DRACULA
CONTEXT
BY LEAH
,DRACULA
• Set in the Victorian era
• Stoker also relies heavily on the conventions of Gothic fiction, a genre t
was extremely popular in the early nineteenth century. Gothic fiction
traditionally includes elements such as gloomy castles, sublime
landscapes, and innocent maidens threatened by ineffable evil
• Stoker modernizes this tradition in his novel, however, moving from
the conventional setting of Dracula’s ruined castle into the bustle o
modern England. As Stoker portrays the collision of two disparate wor
—the count’s ancient Transylvania and the protagonist’s modern Londo
—he lays bare many of the anxieties that characterized his age: the
repercussions of scientific advancement, the consequences of
abandoning traditional beliefs, and the dangers of female sexuality
, HOMOSEXUALITY
• In 1895 Oscar Wilde was arrested for homosexual relations, the publici
and hostility surrounding the trial must have had an impact on Stoker,
and Dracula shows the evidence of the author's suspicion and anxiety
toward all forms of sexuality.
• English law outlawed acts of 'gross indecency between men' in 1885
under the criminal law act
• Eve Kosofsky said that the novel drew a distinction between 'virtuous
homosocial brotherhood' and 'dangerous homosexual desire’- This is
evident in Harker's relationship with Dracula and the 'brotherhood'
fighting him. At the time, most people were so paranoid that they
distanced their relations with men
CONTEXT
BY LEAH
,DRACULA
• Set in the Victorian era
• Stoker also relies heavily on the conventions of Gothic fiction, a genre t
was extremely popular in the early nineteenth century. Gothic fiction
traditionally includes elements such as gloomy castles, sublime
landscapes, and innocent maidens threatened by ineffable evil
• Stoker modernizes this tradition in his novel, however, moving from
the conventional setting of Dracula’s ruined castle into the bustle o
modern England. As Stoker portrays the collision of two disparate wor
—the count’s ancient Transylvania and the protagonist’s modern Londo
—he lays bare many of the anxieties that characterized his age: the
repercussions of scientific advancement, the consequences of
abandoning traditional beliefs, and the dangers of female sexuality
, HOMOSEXUALITY
• In 1895 Oscar Wilde was arrested for homosexual relations, the publici
and hostility surrounding the trial must have had an impact on Stoker,
and Dracula shows the evidence of the author's suspicion and anxiety
toward all forms of sexuality.
• English law outlawed acts of 'gross indecency between men' in 1885
under the criminal law act
• Eve Kosofsky said that the novel drew a distinction between 'virtuous
homosocial brotherhood' and 'dangerous homosexual desire’- This is
evident in Harker's relationship with Dracula and the 'brotherhood'
fighting him. At the time, most people were so paranoid that they
distanced their relations with men
