7.1.1
Initial Reception of Dracula
The Initial Reception of Dracula
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…"
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
Unlock your full potential with GoStudent tutoring
Affordable 1:1 tutoring from the comfort of your home
Tutors are matched to your specific learning needs
30+ school subjects covered