5.1.2
The Supernatural & Un-dead
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The Supernatural and the Un-dead
The supernatural is an integral part of Gothic literature, requiring both its characters and readers to believe in things beyond the accepted realms of possibility.
“Faint flickering blue fame”
- On his coach journey to Castle Dracula, Jonathan Harker notices a “faint flickering blue fame”.
- Whilst science and technology can produce such a phenomenon, as shown in Chapter 16 when Seward describes Van Helsing’s gas-burning lamp, Dracula tells Jonathan that “We are in Transylvania; and Transylvania is not England. Our ways are not your ways, and there shall be to you many strange things.”
Freud
- The uncanny plays a significant role in the depiction of the supernatural.
- Writing on the subject In 1919, the forefather of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud postulated that “the uncanny is that class of the frightening which leads back to what is known of old and long familiar.”
Connection to the known world
- By this logic, the basis of the supernatural lies in the natural and known world.
- The ruins of familiar Gothic architecture, such as Whitby Abbey, are fitting locations to house ghosts, ghouls and the undead, were they ever to really exist - aiding the reader in the suspension of their disbelief.
The Un-dead
- The original working title of Dracula was The Un-dead and Stoker’s depiction of the vampire was unlike those who had come previously.
- Blurring the boundaries between fact and fiction, Dracula informs Jonathan of his rich family history, tracing his ancestry back to Atilla, the Hun.
Insatiable hunger
- However, to be un-dead, according to Van Helsing, is to be cursed with an insatiable hunger: “they cannot die, but must go on age after age adding new victims and multiplying the evils of the world; for all that die from the preying of the Un-Dead become themselves Un-Dead, and prey on their kind.”
Dracula’s supernatural tendencies
- The strength of twenty men.
- Can bend lesser creatures - including human-beings - to his will.
- Can transcend his physical form, becoming a bat, a wolf, as well as more elemental forms, such as mist and dust.
- Can control the weather - the storm, the fog, the thunder, all elements associated with Sublime settings, establishing the terrifying mood and atmosphere of Gothic fiction.
1Context - Gothic Literature
1.1Origins & Conventions of Gothic Literature
1.2Vampires in Gothic Literature
1.3'Terror' & 'Horror'
1.4Narrative Features
2Context - The Victorian Era
2.1The Victorian Era
3Chapter Summaries & Analyses
4Character Profiles
4.1Archetypal Gothic Characters
4.2Count Dracula
4.3Other Main Characters
4.4Minor Characters
5Key Ideas
6Writing Techniques
7Critical Debates & Interpretations
7.1Initial Reception of Dracula
7.2Modern Reception of Dracula
Jump to other topics
1Context - Gothic Literature
1.1Origins & Conventions of Gothic Literature
1.2Vampires in Gothic Literature
1.3'Terror' & 'Horror'
1.4Narrative Features
2Context - The Victorian Era
2.1The Victorian Era
3Chapter Summaries & Analyses
4Character Profiles
4.1Archetypal Gothic Characters
4.2Count Dracula
4.3Other Main Characters
4.4Minor Characters
5Key Ideas
6Writing Techniques
7Critical Debates & Interpretations
7.1Initial Reception of Dracula
7.2Modern Reception of Dracula
Practice questions on The Supernatural & Un-dead
Can you answer these? Test yourself with free interactive practice on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.
- 1What was the original title of _Dracula_?Multiple choice
- 2What supernatural tendencies does Dracula have?Fill in the list
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