Dracula By Bram Stoker ENG113 Professor Harris Kyle Brady, Amanda Saxer Aurora Smith, Taylor Smith Juliet Stubblebine Vampires: A Background Vampire s • General Definition – Vampires (and werewolves) are among oldest creatures in mythology & exist universally • Mesopotamians, Hebrews, Ancient Greeks, Romans • Origins of Vampire Myth – Stems almost exclusively from 18th Century Slavic tales – Began as vague demon & explanation for eclipses •Causes – Almost everything! • Reasons Behind the Myths We Know and Love – Stake through the heart – Decapitation – Lack of reflection – Garlic – Crosses Relevant History Historical Events Jack the Second cholera Irish Potato Ripper Pandemic reaches Famine terrorizes British Isles (until 1852) London 1832 1845 1888 1837 1851 1895 Queen Victoria Napoleon III of France Oscar Wilde Rules (until 1901) becomes dictator convicted (until 1870) of sodomy Major Themes of the Era Age of Reforms Worker’s rights Age of Empire Public health acts Voter reform Women’s Rights Food/Drug Acts Several revolts in colonies Bankruptcy/ Wars to create colonies/ Insolvency Act prevent other countries Limits to death from colonizing penalty Crimean War, Second Trade Unions Opium War, Anglo- Judicial Reforms Persian War, etc. Age of Consent raised Greater religious freedom Age of Scientific Advances Industrial Revolution Trains Shift from Astronomical agrarian to Darwin/Evolution urban Photography Frequent New Elements outbreaks Medical of disease Dynamite Invented Telegraph Oceanography Telephone Motion Pictures The Underground Electric lights Epistolary Novel • A novel composed entirely out of series of letters • Popular in early 18th Century but did out by Victorian era • Used to make novel seem real • Allows author to show multiple different perspectives • Famous Examples – Love-Letters Between A Nobleman and His Sister by Aphra Behn (1684) – Pamela by Samuel Richardson (1740) –Clarissaby Samuel Richardson (1749) –Evelinaby Frances Burney (1778) – Les Liaisons dangereuses (Dangerous Liasons) by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos (1782) British Invasion Literature • Originated with The Battle of Dorking by George Tomkyns Chesney (published 1871) – First appeared as serial in Blackwood’s Magazine – Fictional account of Germany invading England • Genre was height of popularity in 1880s & 1890s • Characterized by outside forces threatening British empire • Used as political propaganda by military officials • Other authors – Rudyard Kipling – Robert Louis Stevenson – Arthur Conan Doyle – H. G. Wells Vampire Literature • “The Giaour” by Lord Byron (1813) • “The Vampyre” by John Polidori (1819) • Account of the Principalities of Walachia and Moldavia with Political Observations Relative to Them by William Wilkenson (1820) – Contains mention of Vlad Tepes II Dracula (where Stoker got the name) • Varney the Vampire by James Malcolm Rymer (1845) – Penny dreadful, cheap, stylized horror novel – Created many of the standards of vampire fiction • Fangs that leave two puncture wounds • Superhuman strength • Hypnotic powers • Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (1872) – Partially casebook of Dr. Hesselius, an occult doctor • “Transylvania Superstitions” by Emily Gerald (1872) – Essay by wife of Austro-Hungarian cavalry officer stationed in Transylvania – Where Stoker gets characteristics of Transylvanian people & idea of evil night with flames that betray treasure The Author and His Book Bram Stoker • Born on November 8, 1847 in Clontarf, Ireland (near Dublin). • Spent most of childhood in bed due to unidentified illness. • Attended Trinity College in Dublin, then began working for Irish Civil Service. • Worked as a part-time journalist and drama critic. • Married Florence Balcombe in 1878. • Moved to London where he wrote short stories and novels. • Left the Irish Civil Service to work for his friend, Henry Irving. • First full-length novel, The Snake’s Pass, published in 1882. •Draculafollowed in 1897. • In 1905, Henry Irving died, causing Stoker to have a stroke. • Continued writing and publishing until his death on April 20, 1912. •Originally The • Dracula not supposed to first vampire - be called “Count existed in Wampyr”. Novel folklore for • Summer of hundreds of 1890 - years. traveling in • Stoker read Whitby about vampire Abbey, beliefs in Stoker Transylvania stumbled and was familiar across with earlier name vampire “Dracula”. literature. • Researching •Stoker and came across researched section on vampire beliefs “Voivode for seven years Dracula”. before • “Dracula” beginning the means novel. “devil” or First Cover of Dracula • The first copy “dragon” in was published Wallachian on May 26, language. 1897. Elements of the Gothic and Women in Dracula Elements of Gothic in Dracula •Draculaas a Male Gothic Novel – Elements it Possesses • Horror • Unexplained supernatural • Atmosphere • Tone • Troubled versions of masculinity –Pg 43 • General Elements of a Gothic Novel – Architecture and Landscape • Dracula’s Castle – Eccentric/Supernatural/Magical/ Sublime – Fear/Horror/Macabre – Female Victimization Women in Dracula • Role/What Women Represented in Victorian England – Chastity, purity, innocence, devotion • Dracula threatens these ideals • The Women – Lucy Westenra – Wilhelmina (Mina) Harker Literary Criticisms • “Terrified, enthralled, and entrapped audiences of the time….” - The Daily Mail (1897) • “Poorly written and apparently plain, but will excite lesser educated audiences.” - Athenaeum (1897) • “Too modern to be effective.” - Spectator (1897) • “Disgustingly wonderful.” - Bookman (1897) • “Powerful, original, somber, a ‘romance’, realistic….” - San Francisco Chronicle (1899) • “Contemporarily weak, not an immediate best-seller.” - Our book’s preface • “Only truly popular in relatively recent history, despite never being out of print.” - Dracula: Bram Stoker by Glennis Byron • “Some believe it to have a Freudian sexual sub context of endless desire.” - Dracula: Bram Stoker by Glennis Bryon • “Was read as a ‘moral tract’ by some in its time of release.” - Vampires, Mummies, and Liberals: Bram Stoker and the Politics of Popular Fiction by David Glover • “Others seem to believe its an ‘allegory of sin’.” - Vampires, Mummies, and Liberals: Bram Stoker and the Politics of Popular Fiction by David Glover Dracula in the Movies “Nosfer atu” A Fan-Made Trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pr4lfgrAgEM&feature =related “Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens” • Translated as “Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror”. • Created in 1922 by German director F.W. Murnau. • Stoker’s wife sued for copyright infringement and won, destroying many copies of the work. • Main character’s name is Thomas Hutter rather than Jonathan Harker; Count is named Orlok rather than Dracula. • Ending single-handedly created concept that vampires can be physically harmed by sunlight. • Major difference between book and film: power women are given. –Dracula- vampire symbol of sexuality, corrupts women. – “Nosferatu” - woman willingly giving blood only way to slay vampire “Dracula” (1931) Official Trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Nfmh178L98 “Dracula” (1931) - Bela Lugosi • Made in 1931 by director Tod Browning and produced by Universal. • Official representation of 1924 stage play. • Also included scene from “Nosferatu” - Renfield and the blood. • Major difference between “Nosferatu” and “Dracula” - how the Count is portrayed. – “Nosferatu” - repulsive (“ancient”) vampire. – “Dracula” - suave, handsome (“modern”) vampire. Other Dracula Films You May Know…. “Dracula” (1958) starring “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” (1992) Christopher Lee as the Count Starring Gary Oldman as the Count, Keanu Reeves as Jonathan, Wynona Ryder as Mina Harker, and Anthony Hopkins as Abraham van Helsing. And an estimated 217 more.… The End.