Category: 2023 Blog Post

An epitaph is a brief set of words that are in memory of someone who has passed, usually on their tombstone. However, Amy Levy’s “Epitaph” is not only for the dead, but for the living as well.

Her poem begins with a description of a man decomposing in his grave. Gruesomely, the poem goes to list his appearance; he lays with “dust in his throat”, “worm in his eyes”, “mould in his mouth”, and “turf on his breast”. Even with such a strong description, the poem claims that this is the best. To support this claim, the poem reads almost thankfully, “Never again will he smile and smile / When his heart is breaking all the while.” Though his end may seem ghastly, his life was more strenuous and painful than death. Selective word choice by Levy creates an emotional reaction in the reader. Words and phrases like “ache” and “breaking” along with hints of hunger in “Never ask for bread, get a stone instead” perpetuate a constant state of pity. The poem continues and delves into his mundane and unremarkable life. Despite all of his efforts to create a better life for himself, the poem makes a point in saying he his better dead and calm, then alive and stressed.

This is where, I claim, that Levy writes an epitaph, not just for the man who died in bed, but for an alive England, at the time. Using a New Historicist lens to analyze her poem, many aspects of the poem are brought to life. As we discussed in class, Amy Levy was raised Jewish and continued practicing her faith during her adult life. She continued pursuing higher education, and was the first Jewish woman to attend Newnham College. Upon publishing many of her works, she faced many criticisms, which led to her struggle with depression, ultimately causing her to take her own life at 27. Knowing this about the author, the dark themes of bleakness and overall harsh nature of her writing, correspond with the adversities she faced in her lifetime. In England, the New Woman feminist movement began shortly after Levy’s death. This “New Woman” was one who was independent, able to work, and stay on par with men, blowing the minds of men across England, who were dismissive of women’s potential. Levy, though incredibly talented, was heavily criticized simply for being that: a talented woman. The dark and dismal message conveyed by “Epitaph” is reflective of Levy’s attitudes towards the social state of England and predicts a dejected future for those men who wish to criticize the New Woman. While she may not have been aware of her value at the time, she was admired by Oscar Wilde, a man who created some ripples in England himself, changing the way Victorian Era literature is viewed today.

On first glance, “Epitaph” by Amy Levy seems just another emo and gray poem of the 1800’s, but I feel that it’s so much more than that. A warning signal and a glimmer of hope for the new women to come.

Your favorite crime,

Jay Walker

During the fin de siècle, the concept of the New Woman challenged traditional Victorian ideals of femininity. This movement celebrated women’s intellectual capabilities and independence, often in stark contrast to the prevailing notion that women were physically and intellectually inferior. In Bram Stoker’s Dracula, we find a fascinating exploration of these ideas, particularly in the character of Mina Harker. The Longman Anthology of British Literature introduces us to the prevailing Victorian notion of femininity, which placed women on a pedestal as nurturing and selfless beings that were primarily dedicated to serving others. This idealized woman was expected to be domestic, pure, and devoid of ambitions beyond her role as a wife and mother (Henderson & Sharpe 1061). Mina Harker, a central character in Dracula, challenges these traditional ideals. In a passage from the novel, Professor Van Helsing remarks, “Mina! She has man’s brain—a brain that a man should have were he much gifted—and a woman’s heart. …We men are determined—nay, are we not pledged?—to destroy this monster; but it is no part for a woman” (Stoker 250). This quote highlights the tension between Mina’s intelligence and her perceived role as a woman. The notion of Mina having “a man’s brain” is significant. It suggests that she possesses intellectual capabilities traditionally reserved for men. This aligns with the New Woman’s assertion of their right to intellectual pursuits and ambitions that extended beyond the domestic sphere. Van Helsing’s comment encapsulates the societal conflict of the time. Despite recognizing Mina’s exceptional intelligence, he questions her involvement in the quest to destroy Dracula, implying that her gender should limit her role. This reflects the prevailing belief that women were unsuited for activities demanding strength, rationality, and determination. The juxtaposition of “a woman’s heart” with “a man’s brain” emphasizes Mina’s dual nature.

It is also notable that Mina’s intelligence and independence are not portrayed as negative qualities. Instead, her intellect and resourcefulness are celebrated and valued by the other characters. This is in contrast to other literary works of the time, where intellectually capable women were sometimes portrayed as evil or dangerous. Mina’s character provides a positive example of a woman who is both intelligent and virtuous. In contrast to Mina, the character of Lucy can be seen as a more traditional representation of femininity. Lucy is described as beautiful, pure, and submissive, embodying the ideal Victorian woman. However, her portrayal changes drastically after she becomes a victim of Dracula’s vampiric blood-sucking. Her vampire form becomes sexually aggressive and behaves in a manner that is deemed inappropriate for a Victorian woman. The men of the novel feel that she must be spiritually saved at all costs because of her change in character. I was really interested in the idea presented in class about the men’s feelings on Lucy’s transformation being interpreted as a punishment for her deviating from the conventional expectations of femininity. It suggests that while women are starting to evolve for the better, the society of the time was not ready to accept such drastic changes in gender roles and sexuality. While Lucy adheres to the traditional ideals of femininity, Mina represents the emergence of a new kind of woman who is independent, intelligent, and capable.

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.

 

The decadent poems read in class offered interesting views on life, death and decay along and how that pairs with the scientific and fantastical world. One poem that stuck out was Epitaph by Amy Levy which is centered on a man being on his death bed connecting it to the decadence movement because its actively focusing on death and how the process goes. The opening lines state that “This is the end of him, here he lies: The dust in his throat, the worms in his eyes” (373). The focus of this sentence is the “end” of the man and his resting place, but it’s paired with the more grotesque details of dust and worms being present. Then when placed in context of an Epitaph which is on a common person who died in bed, it places the man’s manner of death in context of his social class too. One line that reveals the influence of social standing in relation to how you die is “Never ask for bread, get a stone instead, Never pretend that the stone is bread” (pg 373). By placing bread and stone in a same sentence as if they’re comparable, this could be perceived as a commentary on social classes because wanting “bread” yet, receiving stone could be perceived as lack of access to what one may want and need. The advice of “never pretend that the stone is bread” shows that one which is lifeless and hard can’t be replaced for the other which is nourishing and supports life. It could also mean don’t settle for the minimum in which you are given especially as a commonplace person because ultimately the time will come in which dust and worms will infiltrate your body and you will decay having missed out on the brighter days passed. This is supported by the following lines which cautions to “Never sway and sway ‘twixt the false and true, weighing and noting the long hours through” (pg 373). This line is similar to the bread versus stone lines as it warns not to take one thing as a place holder for another. In this instance that would mean believing time can be counted as if its endless when its truly finite. This relates to death because there comes a time when a person’s hours are up and the sway of time in noting hours comes to an end. Ultimately this extends to the Ledger and Luckhurst article titled Reading the ‘Fin De Siècle, in which they frame this manner of literature as “a burgeoning secondary literature explaining the ways in which the theory of degeneration moves from biology through to sociology, criminology, psychology and ethics” (pg 23).  Meaning that degradation is expansive to multiple other aspects of human life and study. Therefore, Amy Levy’s Epitaph can be read as equally social, and science focused in terms of death and the process of decay. It serves as stark reminder of how most common people will die regretful and succumb to their return to the dust, worms and more.

Prior to reading Dracula, I had many preconceived notions of what the novel would be. All I knew of Dracula was the not quite scary, often-times very normal acting, pop culture figure that haunted halloweens, picture books, and Sesame Street. A mere six pages into the novel Dracula, and it became apparent to me that the original Count Dracula was a being that truly struck fear into the hearts of the religious folk of the novel. When Jonathan Harker leaves for the last leg of his journey, the carriage ride that would take him to the Count’s castle, the people of the village beg him to stay, but when it becomes obvious that Harker will be making the trip no matter what, the people switch tactics. They begin making crosses with their fingers, one woman going so far as to put a rosary around Harker’s neck, saying “For your mother’s sake,” (6). This kickstarts underlying religious themes that become more and more prevalent throughout the novel, informing my opinion that the Count Dracula is a physicalization of religious terror and guilt.

The concept of vampires and the myths surrounding them stem from religious ideals, or in most cases, the church’s concept of the Devil. Emily Gerard’s “Transylvanian Superstitions” highlights these religious themes, stating that most of the superstitions and myths surrounding Transylvania stemmed from the Devil – the vampires, witches, and dragons were more like assistants to the Devil, doing his bidding. This puts the scene where the villagers are all making crosses into perspective, for in their eyes, Jonathan Harker is about to enter the Devil’s den; they are trying to protect him with the religious symbols that they know to protect against the Devil. Further, Gerard also writes that there are two kinds of vampires, the living and the dead. She writes that “The living vampire is in general the illegitimate offspring of two illegitimate persons,” (Gerard), illegitimate meaning not recognized in the eyes of God. This can be viewed as a religious cautionary tale, one that warns against the creation of bastard children, as that child could grow up to birth a vampire. Count Dracula is quite literally a physicalization of these religious fears that people of the time held.

When, in the novel, Dr. Van Helsing discovers Lucy’s undead nature and invites Arthur, Dr. Seward, and other colleagues to observe Lucy’s empty coffin at night, he goes prepared with not only a crucifix, but also communion wafers believed to be the body of Christ. Dr. Van Helsing uses both of these religious symbols to fend off Lucy in her undead state and to keep her from re-entering her tomb, proving that vampires are a religious enemy, one in connection with the devil. Besides the wooden stake and the garlic, all measures taken by Dr. Van Helsing against Lucy have religious meaning, furthering this idea that vampires are almost like devils or demons in their own right. Lucy as well as the count are frequently likened to or labeled as demons, Arthur even asking of Lucy’s body “Is this really Lucy’s body, or only a demon in her shape?” (286). I believe that that is what is so frightening to the characters of the novel, all of whom are religious – vampires are devils in disguise. Religion is one of, if not the, central theme in this novel, and the myth of vampires would not exist if it hadn’t been born out of religion.

 

Bram Stoker’s Dracula highlights the “ambivalence of modernity” described in Ledger and Luckhurst’s chapter on the ‘Fin de Siècle’ (Ledger and Luckhurst, xiii). We see the fear of uncertainty played out in Harker’s journal, where he expresses that “it was the doubt as to the reality of the whole thing that knocked [him] over,” not his harrowing experience with the Count (Stoker, 200). In an age of uncertainty, people need to find things that they can place their trust in, such as science; however, it is this search for certainty that Van Helsing pushes against in his conversation with Dr. Seward.

When Van Helsing shows Dr. Seward the newspaper article about the children whose throats had bite marks like Lucy’s, Dr. Seward infers that there may be a correlation between the bites on Lucy’s neck and the bites on the children’s necks; however, Van Helsing already believes that the bites “were made by Miss Lucy” (206). He criticizes Dr. Seward of being “too prejudiced” because he is listening to what he believes, not what the evidence is showing him (204). However, for Dr. Seward to listen to the evidence rather than his beliefs would result in him ignoring what science has shown to be possible. Van Helsing takes this opportunity to deliver a message critiquing “the authority of science” which is so crucial to the Fin de Siècle (Ledger and Luckhurst, xv).

Van Helsing argues that “there are things old and new which must not be contemplate by men’s eyes, because they know – or think they know – some things which other men have told them” (Stoker, 204). He seems to be discrediting science as being only something “which other men” have created. This statement puts science on similar grounds as religion; that is, it is something that has been told to us by others and that we then believe. As discussed in class, the crisis of faith at this time was concurrent with the permeation of science – how can one have faith if science has disproven the biblical story of creation? Van Helsing’s direction to have “an open mind” seems to be the response to this question, and one that encourages a sense of uncertainty (206).

Van Helsing believes that “it is the fault of our science that it wants to explain all; and if it explain not, then it says there is nothing to explain” (204). By claiming that the problem with science is that it desires to have an answer for everything, Van Helsing seems to be arguing that there is not, in fact, an answer for everything. Acknowledging that there isn’t an answer for everything and that no one knows everything creates a sense of uncertainty. This uncertainty is placed in conjunction with modernity when Van Helsing describes that “we see around us every day the growth of new beliefs” (204). Growth is quintessential of modernity, but the idea of “new beliefs” sparks an interesting debate as to what constitutes a belief for Van Helsing.

In his statement about what people “know – or think they know” because of what “other men have told them,” Van Helsing suggests that knowledge and science are beliefs held by people who have been told what to believe (204). Perhaps, the “beliefs” that he is referring to in his comment about “the growth of new beliefs” are the same developments of “psychology, psychical research, sexology, and eugenics” that Ledger and Luckhurst outline as “‘new’ human sciences” (xiii). In these few passages, Van Helsing calls out the new “knowledge” and developments of modernity as creating a false sense of certainty and truth that prevents Dr. Seward from seeing the reality of Lucy’s situation.

Trapped in Castle Dracula, Jonathan Harker writes in his journal: “Here I am, sitting at a little oak table where in old times possibly some fair lady sat to pen, with much thought and many blushes, her ill-spelt love letter, and writing in my diary in shorthand all that has happened since I closed it last. It is nineteenth-century up-to-date with a vengeance. And yet, unless my senses deceive me, the old centuries had, and have, powers of their own which mere ‘modernity’ cannot kill” (Stoker 43). This moment comes after Jonathan has witnessed Dracula’s lizard-like descent down the castle walls, which marks a tonal shift from mere eeriness to something decidedly sinister. With this journal entry, Jonathan reflects on the relationship between modernity and ancient times within the castle, considering an imagined “fair lady” who may have sat at the very same desk centuries before. This fictional woman is the paragon of innocence and poses no threat to Jonathan; she is simply writing a love letter, wholly guided by her feminine emotions. In fact, with the inclusion of her letter being “ill-spelt,” Jonathan frames this lady as his inferior. While she was just some silly woman, blushing and scribbling out a love letter (which she can’t even spell correctly), he is using the modern invention of shorthand to record a journal of his experiences. He is professional, scientific, and formal – clearly far more advanced than this ancient woman. This comparison emphasizes the idea that the modern Victorian man is superior to the people of the past, a belief which has carried Jonathan confidently through the events of the novel thus far. Jonathan’s explicit reference to the time period – “It is nineteenth century up-to-date with a vengeance” – stresses this point.

However, this fundamental belief is subverted with the final line of the entry, signaled by the words, “And yet.” Jonathan cannot deny that the very things which he is recording in his modern journal with his modern shorthand expose the threat of the ancient world that he is beginning to uncover. He writes, “unless my senses deceive me,” which invokes the conflict between what knowledge science necessitates and what one sees with his own eyes. With the following line, Jonathan admits that “the old centuries” are much more than the “fair lady” composing a sloppy love. History is not all quite so benign.

Thus launches Jonathan’s inner turmoil: he is grappling with the realization that modernity does not carry all the answers. Jonathan is the hallmark of the modern Victorian man – he is educated and sophisticated; he is training in a respected career; he is engaged to a proper, devoted woman – and yet all this does not grant him security. All throughout his journey to Castle Dracula, he was met with warnings and signs of danger which he ignored because he thought himself untouchable. In his eyes, his modernity placed him far above the peasants of Transylvania and would thus keep him safe.

In fact, I think the country of Transylvania as a whole represents this idea of the “old world” within the novel. Despite its noted eerie features, Jonathan never felt truly threatened because he came from London, the century of technology and science, the most advanced society in the world (in his mind). Why should an Englishman fear any part of the primitive, heathen country of Transylvania? Jonathan even saw himself as Dracula’s savior, tutoring him to be a proper Englishman and helping him to emigrate from an inferior nation. Although Dracula is a high-ranking individual, Jonathan sees the entire Transylvanian social hierarchy as beneath the Englishman.

To return to the journal entry, I argue that this moment marks when Jonathan begins to question his confidence in modernity, and not just modernity but in Britain as an empire. What he has witnessed in Castle Dracula causes him to doubt his assumed superiority and, more imminently, his untouchability. Not only is he realizing that his education, his technology, and his social heritage do not make him superior – they also do not make him safe. With the line “The old centuries had, and have, powers of their own which mere ‘modernity’ cannot kill,” Jonathan admits the immediate threat of the ancient world. The specific wording of “had, and have” invokes the Victorian fear that the barbarism of the past which society has strived to rise above can still tarnish the world of the present. The word “kill” makes these “powers” real, tangible threats, something that must be physically stopped. And, of course, that threat is made physical in the form of Dracula.

In Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Chapter V explores letters between Lucy and Mina discussing Lucy’s multiple proposals and their respective relationships. Notions of polyamory and twisted gender hierarchies can be analyzed here to illuminate Lucy’s influence on men. However, when considering the context of its time Lucy must still abide by gender roles of obedience thus making letter writing a safe alternative for women to be their most authentic selves.

The opening of this passage poses a question: “why are men so noble when we women are so little worthy of them?” (Stoker 67). Lucy questioning her virtues and character for rejecting her suitor’s proposals follows the gender norms of its time. During the fin-de-siecle, the “New Woman” emerged as a controversial term designating women’s expansion into the public sphere as they grew more visible and mobile. Lucy balances a fine line teetering between behaving within the confines of society’s gender roles and depicting traits of the “New Woman.” The following sentence after Lucy’s initial question displays Lucy’s awareness of utilizing her femininity to her advantage. She questions her intentions for ridiculing a “great-hearted, true gentleman” highlighting Lucy’s divided mindset when it comes to men (Stoker 67). She acknowledges a level of superiority by making fun of the suitor, but she also stops herself and compliments him. She does not allow herself to go “too far” in questioning gender roles and regresses to her expected “womanly” behavior where she must be beneath men.

Lucy hints at ideas of polyamorous love as a solution to multiple proposals. Lucy questions, “Why can’t they let a girl marry three men, or as many as want her, and save all this trouble? But this is heresy, and I must not say it” (Stoker 67). An open marriage would not have been perceived in a positive light as it would allude to notions of promiscuity or perversion. Lucy understands this question is not appropriate for a woman to hold as it goes against the values of obedience, purity, and chastity. She must not say it aloud, but she is allowed to gossip about it within the confines of epistolography. Her suitor, Dr. Seward, repeatedly addresses Lucy as a little girl highlighting the gender hierarchy imposed while simultaneously belittling her character. Dr. Seward makes it clear that her rejection has not shamed or crushed him, instead, he goes out of his way to guilt Lucy into giving him a goodbye kiss. He plays the gentlemanly role well in complimenting his rival for having successfully won Lucy’s heart. He does it so well that Lucy feels guilty and questions herself for behaving like a flirt. Dr. Sewards asks “Won’t you give me one kiss? It’ll be something to keep off the darkness now and then,” insinuating he is worthy of recompense for her rejection (Stoker 67). Guilting Lucy into a sexual act is not consent and further reiterates the power men hold over women to satisfy their egos.

Although Lucy displays examples of behaving in accord with gender norms, however, her exceptional beauty affords her the privilege to, at the very least, write about men in a degrading manner. Letter writing allows Lucy and Mina to be honest about their feelings about men and encourages questioning gender roles.

In Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the concepts of life and death are some of the most important motifs throughout the novel, as, aside from the obvious amounts of violence present, characters are dealt with situations that highlight the beliefs on life and death during the Victorian Era.

In chapter 15, Van Helsing confronts situations regarding death when thinking of what to do with Lucy’s dead body after Dracula has killed her.  He thinks intensely of his confusion of whether to respect the dead body or to go through cutting her head off and filling it with garlic. During this process of preparing to perform these rituals, the thought of vandalizing a dead body to this extent is normally unthinkable to someone at the time, (even nowadays, given that I personally haven’t heard of anyone getting their head stuffed with garlic). Though in this situation, Van Helsing doesn’t really think twice about it, and understands the importance of the situation. This adds a level of horror to what is already a scary book, given the differences of norms set in this world and those in the real world. This made me think back to the Longman Anthology, where within a chart of data providing what were common expenses of those of the Victorian Era, a “Respectable Christian Burial” was listed under “Cost of Goods” (1046).
Something else I find interesting in relation to the concept of death as understood in this era is the term “buried life”, especially as examined through a religious lens. The anthology describes this term as “individuals struggling for identity in a commercial, technocratic society” (1069). I think this it is certainly significant to think of this term in regards to what the Anthology coins a “crisis of faith”’ in the Victorian Era. Explained in the Anthology, “The crisis of religious doubt occasioned by biblical scholarship and scientific discoveries hit Christian belief hard” (1056). In taking the two of these terms together, it is likely that people of the Victorian Era lost a sense of identity in their struggle for religious belief. Obviously throughout history, specifically European history, religion has been key to what comprises one’s identity, and the scientific progress and religious doubt of the time would only exacerbate a crisis of identity.

To tie this back into Dracula, maybe this would make the book all the more creepy reading it as a Victorian. This makes me think back to the article from “Transylvania Superstitions”, as I wonder how religion and superstition would interact during the Victorian Era, particularly regarding how one would interpret Dracula. Gerard explains that “superstition in all its manifold varieties constitutes a sort of religion, applicable to the common household necessities of daily life” (Gerard 332). In serving as a “sort of religion” maybe the formulation of such superstitions such as Dracula are to fill the emptiness felt with the “crisis of faith”. To put it more simply, if people are turning away from Catholicism and other mainstream sects of Christianity, what makes some witches and werewolves so much more crazy?

 

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.