Discuss Austen's use of the gothic in Northanger Abbey
Discuss Austen's use of the gothic in Northanger Abbey There is a division between the two sections of this novel; the part in Bath and the part involving the abbey. The first part, being the Bath section is contains an element of the gothic because Catherine and her companion Isabella read (novels very popular at the time). There is a link with the second section which is to do with the gothic element which is Catherine and her companion's reading of gothic novels. The beginning section is romantic but is eclipsed by the strong gothic component in the Northanger section. There is a ostensibly peculiar change in Catherine's character from literal and mundane to over imaginative in the respective sections; "a fundamental incongruity devolves around the uneasy coexistence of the novel's two sections: self-contained Gothic burlesque is grafted unceremoniously upon sentimental comedy of manners"1. This whole issue makes the novel less easy to comprehend. In Bath and at Northanger Abbey, Catherine with her romantic fantasies influenced by Gothic novels, especially The Mysteries of Udolpho, experiences a painful procedure of disillusionment and becomes more mature. She learns to tell who is her true friend, the meaning of true love, and how to distinguish reality from fantasy. A perhaps over simplified way of explaining and helping with the understanding of the novel is done by
Why is 'Dracula' such a great horror story?
Why is 'Dracula' such a great horror story? In my opinion 'Dracula' is a great horror story because it is highly entertaining in its idea of vampirism, its atmospheric descriptions, powerful characterisation and the horrific death of Lucy. The novel is also interesting because of the religious perspectives, such as the use of garlic, holy water and the crucifix as weapons against evil. Jonathan Harker's journey to Count Dracula's home is described in great detail. The atmosphere not only adds to the dangerous ride to Dracula's Castle, but also comes alive as we're reading it. The atmosphere surrounding Harker is incredibly frightening but the detail and descriptions used are so astounding that we can feel the 'strange chills'. I felt like I was sitting beside Jonathan Harker. I 'shared' his 'fear'. Harker is travelling in a Caleche, a small, open, horse drawn carriage which is obviously dangerous. It adds suspense to the story, which makes the reader automatically think something terrible is going to occur. The 'long, agonized wailing' of the dogs seem to go on forever. As the journey takes longer it becomes more fearsome. Harker feels 'lonely'. Harker's driver is a strange, mysterious character, with his 'gleaming smile' as he steers the Caleche without revealing his face to Harker, or talking much. At this point the reader is thrilled and excited, feeling like
Bram Stoker's Dracula
Bram Stoker's Dracula is a classic example of Gothic writing. Gothic writing was very popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. In the early centuries, Gothic writing would frighten the audience and it was also used as a style of architecture. Dracula, which was first published in 1897, would definitely cause a shock as there was a supernatural being, roaming around sucking people's blood by the neck. Gothic literature usually includes vampires, monsters or some type of ancient mystical creature. It is also set in medieval castles with secret passages, dungeons and ghost places. There are various types of Gothic literature such as romance and horror. There is just usually horror used but mixing both has also become very popular. Romance on its own was very well-liked in the 19th century. The word Gothic actually comes from the Goths language. A Goth was considered one of a German tribe who invaded Eastern and Western Europe. Gothic was a type of architecture prevalent in Western Europe in the 12th - 16th centuries, it was barbarous, rude and uncouth. Dracula contains a lot Gothic conventions which incite the reader. A convention is the main point of a specific type of writing, for example in Dracula there is the use of journeys/quests, diaries, letters, journals, weird places and strange creatures. These conventions are essential in the story of Dracula and it is
Chapter 7 of Brams Stoker's Dracula seems to be a pivotal chapter in the overall novel due to the arrival of Dracula on to Whitby. The chapter is split up into three different sections each from a different viewpoint and
"What is the function of chapter 7? Explain how the techniques that Stoker uses are typical of his style elsewhere in the novel" Chapter 7 of Brams Stoker's Dracula seems to be a pivotal chapter in the overall novel due to the arrival of Dracula on to Whitby. The chapter is split up into three different sections each from a different viewpoint and in a different format. Firstly there is the newspaper cutting which goes into detail on the events that occurred leading up to the ships arrival on the shore. Following that came the Log of the Demeter written by the captain himslef as he saw the events take place on board. Finally the chapter ends with another entry into Mina's journal. It is important to note that while all three are very unique in their own ways, there is one common link between them all and that is the fact that all three are written in a format which strictly follows Stoker's techniques in previous chapters of the novel in which he adds authenticity to the oevrall story by writing it in different viewpoints of people who were actually there in amongst the surroundings and the plot. The story is never told from any sort of a narrative and this is seen clearly in the three examples in chapter 7. In the newspaper cut out, as soon as we read the first paragraph it is evident that Stoker is using his techniques which were used in previous chapters such as the
Leaders in Medieval Times - Vlad III-The Real Dracula.
Leaders in Medieval Times: Vlad III-The Real Dracula Vlad III-known also as Vlad Tepes, "The Impaler", and Vlad Dracula, "Son of the Devil/Dragon"-was widely known for his governmental policies, harsh punishments, and cruel acts, as his various monikers suggest. This rather interesting historical figure caught the eye of author Bram Stoker and served as the basic model for his infamous fictional horror character "Dracula" in 1897, although there are few concrete similarities between the two. Vlad III was born in Sigisoara, Transylvania in 1431. His father was a member of The Order of the Dragon, a military and religious order of knights who fought for Catholicism and to crusade against the Turks. Vlad III came to be prince of Wallachia (a Romanian province) when he was young and was brought up to follow in his father's footsteps. In 1442, Vlad and his brother were taken hostage by Sultan Murad II. Vlad was set free after he was told his father had been assassinated under the order of a rival for Wallachia control, Vladaslav II. He also learned that a different brother of his died and a son of his father's was tortured and buried alive. The way he came to be when he was older-known for his cruel nature and a thirst for blood, as well as vengeance-most likely originated from this childhood experience. Later on, Vlad III avenged the death of his father and regained control of
Biography of Bram Stoker (1847-1912)
Biography of Bram Stoker (1847-1912) Writer of one of the world's most famous horror novels, Abraham Stoker was born to the loosely defined socio-cultural group known as the Anglo-Irish. A Protestant Dubliner, he was the son of a civil servant, and he was expected to follow in his father's footsteps. As a child, Abraham Stoker was a sickly child often on the point of death‹by his own account, he never stood upright without aid until he was seven years old. But he grew into a physically robust youth, excelling in athletics during his college years. At Trinity College, he studied mathematics and became president of the Philosophical Society and the Historical Society. In the years between 1870 and 1877, he was a civil servant at Dublin Castle. He maintained ties to Trinity College, returning there frequently to speak on a wide range of topics for the Philosophical Society. He was deeply interested in the Romantic poets, and during these years he established a correspondence with Walt Whitman. The two men exchanged letters until Whitman's death. Stoker also became an enthusiastic theatergoer and an ardent admirer and friend of Henry Irving, writing dramatic criticism and glowing reviews of Irving's work for the local papers. Many have argued that Henry Irving was an important model for the character of Count Dracula, and that the novel was a kind of unconscious revenge
In what ways does Stoker set the scene and establish the atmosphere in the opening pages of Dracula?
In what ways does Stoker set the scene and establish the atmosphere in the opening pages of Dracula? The first part of Dracula is Jonathan Harker's Journal. This travel journal instantly draws the reader into the book; the effect of using a journal instead of the usual narrative is to make the prose seem more realistic and intimate. "3 May. Bistritz." Is the first sentence that the reader would see. To contemporary reader this is just a place name; however, to Victorian reader this name would conjure up connotations with the border of the mysterious and dangerous East and the civilised west. It was where paganism met Christianity and where the boundaries of the known and the unknown merged. The theme of the unknown is native to gothic writing, this is why the setting of Transylvania is ideal for a gothic novel. Stoker further emphasises the crossing of West to East by using the bridge over the Danube as a metaphor "the most splendid bridges over the Danube, which is here of noble width and depth, took us among the traditions of Turkish rule". Stoker uses personification when describing the bridge as noble, Harker views the bridge as noble because it is the last piece of Victorian 'civilization' he would see for a while. The suspense begins when Harker cannot "put any light on the exact location of Castle Dracula", as contemporary readers are views of Dracula as a whole
Monster/Vampire movies are concerned with sexual transgression,
Monster/Vampire movies are concerned with sexual transgression, psychological transformation, and moral retribution. Discuss this statement, using examples where you can. Vampires, not only lurking in far away lands such as the renowned Transylvania, but also have been said to lie in the deepest recesses of the human psyche. Its home, not a fortified castle guarded by the children of the night, but the realm of the sub-text, guarded by endless narratives. Each, a new bread in themselves, having represented different arenas in the human social order one thing remains true in all the Vampire narratives, they always have something to do with the idea of a being, or way of being, that literally lives off another. What follows, are accounts by various authors on the subject of the vampire myth and ledged, its place in society and in psyche of its people. However, it must be noted that although the realm of the vampire is huge and many have existed, there is none other than Dracula that more writings have been engaged in for which this essay will pay close attention to. Dracula, Sex & Taboo "The vampire idea deals in the terror of recognising, challenging or being challenged by dependency, and always registers this through the body: the dependencies of its needs and drives, especially, but not exclusively, sexuality." (Dyer, 10) Perhaps if we are to enter the vampires castle of
Dracula: a novel of fin de siècle fear?
Dracula: a novel of fin de siècle fear? It is only in the latter half of the twentieth century that Dracula has begun to receive serious critical attention instead of being dismissed as lightweight sensationalist Victorian popular fiction. It has become apparent that the novel is not simply a conventional work of Gothic horror but, as with its contemporaries Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and The Picture of Dorian Gray, this revival of a genre typical of the earlier half of the nineteenth century has some significance with regard to contemporary events. Dracula is less a straightforwardly titillating story of adventure and mythical monsters than a study of the undermining of the psychic and social categories upon which the security and comfort of the Victorian middle-class world depended. This resurgence of the Gothic came at a time when the boundaries which had previously seemed so unshakeable were beginning to crumble, when the general self satisfaction and supreme confidence in the age was being eroded by troubles both at home and further afield within the Empire and thus it is hardly surprising, as David Punter observes, that the period saw a 'burst of symbolic energy as powerful as that of the original Gothic'1. The Gothic tradition is interested in the forbidden, it seeks to explore the desires and fears that society represses in order to maintain stability, it deals with
Remind yourself of the entry in Mina Harkers journal for 30th September, which concludes Chapter 17. How does this entry develop your view of Mina?
Remind yourself of the entry in Mina Harkers journal for 30th September, which concludes Chapter 17. How does this entry develop your view of Mina? Throughout the course of this enthralling novel, the reader constantly develops numerous different views of Mina. Mina Murray is a character that is supposedly used in this book, to represent an ultimate kind of Victorian Woman. Van Helsing praises Mina in the middle of Chapter 14, saying that 'She is one of God's women, fashioned by His own hand to show us men and other women that there is a heaven where we can enter, and that its light can be here on earth' Propriety is the most appropriate word to sum up Mina's character, since she is modest and her manners are evidently those of a very domestic wife. Mina, an assistant schoolmistress, spends her days studying, for example, the typewriter, so that she can be of assistance to her husband. We can really learn a lot about Mina's character from the contrast she makes with Lucy. There is a very famous saying that applies very much to these two characters: don't judge a book by its cover. Looks can be deceiving, and whilst Lucy evidently possesses more physical beauty, Mina's most significant strength, is her domesticity. Chapter 17 is an especially important chapter in this novel because the meeting between the Harkers and Lucy's friends is described in alternating diary
