BOS: 31192749
Gothic and horror literature frequently assimilate a consolidation of generic conventions and textual forms and features to execute ideologies and morals affiliated to the context of the text, whilst concurrently discussing the prevalent traits of the human personality or subconscious. Exemplary gothic and horror literature commonly encompass themes such as the threat of female sexual expression and an ambiguous and an almighty scoundrel as a way of emulating the contextual values of the era in which the genre initiated. Regularly, in gothic and horror literature, females are presented as objects of desire and supernatural beings that are often defined by their biological roles, thus reiterating the gothic horror culture that the unknown is expressed physically in the form of supernatural creatures – vampires, as a way of expressing female sexuality. Gothicism examines the inherent, subliminal dread of the mysterious that beings preserve throughout their lives through the use of almighty presences, representing their absurd need to detect things that terrify them. These themes and values are sturdily integrated into Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Nosferatu directed by FW Murnau’s, and Edgar Allan Poe’s The Haunted Palace. The incorporation of typical gothic conventions and language forms and techniques is essential in representing the standards and morals of the gothic period, as well as being vital in communicating concepts concerning the human condition.
Gothicism vastly examines the indispensable, intuitive fear of the unknown that persistently operates within individuals, by virtue of invincible presences which exposes their paradoxical desire to perceive things that wreak angst among themselves.
The story of Dracula occurs within the Victorian Era of England, a time in which society was ruled by great social standards of ethics and means of demeanour, as well as being characterised by a fear of alteration and the unfamiliar. The novel refers to these ideas by accentuating through the plotline that those of whom follow strict demands and codes are exposing their society for tragedy. Thus, through the fear of the misbehaviour of standards and much of British culture neither grasping nor succeeding opposing Eastern values and attitudes, Dracula serves as a cautionary to societies so that they may be open to accepting the unknown in order for one to make a constructive drive forward in time. Within the novel Dracula, consistency in regards to the stereotypical gothic horror genre conventions, remains. Through the use of a fragmented structure; alternating between more than one narrator, mainly through the incorporation of letters and diary entries, dislocation is prominent and it profoundly impacts the way in which the contextual values existing throughout the novel are portrayed, due to the presentation of each character. For example, Mina appears to adhere the victim-like stereotype as she is depicted as androgynous, nurturing ...
