Author: emilye

The passage where Dorian is looking between his portrait and his real self in the mirror brings up the comparison of sin and aging for the second time in the novel. I found it interesting how the novel portrays aging and sin as comparable, both explicitly and in physical descriptions. The comparison becomes especially clear because as Dorian develops a growing fascination with his own beauty, he becomes more concerned about the ugliness of physical aging than his growing physical evil. 

As the portrait physically changes throughout the novel, Dorian identifies the physical alterations of the portrait as signs of aging, but characterized in a negative light. Dorian describes the painting as growing old, depicted by developing cheeks “hollow or flaccid”, “Yellow crow’s feet”, a mouth that would “gape or droop”, a “wrinkled throat”, and “the cold, blue-veined hands…that he remembered in [his] grandfather” (121). The physical descriptions of Dorian’s aging body in the portrait carry a tone of disgust and ugliness that is then contrasted with an eerie tone of Dorian’s admiration for his own beauty and fascination with the corruption of his soul. The language used to describe how Dorian looks at the portrait and himself in the mirror, examining the “hideous wrinkled forehead”, “heavy sensual mouth”, and “coarse bloated hands” carry a tone of horror and at times sexualization, that is symbolic of the perverted adoration Dorian begins to feel for his corruption. 

Dorian also says this explicitly when describing how he stares at himself in the mirror and in the portrait, describing how “the very sharpness of the contrast used to quicken his sense of pleasure” (127). He feels a sense of excitement at the contrasted sight of himself changing for the worse. Additionally, the way he places his hands against the picture and smiles is a chilling image that encapsulates the deterioration of his soul but also shows Dorian facing the internal dilemma of whether to blame his newfound ugliness on the portrait of the aging body or the corruption of his soul. As he looks between the ugly, aging portrait and his youthful, evil face, the creepy scenes of Dorian admiring the evil qualities of his portrait insinuate his decision that the signs of age were far more horrible to him than the signs of sin (127). 

I thought this passage could be saying something about age and innocence in the novel. Taking into account the relationships Dorian shares with Basil and with Lord Henry, the influences of both these older men on Dorian are worthy of note in his transformation. Basil and Dorian have their artist and muse relationship, but it also can be interpreted as a father and son dynamic. Basil takes great admiration and care for Dorian, and in general carries a gentle and nurturing tone. Lord Henry is more negative and selfish, constantly complaining about women, and talking about how marriage is a prison. In this way, Basil and Lord Henry can be seen as “the angel and the devil” on Dorian’s shoulders, influencing the way he views himself and the world around him. This comes to a head later in the novel when Dorian kills “the angel”, Basil, solidifying the almost “aging” of his soul into a descent of corruption when he succumbs to the influence of “the devil” and loses his innocence both the sins of sin and the sins of aging.

On pages 19-20, I was interested in how the passage seems to scrutinize the sexually suggestive admiration women have towards each other when women in 19th-century literature often share intimate, emotional interactions and relationships. For example, in Dracula, one of the key differences between Lucy and Mina’s letters to each other versus those between the men is their dramatics toward each other, like calling each other “Dearest” in their letters and the deep emotion with which they speak about each other, which can be interpreted as sexually suggestive and is expected of women and not of men. However, the narrator in Dionea claims women should not share this emotional admiration as they are expected to be responsible for curbing their husband’s sexual urges toward other women. I also found it interesting in the story how the doctor describes the extraordinary nature of Dionea’s beauty and the anticipation that the men will not be able to control themselves, leaving it to their wives to keep them in line. The doctor then becomes appalled that Gertrude encourages Waldemar to sculpt Dionea; perhaps he feels the spell of Dionea’s beauty, coupled with her other witchlike traits, is influencing Gertrude too, which might suggest a disapproval of homosexual desires between women. 

One reason I feel this passage could hint at the disapproval of homosexual desires is how Waldemar expresses his lack of determination to sculpt Dionea. He says “Leave the girl alone” to his wife, asking why he would be bothered with the “unaesthetic sex”, as the only woman he sculpts is his wife (Lee 20). I found this piece to be intriguing because it exemplifies the rejection of seeing women expressing sexual desires toward other women and creating a contrast between Gertrude and her husband. The doctor expects Gertrude to be the voice of restraint and chastity, claiming “a wife’s duty is as much to chasten her husband’s whim as to satisfy them”, thus through the contrast of Waldemar’s lack of interest in sculpting Dionea, he suggests Gertrude has failed as a wife by encouraging that another woman would be a good model for her husband rather than satisfying him herself and restraining him from sinful sexual acts (Lee 20). Additionally, the doctor claims Gertrude has committed some kind of sin for being so adamant about her husband sculpting another woman, insinuating that sculpting another woman is synonymous with adultery. 

The critical commentary of Gertrude’s desire to have her husband sculpt Dionea while suggesting disapproval of same-sex desires or sexually suggestive admirations also hints at a desire for non-monogamy that is also shamed. The doctor mentions that “other women may think it right to humour their husbands”, but he urges that it is unacceptable for a wife to toy with the idea of her husband being intimate with another woman with her consent (Lee 20). Overall, it seems the creation of art between two people, the artist and the model, is perceived to be an inherently intimate interaction that is not acceptable for a woman’s husband to be partaking with another woman.

In Franco Moretti’s text “A Capital Dracula”, he argues Dracula is a representation of the evils of capitalism. He asserts that the nature of vampires, their sucking of blood, is symbolic of capitalism’s ongoing desire for growth and accumulation. Dracula as a character is the personification of the evils of capitalism in how he seeks to dominate his victims as “accumulation is inherent in his nature” and strips them of their individual liberties (Moretti 432). Dracula does not necessarily find pleasure in “spilling blood: he needs blood”, insinuating that not only is capitalism fatal for those victims of its system, or fatal to those inflicted by the acts of the Count but there is a curse on the system itself (Moretti 431). Dracula, taken as a personification of this system, is compelled not only by desire but also an inherent need for blood and domination, thus a burden of his own to inflict pain on his victims which I think brings a different light to the conversation of capitalism that not only is the system fatal to lower-class folk but also to those that supposedly benefit from the system stripping them of their individual liberty as well. Dracula seems to then represent both sides of the effects of capitalism but also reveals one of the novel’s messages about how capitalism is also detrimental to the upper class. 

Furthermore, in his article, Moretti claims the increase in Van Helsing’s speeches in the novel, with his “perverse English” and “mangled” dialect, is symbolic of when Dracula seems to have taken control of the situation and asserted his capitalistic and monopolistic agenda (Moretti 437). I think this claim reveals a theme of othering also present within the novel, rather than what Moretti claims to be a specific commentary of British capitalism, but an expression of fear of a different country’s systems. The descriptions of Dracula’s origins and his strangeness as an aristocrat reveal the othering Stoker evokes in portraying Dracula’s character as an evil dominator over his victims, but also an odd aristocrat from Eastern Europe. During Jonathan Harker’s initial meeting with the Count, his first impressions of the vampire are of his strange hospitality. Harker notes that the Count “himself left my luggage inside” and “The Count himself came forward and took off the cover of a dish, and I fell to at once on an excellent roast chicken” (Stoker). The repetition of ‘The Count himself’ denotes Harker’s confusion with the lack of presence of servants in the castle These behaviors are odd to Harker as a British aristocrat because, as Moretti argues, a defining feature of a noble is their servants (Moretti 431). The lack of servants is perceived as strange to Harker, as he continues to go about the castle “look[ing] for a bell, so that [he] might let the servants know [he] had finished; but [he] could not find one” (Stoker). The portrayal of the stately castle with an unconventional aristocrat as its inhabitant revealed to me that the commentary on capitalism could be attributed to the governing systems of other countries and their evils. In addition to the oddities of the Count as an aristocrat, Stoker further others the vampire through Dracula’s own understanding of his differences from Harker in their initial encounters. The vampire notes that in Transylvania “our ways are not your ways, and there shall be to you many strange things” and catches himself when he falls into his “country’s habit of putting [the] patronymic first” and calls Harker, Harker Jonathan by accident (Stoker). These small instances of the differences in the Count are introduced before there is any mention or indication that he is a vampire. The Count is characterized in the beginning chapters of the novel as an unconventional aristocrat from a strange land East of London and sets the tone of the novel of discomfort and fear towards the domineering noble from another part of the world fairly unfamiliar to those of England. 

I agree with Moretti that given the majority of the novel is narrated by its British characters, the distinction to when Dracula’s power grows and dominates the narrative can be represented by the increase in Van Helsing’s speeches and his improper English. However, I took more from Moretti’s point that the narrative is focused on emphasizing British Victorian culture in its distinctions between Dracula and the Harkers (Moretti 437). The narrative shift between when the Harkers dominate the story-telling versus Van Helsing is due in part to the novel’s representation of the othering of Eastern European countries.

In Chapter 13, Van Helsing and Seward share a moment of vulnerability after Lucy’s burial that reveals the representation of emotional expression in men and between men within the novel. In the train carriage, Seward witnesses Van Helsing’s breakdown into a “fit of hysterics”, which Helsing denies and insists it was his “sense of humour” under “terrible conditions” (186). Seward then draws the blinds of the carriage so that onlookers would not make a judgment of them. This passage demonstrates the way in which the men in this novel reserve their emotional intimacy for the women in their lives, upholding gendered behavioral distinctions. The laughing and crying over the death of an innocent girl and feelings of compassion and pity for her widower as a father and a husband are regarded as feminine in this passage and behaviors that require a stern response from another man. Additionally, the use of “stern” for how Seward attempts to “comfort” Helsing in his emotional state, while noting that sternness is how one would attempt to console a woman in these circumstances, also hints at the relationship of the sharing of emotions between men, which its displays seem to be a discomfort to Seward as Helsing continues to cry and laugh despite Seward’s efforts. This instance of vulnerability as Helsing pours out his pain for Arthur is noted as something “a woman does” which reveals Seward’s association with emotional intimacy, compassion, and comfort as womanly tasks or responsibilities. The tasks of men on the other hand involve the protection of women, or the killing of if they see fit, violence, and danger, as later they take on the responsibility of saving Lucy (pg 186). 

This passage felt like an attempt to convey camaraderie between the men in the novel to set up the later banding-together-to-kill-the-monster while also making note of the differences in weaknesses and strengths between men and women and distracting from deeper emotional male relationships that are more acceptable between women (186). In this passage, Seward is concerned about others judging Helsing’s display of “hysterics” after the funeral, which would be a fairly normal response to someone’s death, and consoles him in the way “a man would” when a woman, who is implied to be the typical perpetrator of hysterics, would have an emotional breakdown such as this. However, later on this same page, Helsing reveals how he feels emotionally compelled to feel pity for Arthur as both a father and husband which causes him to “yearn to him (Arthur) as to no other man” (186). Here, the novel reveals that the men are capable and willing to express emotions towards each other despite their belonging to women, but are veiled beneath reiterations of comforting one another in the form of shielding them from judgment by others or encouraging them to repress their emotions in order to maintain the strength and focus to complete their more difficult and acceptable tasks, being that of protecting women, such as Mina, from danger, and taking the responsibility of braving the murder of “Lucy”. Additionally, the subsequent band of men determined to destroy the monster in Lucy’s body is formed both from the desire to protect, but also to bring Arthur peace and the ability to truly say goodbye to his wife. Again, there are expressions of compassion and love between the men, but they are manifested in either stern repressions of emotion, like Van Helsing and Seward, or through acts of violence to distinguish them from the warm and delicate embraces of women like Mina who rather cradle Arthur in her arms as he cries. Ultimately, the major crux of the group’s success in saving Lucy resulted from the men’s compassion towards Arthur as they pity his pain at the loss of his wife and support him as he saves her body through gruesome violence; again asserting the differences in which men emotionally express themselves and emotionally support each other in comparison to women in the novel.