Intertextuality & Cultural References
English Lit: OCR A Level Dracula, topic 6.1.2
Intertextuality and Cultural References
Perhaps as a means of furthering the artificial sense of realism in the novel, Stoker makes use of intertextuality, particularly in the opening Chapters.
Hamlet
- Jonathan alludes to Shakespeare’s Hamlet, possibly foreshadowing his lapse into madness with a brain-fever.
Othello
- Lucy’s sympathising with “poor Desdemona” is chilling proleptic of the violent, phallic imagery by which Arthur drives the “mercy-bearing stake deeper and deeper", whilst the blood from the pierced heart welled and spurted up around it.
- Arthur’s actions are, like Othello’s murder of his wife, imbued with a higher purpose, with the intention of saving the woman he loved.
Cultural references
- Literary allusions are also combined with 19th-century cultural references such as:
- Bradshaw’s Guide - a volume of railway timetables published annually from 1839 - 1961;
- The Zoological Gardens in Regent’s Park;
- The ruins of Whitby Abbey;
- Scientific figures such as French neurologist Jean Martin Charcot and Hungarian historian Arminius Vambery.