sexuality, repression, subversion, vampire, gothic, Victorian, masculinity/femininity ABSTRACT From Byronic to Gothic Blood Sucker: Subversion toward a Non-Gendered Identity by Hannah Hoover Analyzing Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights and linking trends of the Byronic hero that have merged into a variety of genres reveal that the hero is a mode of subversive gender expression, which has evolved within the Gothic through feminine desire. Delving into Bram Stoker’s Dracula will provide unique insight into the audience’s desires/expressions of gender. Finding the transition point from the monster vampire of Dracula to Stephanie Meyer’s desirous, sparkling boy-next-door in Twilight will track the trajectory of gender and sexual norms through time. From the foundational adaptation of the Byronic hero in Wuthering Heights to the repressed vampiric desire of Dracula, to queer desire/domestication within Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, ending with sparkling vampires of Twilight, we can invite the Byronic hero, which already supports rejection of societal expectations, into a genderless space, becoming a champion of desire absent from the constraints of gender and sexuality conformity. 2 Copyright 2021 by Hannah Hoover All Rights Reserved 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... 2 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 5 CHAPTER 2. LORD BYRON & THE BYRONIC HERO ............................................................ 8 CHAPTER 3. EMILY BRONTЁ & WUTHERING HEIGHTS .................................................... 15 CHAPTER 4. STOKER & THE BYRONIC HERO .................................................................... 20 CHAPTER 5. DRACULA ............................................................................................................. 28 CHAPTER 6. ANNE RICE & INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE ........................................... 42 CHAPTER 7. TWILIGHT ............................................................................................................. 48 CHAPTER 8. CONCLUSION...................................................................................................... 56 WORKS CITED ........................................................................................................................... 58 VITA ............................................................................................................................................. 62 4 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION The Byronic hero, formed and named after Lord Byron, continues to mystify literary audiences nearly two hundred years after its conception. Characterized as a masculine presence that rejects social standards, embraces his emotional depth, exudes intelligence, sexual appeal, and mystery, the Byronic hero exists as a character archetype that explores the suppressed and rejected aspects of the human psyche. As such, Byronic hero’s evolution leads to becoming a vehicle for gender/sexuality expression, contradicting socially accepted heteronormativity. Identified as an ironic sexual performance that subverts the social binary of gender and sexuality, the Byronic hero thusly is observed invading the Gothic sphere. Marjorie Howes explores the complex reality of queer desire existing in a predominately heterosexual social setting, stating that “prevalent Victorian conceptions of homosexuality preserved a heterosexual model of sexual attraction by characterizing homoerotic impulses as ‘misplaced’ feminine desires.” (105) Because of the rigid social and cultural structure of the Victorian era, fiction was one of the only ways to explore sexual desire and gender. These ‘feminine desires’ that are suggested to be latent in all men were considered taboo and shameful, at the very least. It is this rejection of same sex desire from societal norms that leads the Byronic hero into the arms of the Gothic, which invites the presence of monsters and darkness; a perfect place for repressed and suppressed queer desire to take root and find expression. The overall goal is to exemplify a genderfluid, bisexual identity, developed through the progression of the Byronic hero, and to have the Byronic enter modern literature as a champion for a nongendered, sexless entity. The exploration of gender and sexuality through the gothic must begin by investigating Lord Byron, focusing on his application of and influence on the Byronic hero. Although Lord 5 Byron explored gender in a few of his poems, The Corsair demonstrates the most effective exchange of gender with Gulnare and Conrad. Through this exchange of gender, societal boundaries and conceptions of control/power are rearranged, causing a terrifying confusion that demands retreat into accepted gender roles. In Gulnare and Conrad, Lord Byron is engaging with gender in a way that encouraged others to test the boundaries of sexual/gender expression. Following Lord Byron, Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights encounters the gothic sphere with the intent to blur gender roles, creating a unified identity through the Byronic hero. However, this reimagined, unified Byronic entity is ultimately destroyed by the Victorian concepts of gender and sexuality. Emily Brontë, through the gothic, is able to take the Byronic hero, as a mode for rejecting gender norms, and progress the exploration of gender that Lord Byron began. It is not until Bram Stoker’s Dracula that the progression of the Byronic hero is moved ever closer to the genderfluid, bisexual entity. In Count Dracula, Stoker is able to present the Byronic, unified, genderfluid/bisexual body as the destructive force that will eviscerate the Victorian body, i.e., Mina and Jonathan Harker. Similar to the fates of Catherine and Heathcliff, the Byronic body (the Count) is disrupted by the prevailing Victorian social norms. After three titles, it may appear that the unified body is unsuccessful in its quest toward genderfluidity, but, only with time, is the progression of the Byronic hero truly going to find purchase. Anne Rice enters the gothic scene with her explosive novel Interview with the Vampire, blowing down societal boundaries/norms/expectations with her genderfluid, openly queer vampires Louis and Lestat. Sexualizing the monster from Dracula, Rice invites her audience to desire the dangerous, sexy vampire rather than fear the darkness. Mirroring the Byronic course, Rice constructs Lestat and Louis in an inverse familial space with Claudia, suggesting the capability of domestic bliss for 6 the gothic vampire, even amidst queer expression. Completing her queer, gothic romance, Anne Rice does not concede or conform to socially accepted heteronormativity, instead leaving her legacy open to progress the Byronic even further toward genderfluidity. However, the most modern vampiric novel, Twilight, only serves to regress the unified, Byronic entity into a socially accepted position. Taking the sexualized version of the vampire, Stephanie Meyer complicates the discussion by settling the Byronic back into the heteronormative space in order to achieve domestic bliss. Rather than progress the Byronic further toward realizing a genderfluid, bisexual presence that concludes with domestication, Bella and Edward engage with hypersensitive versions of masculinity and femininity, which seem to contradict feminism and the queer experience. The only space available to realize the goal (a Byronic, unified body that is both genderfluid and bisexual) is modern, gothic literature that has yet to be written. 7 CHAPTER 2. LORD BYRON & THE BYRONIC HERO Aristocratic, Victorian women disguised themselves in their maids’ clothing to join those mourning in the streets for Lord Byron’s death. They could not show their admiration, or infatuation, toward a man who rejected the very social fabric of the period.