senior paper

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The horror fiction novel Dracula was written by Bram Stoker in 1897. It is a representation of the shift of the Victorian England. Social and technological ideas are shown throughout the novel showing the transition from the Gothic setting to the unknown world. Stoker had an obsession with new technologies and sexual identity. While Dracula represents the familiar dark imagery of the Gothic tale, it is the new attitudes and technologies the novel presents that represent the new modern Gothic. If it is in the wrong hands, it is capable of being very dangerous. Around this time period Britain’s empire was expanding and they were conquering different lands around the world. Other places were scary to England because they were inclining. Still, Britain’s power was declining and an increase in immigration occurred in Britain and introduced them to new races and cultures. These Foreigners were perceived as a threat and most people reacted violently against a foreigner. Since Dracula is from the eastern most part of Europe, he is perceived as a threat. He isn’t like the rest of them so they are afraid of him, therefore there is a fear of the “other” and the unknown. In this Victorian period, people experienced using new technologies like the phonograph and other gadgets. Stoker also demonstrates how the concept of mass culture, the “gothic” setting, and colonialism effect the historical context of Dracula. In Bram Stoker’s “Dracula “, the portrayal of life during that time period is a representation of his time period. Being obsessed with the latest technologies in his time period, Stoker makes his characters keep up and use the news gadgets. Many of these gadgets were invented to help people do things quicker and make things easier for them to do. In the novel, the “dailygraph” (chapter 7) newspaper article includes a clipping from Mina’s diary, which was a way that everyone could be informed about the daily news. Dr.Seward uses a phonograph to record his diaries. This form of communicating differentiates with the ancient traditions that surround Dracula. Count Dracula comes from a traditional gothic setting and then moves to the west where there is advanced modernity. Its important to notice the train travel in the novel because the transportation and communication is different in the west versus the east. The trains in the eastern part of Europe were more unpunctual and the trains were always late. “…arriving at Vienna early next morning; should have arrived at 6:46, but train was an hour late. Buda-Pesth seems a wonderful place, from the glimpse which I got of it from the train and the little I could walk through the streets. I feared to go very far from the station, as we had arrived late and would start as near the correct time as possible.” (Chapter 1) During this time period people also started to use typewriters. People were getting educated and were learning to send out letters with a typewriter. Van Helsing uses modern medical techniques to guess the cause of Lucy’s difficult situation. He understands and is open about ancient legends and by that comes close to guessing Lucy’s situation. He works to incorporate both the modern western methods and the ancient thoughts so that he doesn’t only consider the contemporary thoughts of the time period. The mass culture in the Victorian era was changing and women and men were working in the same job fields and women were not doing what they were expected to do like be teachers. They were expected to stay home and work like regular housewives. However the transition in this shift in society resulted in women having bigger roles in society. “It can be viewed as an early example of the “modern” novel for its style, its interest in new technology, and its depictions of newly professional women and domestic architectural space” (Johnson 74). Mina has a job as a sonographer and Jonathan has a job as
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