English faith at stake : Dracula and the "power of combination"

  • Peter T. Spradbrow

Western Sydney University thesis: Master's thesis

Abstract

Since 1897, Dracula has captivated readers and confounded critics with its trademark ambiguity and synthesis of ideas that are seemingly opposed. Indeed, Bram Stoker's most famous novel is obsessed with combination, and unites people, knowledges, faiths, identities, and bloods. Much of the scholarship directed at Dracula addresses these ideas singularly, rather than as they are depicted in the novel: in combination. Consequently, the vast field of Dracula scholarship is disunited, particularly in its response to Dracula's portrayal of science, religion, and English national identity. Yet, all characters in the novel are presented as combinations themselves, and the success of the novel's protagonists is achieved in combination. Specifically, the novel's Protestants combine with their Catholic ally, and together, the group defeats the vampire with a combination of modern science and technology, and Catholic faith and sacrament. This combination is uncharacteristic of English Gothic fiction, and may be read as an attempt to reimagine English national identity at the fin de siecle. Close attention to Dracula's combined presentation of elements that are typically thought to be opposed reveals a novel anxious about the ability of English identity to adapt to uncertainty. Such analyses augment our understanding of a vitally important English fiction, and indeed, of Gothic fiction in the nineteenth century.
Date of Award2022
Original languageEnglish

Keywords

  • Stoker
  • Bram
  • 1847-1912
  • Dracula
  • criticism and interpretation

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