Author: go-go

In The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian Gray’s attractiveness makes others see him as a good person. This is why he was able to get away with the crimes he committed. During the Victorian era, they believed in a practice called physiognomy which is defined as an analysis of facial features to identify how they impact a person’s character or actions (Lennox). Throughout the novel, some moments indicate that physiognomy is an accepted way to understand people’s identity. Dorian Gray has a sense of pride as he compares his portrait to his actual appearance because he knows that he’s still valued by society. The type of ugliness that is reflected in Dorian’s portrait in comparison to the attractiveness he maintains is reminiscent of how physiognomy affected the period. 

Dorian Gray feels prideful as he witnesses the downfall of his character through his portrait. After Dorian discovers the portrait’s powers he hides it away due to his fear of anyone figuring out his secret (Wilde 104). However, he periodically goes back to the picture to view just how corrupt he has become with pride and dangerous curiosity, “He grew more and more…interested in the corruption of his own soul. He would examine…with a monstrous and terrible delight, the hideous lines that seared the wrinkling forehead or crawled around the heavy sensual mouth, wondering sometimes which were the more horrible, the signs of sin or the signs of age” (Wilde 113). In this moment Doiran’s pride is exposed with his interest in viewing the “corruption of his own soul” through the portrait while still being able to remain physically unphased by his sin. The age of his face is depicted with words like “wrinkling”, but there are other harsh sounding words like “searing”, “hideous” and “sensual” that reference how both his soul and his countenance had changed. His “soul” in this case represents the essence of his being or the identity of his character. The descriptions of the picture support the theory of physiognomy as it is implied that along with Dorian’s aging his features also contorted into the evil person he has become. In the last part of the quote Dorian Gray questions what parts of his physiognomy are affected by the sins he has committed and his age. 

Dorian Gray can have pride in his appearance because he remains attractive and is in turn, valued by society. When Basil visits Dorian he confronts him about the rumors he has heard and admits that he doesn’t believe them because “‘Sin is a thing that writes itself across a man’s face’” (Wilde 131). Basil believes that a sinful person will have unattractive features. Since Dorian is still as attractive as when he met him he assumes that he has not done any harm. This exemplifies yet another example of how physiognomy was an accepted way to understand someone’s character. Even though the term physiology is no longer in practice it is still prevalent in today’s society we still view attractive people like Dorain as morally good. This is an unchanging facet of society that is experimented with in The Picture of Dorian Gray in a way that makes it timeless.

Works Cited: 

https://muse.jhu.edu/article/663140/summary#:~:text=For%20Victorians%20who%20believed%20in,story%20of%20a%20person’s%20identity. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_effect

In the late 19th century mental health was not a widely accepted part of society. Most treatments for mental health consisted of being sent to a hospital where people lived in awful conditions (NHS Choices). Unfortunately, there were few other outlets for people struggling with mental health. For the people of the time who were struggling with finances their possibilities for mental health treatment were likely smaller if their mental health was even considered at all. The problems of the lower class are explored in Amy Levy’s The Romance of a Shop where the four main characters run a shop due to their money problems. For most of The Romance of a Shop, there is a neglect of mental health that was typical for the late 19th century, however, the minor character, Mademoiselle Stephanie exhibits how financial instability plays a role in mental health.

In The Romance of a Shop, Mademoiselle Stephanie hides the struggle she has with her mental health. Mademoiselle Stephanie is a Frenchwoman who inhabited the first floor of the building where the four sisters worked. In her first appearance, she is described as a gleeful woman who greets with a boisterous “Bon jour!” (Levy 86). This description makes her out to be a cheerful woman yet she is also described as being “sallow” (Levy 86). According to the OED the word “sallow” is often “characterized by a yellowish or pale brown color considered unhealthy-looking” (OED). So despite Stephanie’s happy attitude, this word choice shows that something is going on under the surface to make her have a “sallow” appearance.  This description also foreshadows the event that occurs the next time that the Frenchwoman is mentioned. 

Mademoiselle Stephanie’s financial instability plays a part in her mental health issues and this leads her to do something that is almost deadly. The sisters become disturbed after hearing a lot of noise coming from where Mademoiselle Stephanie lives and later Frank tells them this: “I have merely come to tell you that nothing terrible has happened. It seems that the poor Frenchwoman below has been in money difficulties, and has been trying to put an end to herself” (Levy 93). In his own telling of the events that occurred, Frank undermines the severity of Mademoiselle Stephanie’s suicide attempt by telling the sisters that nothing terrible has happened. Although he later shows that he has been crying there is an overall casual nature to the event showing how much pain like this was meant to be concealed. 

After this occurrence, Mademoiselle Stephanie reverts back to her happy attitude and puts on a brave face although she is still suffering. When Gertrude later sees the Frenchwoman she is back to the chipper person that she used to be and this disturbed Gertrude given what she knows, “The woman’s mincing, sallow face, with its unabashed smiles, sickened her” (Levy 95). The words “mincing” and “unabashed” contribute to the description of Stephanie from before as they describe her as someone who is happy. However, Gertrude knows she is suffering and the “sallow” aspect of Stephanie’s face is more prominent in a way that clashes with the happiness she pretends to have. After this, the Frenchwoman disappears and is never heard of again. 

Stephanie was struggling with some mental health issues due to the financial struggle that burdened her, but she had no outlet that could assist in processing this struggle. This explains why she puts on a happy face and smiles through her pain. This instance with Mademoiselle Stephanie embodies what mental illness can be like for some people even in current times since poor people likely have no way to afford mental health treatment and instead must suffer alone. With this novel, Levy begins to acknowledge the lack of mental health treatment in the late 19th century and how there was no room for mental health issues if you were financially unstable. 

 

Works Cited

“19th Century Mental Health.” NHS Choices, 21 May 2014, www.ashfordstpeters.nhs.uk. Accessed 7 Oct. 2023.

In the late 19th century Victorians heavily feared the degeneration and fall of the British Empire. In Sally Ledger and Robert Luckhurst’s introduction to “Reading the ‘Fin De Siècle’” they write about the culture’s interest in stories with “exotic, imperial terrors” which was the worry that the British Empire would be taken over by foreigners (Leder and Lockhurst xvi). This fear is fully explored in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, where the character Count Dracula is a vampire from an exotic country who is believed to have emigrated to England and spread his vampiric disease. However, Carol A. Senf in her essay, “Dracula: The Unseen Face in the Mirror” Carol A. Senf writes about how the novel’s subjective perspective contributed to the negative view of Dracula and considers a more sympathetic retelling of the Count. I plan to use Carol A. Senf’s alternative analysis of Dracula to view and think about the Count as an immigrant. 

The characters in Dracula perceive the Count as morally evil which makes them create a negative view of him in the novel. Dracula is driven away from England by the other characters but Doctor Van Helsing tells them that still must go after him. When one of them questions this idea Van Helsing describes to them what he feels Dracula’s intentions are, 

“He find out the place of all the world most of promise for him. Then he deliberately set himself down to prepare for the task…He study new tongues. He learn new social life; new environment of old ways…the habit of a new land and a new people …His glimpse that he had, whet his appetite only and enkeen his desire” (Stoker 317).

The reasoning that Van Helsing gives why the Count found the place that had the most “promise for him” which in this case is England is implied to be sinister. This reasoning is given when Van Helsing warns that Dracula’s experience in England has, “whet his appetite” and he is theorizing that Dracula is not finished with the country and that as long as he has the chance to come back he is a danger to them. In this same scene, Dracula is also described as a “monster” and throughout the novel, he is given other unfavorable descriptions. In the chosen quote Van Helsing does not use condemning adjectives to describe Dracula but even in moments where Dracuala is not being compared to the devil there is an negative view that it meant to be reflected on the readers. 

In “Dracula: The Unseen Face in the Mirror” Senf scrutinizes the other characters in Dracula to prove that the view of the Count in the novel is subjective and reimagines a more sympathetic version of Dracula. In her essay, Senf writes that Dracula is never perceived in an objective way because he cannot speak for himself and the attributes he receives are instead dependent on characters who want to destroy him (Senf 424). Senf challenges the subjective view presented in Dracula by mentioning the other characters’ equally dubious actions and she writes how “It becomes difficult to determine whether he [Dracula] is a hideous bloodsucker…or a lonely sound figure who is haunted and persecuted” (Senf 424). These ideas help consider a more sympathetic view of Dracula in an eye-opening way since the narrative works so well against him. In their subjective view all the characters actions are justified even if the constantly question their own sanity and continue to commit crimes. In her essay Senf permits a sympathetic portrayal of Dracula because that’s what the other characters in the novel are given.

An additional sympathetic view of Dracula could reclaim him as an immigrant. If the aforementioned quote is analyzed with the subjective perspective Senf mentions, it is easier to understand why Van Helsing’s theory about Dracula’s evil reasoning behind his actions is posited as fact. Dracula does not get to explain his intentions so they remain unknown to readers. However, if Van Helsing’s words are removed from their condemning context the actions that Dracula commits are like those of immigrants. Similar to how the doctor describes Dracula, immigrants often desire to find a place that offers them the “most promise” and do what they can to adapt to the culture of their new country. Additionally, at the beginning of Dracula, before the Count is given an unfavorable view he discusses how a foreigner is “a stranger in a strange land, he is no one” and how he would be “content if I am like the rest, so that no man stops…in his speaking if he hear my words, ‘Ha, ha! a stranger!’” (Stoker 45). Dracula admits the fears that he has about his move to England. Similar to an immigrant the vampire fears being discriminated against because they are seen as different. This further contributes to the sympathetic lens of the Count since Stoker makes him a dynamic character who like the others can have fear. 

The negative perception of the Count in Dracula came from Stoker entertaining the idea of “reverse imperialism.” This fear that the England empire was going to be taken over by foreigners was a common occurrence during the end of the century. However this fear that is hypocritical since Britain colonized many other countries. So not only that the Victorians feel themselves to be superior to the countries they conquered since they only care if their country is taken over but that their fear of foreigners was due solely to their status as immigrants. When Dracula is taken out of his negative context he is able to reveal the immigrant’s side of this and share the very real fears that they had in a way that begins to consider their stories.

The novel Dracula by Bram Stoker is an unconventional one in nature as it is filled with uncanny events and people. The main protagonist, in the beginning, is Johnathan Harker, a solicitor who goes to meet Count Dracula in Transylvania to guide him in his arrival to England. However, he soon finds himself in a situation where he feels helpless as he is imprisoned in Dracula’s castle. Count Dracula is a vampire, and Stoker employs ancient superstitions about vampires to empower him and evoke fear in Jonathan. Similar to many books from the late 19th century Dracula explores the Gothic which Britannica describes as fiction that has “a prevailing atmosphere of mystery and terror” (Britannica). The mysterious environment of the Gothic gave Stoker the freedom to have Dracula engage in what is usually considered unconventional behaviors. In the late 19th century homosexual relationships were regarded as an unconventional exploit. Dracula has a typical blood-lust but the Count intriguingly decides to satisfy this craving by kidnapping a male character, Jonathan, aligning with a homosexual narrative. Kidnapping narratives are characterized by their one-sided nature and dominance over love and this holds significance within the late-19th-century context, highlighting the complexities in relationships especially those involving same-sex attraction. In Stoker’s Dracula, the Gothic serves as a means to subvert the conventional heterosexual power dynamic of kidnapping narratives. Through this relationship between Jonathan and Dracula Stoker offers a complex portrayal of homosexuality, particularly noteworthy when viewed in the context of the late 19th century.

The introduction of Dracula as a Gothic figure and his subsequent control over Jonathan challenges the traditional gender roles in kidnapping narratives, allowing for the consideration of intimate same-sex relationships. In classic kidnapping narratives, there is usually a powerful creature or person that holds their beloved hostage. Some examples are Beauty and the Beast, and the mythology of Persephone and Hades. Dracula is similar to the characters in these stories because he is an intimidating character. Stoker employs the Gothic when he makes the Count establish his power by committing several mysterious acts that make Johnathan feel powerless. When Jonathan is imprisoned, Dracula puzzlingly asks him to write letters about his travels beyond the castle. This prompts Jonohtnan to write in his diary about the state of his relationship with the vampire, “I would fain have rebelled, but felt that in the present state of things, it would be madness to quarrel openly with the Count while I am so absolutely in his power;” (Stoker 64). In this passage, it is evident that Jonathan deeply wishes to defy the Count’s demands but knows that he’d be in more danger if he did due to being “absolutely” under the power that Dracula has. In the narratives I mentioned earlier, the powerless characters are placed in a situation similar to Jonathan’s, with the key distinction being that Jonathan is male and finds himself in a traditionally female role. This subverts a typically heterosexual trope which shows an embarkment in considering intimate relationships between people of the same sex. The creepy atmosphere of the Gothic allows Stoker to do this since Dracula is already a monster who does strange things. Due to homosexuality being taboo in the late 19th century if Dracula had not been a strange creature Stoker might not have been inclined to explore a narrative with this relationship. 

Dracula has a perverse love for Jonathan that creates a complex dynamic between them, especially in the context of the late-19th century. During the late 19th century homosexuality was considered perverse or strange leading to a lack of representation. Dracula represents a rare exception to this since Stoker is able to establish a relationship between the two men. The love is one-sided since only the Count shows affection, however, this development is still important when considering the time period. The love Dracula has for Jonathan is proven during a pivotal scene when Jonathan encounters three vampire women who have the intention of sucking his blood. Dracula stops the women and after he admonishes them one claims that he cannot love, and the scene proceeds, “Then the Count turned, after looking at my face attentively, and said in a soft whisper: — “Yes, I too can love; you yourselves can tell it from the past. Is it not so?’” (Stoker 62-63). In this passage, the Count explains that he has the capacity to love Jonothan just as he has loved the other vampires. When Dracula first appears in the scene he yells at the women for even being near Johnathan, but he whispers this line. Additionally, even though he is talking to the women this passage describes that he is “attentively” looking at Jonathan. Both of these factors reveal the sincerity he feels and that he does in his own perverse way love Jonothan.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula stands out as an unconventional novel that pushes the boundaries of societal norms and traditional storytelling conventions of the 19th century. Through the use of the Gothic genre, Stoker creates an atmosphere of mystery and terror that allows him to explore unconventional behaviors and relationships, including the complex dynamics between Count Dracula and Jonathan Harker. Similar to other kidnapping narratives this relationship is obviously not an ideal representation of love due to the harmful power dynamic that is prevalent. However, what Stoker does here is important because he begins to consider the idea of these love stories happening between the same sex. While Dracula does not display the best representation of homosexuality it embarked on a territory that was taboo for the 19th century.

Works Cited

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Gothic novel.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 4 Aug. 

2023, https://www.britannica.com/art/Gothic-novel. Accessed 17 September 2023.

Stoker, Bram. Dracula, edited by John Paul Riquelme. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2016.