Gothic Essay

Gothic Essay

1. Themes

   • History
     • M.R James
     • Lee
     • Stoker - Dracula
     • How does the Gothic construct 'history'?
   • Degeneration
     • Stoker
     • Degenerate figures
       • Dracula
         • vampire - the dead-undead; half-creature, subhuman, link to race
       • Harriet
         • outside confines of society in her ignorance of social codes, her 'crude' appetites, her over-emotional nature
       • Sherlock Holmes
         • degeneration & invasion
       • Q: Explore the politics of degeneration in the fin de siecle Gothic.
     • Wilde
   • Invasion
     • Conan Doyle - The Sign of Four
       • Other Conan Doyle stories such as Blanched Soldier, 'Gloria Scott'; colonialism
         • the returned colonial. asymmetrical twinning/doubling.
           • European superior race. Imperial power under threat.
     • Stoker - Dracula
       • Dracula wants to create a colony of vampires.
         • He wants to travel to London to do this, to the 'teeming masses' (get the quote)
           • The unknown, the 'foreign' invading Britain, British culture being permeated by vampirism, vampire culture
     • Marryat - The Blood of the Vampire
       • Harriet as outsider, cannot participate in the languages of the middle-classes at the Hotel
         • her 'different' appetites, her ignorance of social codes, her inherited wealth, lack of supervision
           • over-emotional, strains against British 'stiff upper lip', exemplified in character of Elinor
             • Elinor's relationship with Captain Pullen threatened by a girl who is foreign, mysterious, demonstrates ignorance of social codes. Safe space of holiday town threatened, death of baby, motherhood, bereaved mother.
     • Explore images of invasion in any texts.