7.1.1

Initial Reception of Dracula

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The Initial Reception of Dracula

AO5 requires students to explore literary texts informed by different interpretations. As such, integrating the ideas of literary critics alongside your own interpretations is important in an exam response.

The Manchester Gazette

The Manchester Gazette

  • The Manchester Gazette suggested that Gothic literature had passed its peak in 1897, suggesting that “Man is no longer in dread of the monstrous and the unnatural, and although Mr Stoker has tackled his gruesome subject with enthusiasm, the effect is more often grotesque than terrible [...] it is, however, an artistic mistake to fill a whole volume with horrors. A touch of the mysterious, the terrible or the supernatural is infinitely more effective and credible."
Arthur Conan Doyle

Arthur Conan Doyle

  • Stoker’s contemporary, Arthur Conan-Doyle, was more receptive to the depiction of the grotesque, writing to Stoker to inform him "how very much I have enjoyed reading Dracula. I think it is the very best story of diablerie (sorcery supposedly assisted by the devil) which I have read for many years."
Stoker's mother

Stoker's mother

  • Stoker’s mother was very receptive to her son’s work: that "No book since Mrs Shelley's Frankenstein or indeed any other at all has come near yours in originality or terror…"
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1

Context - Gothic Literature

1.1

Origins & Conventions of Gothic Literature

1.1.1Origins of Gothic Literature1.1.2Key Ideas in Gothic Literature1.1.3Gothic Genre Conventions in Dracula
1.2

Vampires in Gothic Literature

1.2.1Vampires
1.3

'Terror' & 'Horror'

1.3.1Ann Radcliffe & Lewis' The Monk1.3.2'Terror' & 'Horror' in Dracula
1.4

Narrative Features

1.4.1First-Person Narration & Epistolary Format
2

Context - The Victorian Era

2.1

The Victorian Era

2.1.1Fin de Siecle2.1.2The 'New Woman'2.1.3The Contagious Diseases Act
3

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

3.1

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

3.1.1Chapters 1-23.1.2Chapters 3-43.1.3Chapters 5-73.1.4Chapters 8-103.1.5Chapters 11-123.1.6Chapters 13-143.1.7Chapters 15-163.1.8Chapters 17-183.1.9Chapters 19-203.1.10Chapters 21-233.1.11Chapters 24-253.1.12Chapters 26-27
4

Character Profiles

4.1

Archetypal Gothic Characters

4.1.1Stock & Proppian Gothic Characters
4.2

Count Dracula

4.2.1Count Dracula: Character Profile4.2.2Count Dracula: Different Literary Perspectives
4.3

Other Main Characters

4.3.1Jonathan Harker4.3.2Dr Abraham Van Helsing4.3.3Dr Jack Seward4.3.4Mina Harker4.3.5Lucy Westenra
4.4

Minor Characters

4.4.1Arthur Holmwood & Quincey Morris4.4.2Renfield
5

Key Ideas

5.1

Key Ideas

5.1.1Transgression of Boundaries5.1.2The Supernatural & Un-dead5.1.3Masculinity & Femininity5.1.4Science, Modernity & Superstition5.1.5Madness, Illness & Confinement
6

Writing Techniques

6.1

Writing Techniques

6.1.1Epistolary Form & Narrative Voice6.1.2Intertextuality & Cultural References6.1.3Structure
7

Critical Debates & Interpretations

7.1

Initial Reception of Dracula

7.1.1Initial Reception of Dracula
7.2

Modern Reception of Dracula

7.2.1Modern Reception of Dracula

Practice questions on Initial Reception of Dracula

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  1. 1
    Who told Stoker that _Dracula_ was __"the very best story of diablerie (they) had read in years"__?Multiple choice
  2. 2
    Which book did Stoker's mum flatteringly compare _Dracula_ to?Multiple choice
  3. 3
    Who said the following of _Dracula_?<br><br>__"No book since Mrs Shelley's Frankenstein or indeed any other at all has come near yours in originality or terror…"__ Multiple choice
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Structure

Modern Reception of Dracula